Marmalade

This might be comsidered scraping the barrel, but the weather's today has been grey and blustery, and so neither the dogs nor I have ventured very far. However, a dreary January day is ideal for marmalade making.

I really love good marmalade, nice and sharp with decent sized pieces of peel. Unfortunately it's usually pretty expensive to buy. So as soon as the Seville oranges appear in Sainsbury's I nab a bag, and spend a pleasant day making a batch of marmalade.

I think this is one of the most cheerful things to do on a drab, cold day. The lovely orange colour is like a burst of sunshine in the kitchen, the all pervading scent of oranges is mood-enhancing, and the gentle hubble-bubble of the simmering oranges warms the heart.

Admittedly. it's quite a long process. Luckily my food processor makes juicing the oranges a breeze, but chopping the peel needs some good music to accompany it (this morning it was Bellowhead and Serj Tankian!). One of my favourite parts is squeezing the pectin out of the muslin bag full of pith and pips. The recipe suggests that you do it with two saucers, but I like to use my hands, and get them covered with the hot slimy goo (there's a bit of me that's never grown up!)

The photo is taken just after the sugar's been stirred in, but before the rapid boiling has commenced. The Prestige spoon is an old one I inherited from my Mother, a little bit of family hisory. After boiling and a period of settling the unctuous golden mixture gets poured into sterilised jars - a year's supply of yumminess to be safely hoarded away.