M is for Marmalade

 Oh No! I was down to my last jar of marmalade! 

My every day breakfast is fruit, toast and marmalade and a big mug of coffee. I need marmalade! And I'm not buying more of the very expensive jars from the local small business - Swallowtail Preserves. Not since they started charging £4.50 for a small half-pound jar. I'd like to support them but they've priced themselves out of sensible reach.

There are some jars of home made Marrow/Apricot/Ginger jam in the cupboard, which is a bit like marmalade but only this one jar of Lemon Marmalade made from a tin of the Home Cook prepared lemons back in March.

Thank goodness there was a tin of the Home Cook ready prepared fruit in the cupboard although I thought it was lemon until I looked properly and found it was orange.

I added some whisky that had been in the cupboard for years and soon made a batch of 6 jars of Orange/whisky Marmalade.

Breakfast is all sorted for a while. I'll have to order online if I want a tin to make lemon marmalade next time - the only reason for missing there being a Lakeland shop in Ipswich. Actually, come to think of it I'm not even sure tins of the medium cut or thick cut prepared orange are available in the supermarkets now, might need to order both.

Back Soon

Another Quiet Week in Suffolk

A week of sunshine - I'm sure it was the most sun seen since last summer. Even had the patio door open for a couple of hours on two afternoons and I got the grass cut. Last year I managed to keep it short so as not to need BiL back to cut it with his motor mower. Hope to do the same this year again after he first cut it for me two weeks ago.

The sunshine fired up the 'growing food' bit of my brain! and I brought in the windowsill electric propagator to make sure it's still working, and it was, so I filled up 5 small seed trays and popped them in to warm the compost ready for seed sowing today or tomorrow.

During the week, after falling asleep with the Radio tuned to Radio 4 which switches to the BBC World Service after 1am, it was a  horrible shock to wake in the night to that man giving his State of the Union speech. Turned off radio PDQ.

Couldn't understand one blogger saying the Oval Office spat last week was funny and another saying they all went off to dinner together afterwards. Really? I'm trying to avoid being worried about everything but it's hard when what the loudest voices say is all bad news.

Back to Suffolk and better news............. a tin of pre-prepared lemons for marmalade  getting used this week. I didn't realise it was way past it's BBE date (Sept 2023) but it was fine, made 6 jars. With the Orange/Whiskey marmalade and the marrow/apricot jam both made last autumn I've got plenty to last me for a year at least. 

 

I went to both exercise groups again, we ran through our usual sequence at our Keep Moving Group but the other group, for a one-off session, had a lady leading exercises who works at hospices, they were all sitting down exercise  again. She also talked throughout the exercises about 'bodily functions in older age' - she said she loves to talk to her older clients about "wees and poos"- it was all very odd - although I do know lots of elderly people end up in hospital due to urine infections - so perhaps she has a point. Hopefully next week will be more energetic. 

 The weather is good for car-boot sales both Saturday and Sunday and there is European Indoor Athletics Championships  to watch on TV this weekend as well as the Six Nations Rugby penultimate weekend. That's me sorted!

 Here's one of the beautiful spring illustrations from the book I borrowed "A Year Unfolding; A Printmakers View" by Angela Harding

Have a lovely weekend whatever you are doing and I'll be back Monday, although at the moment I have nothing to write about.

Don't Panic Susan!

J is for Jam (plus Marmalade and Chutney)

 This was my last batch of 2022 chutney made a couple of weeks ago. A pan of sliced red onions, red wine vinegar and sugar,

which made jars of Sweet Onion Marmalade Chutney.....................

Which were added to my "Jam Cupboard" out in the garage........ looking much healthier this year after the very sparse moving house year last year.

Chutneys and relishes on the top shelf and jams and marmalades on the second. Too many just for me so I'll be giving some away (as well as the small jars at the back of the bottom shelf which are for this years Christmas hampers.)

Also on the bottom shelf is the 'wine cellar'!. I don't drink and never buy wine so these must have been wins from a raffle but probably from years ago................. does that make them vintage? Doubt it.

Wrapped in bubble wrap on the bottom are a couple of tins of prepared  Lemon mix for making Lemon Marmalade. Had to send for those, nowhere to buy them locally anymore.

Preserve making is finished for 2022.  What will I do in 2023? 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Suffolk Fourses Cake plus Marmalade

 When I was looking through my books for the 1st September folklore post I came across the recipe for Suffolk Fourses Cake. Not something that was a regular for baking in my Suffolk kitchen - because I'd never heard of it except in this book.

Although Fourses is a Suffolk word I knew............ it's  the afternoon version of Elevenses ....so I thought I'd better set to and make this. It's from the recipe in the book Cattern Cakes and Lace.

"A traditional lardy bread, served to Suffolk harvesters in the afternoons with sweetened beer. Rich and full of calories, they were welcome after back-breaking toil"

(How real the corn looks - but it's just a photo in the book! Cattern Cakes and Lace by Julia Jones and Barbara Deer Published in 1987)

 I used half the recipe. It's a cross between bread and cake and I think it should have risen a bit more. I'm eating my way through it - spread with butter. Very solid and filling! would have been perfect for farm-workers.

Time to cook up another batch of Marmalade. This time I used a tin of prepared oranges and a tin of  pineapple in juice which is an idea from the WI book of preserves.

2 for the hampers and the rest tucked away for winter. With the closure of the Lakeland Ipswich shop there's now nowhere to easily and cheaply buy the tins of prepared lemons for marmalade, which is a shame........ so it will be variations on orange from now on.....orange and grapefruit, orange and ginger, orange and whisky as well as the pineapple and orange on it's own of course.

 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Lime Marmalade

Years ago my Mum used to buy Roses Lime Marmalade, I remember it being really good (and greener)

but when I tried a jar more recently it didn't seem to have much flavour.

 

A few years back I tried making Lemon and Lime Marmalade by mixing limes in with a tin of the prepared lemons for marmalade but the pieces of lime ending up really tough.......not nice (and even worse was I'd given some away before I knew about the tough bits!)

 

Then during my 9 weeks in holiday lets (and how quickly I've forgotten about them!) I bought a jar of Tiptree Lime Marmalade.....it was very tasty but expensive. (Tiptree are a company based in Essex)

So I searched on line for recipes and found this and made it a few weeks ago

Lime Marmalade

• 12 limes
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1.5kg (3lbs) jam sugar
• A clean 30cm (12in) square of muslin, or an unused J-cloth
• String
• Four or five sterilised glass jars.

1. Scrub the limes to remove any wax. Halve the fruit and squeeze them (reserving the juice). Place the lime halves in a bowl, cover with water and leave covered in the fridge for 12 hours.
2. Drain and discard the water. Halve the pieces of lime, scrape out the flesh and membrane, then wrap this - together with any pips - in a bag made from a clean square of muslin or an unused J-cloth. Secure the top with some string.
3. Slice the peel thinly and place in a large saucepan along with the muslin bag. Then add the lime juice, lemon juice and 1.5lL(48fl oz) of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and gently simmer the mixture, uncovered, for 1 hour. The peel should be tender - cook a little longer in needed.
4. Remove the muslin bag from the pan and, using tongs, carefully squeeze any liquid back into the pan.
5. Discard the bag. Stir in the sugar and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil rapidly for 10 minutes or until setting point is reach (see below).
6. Allow the marmalade to cool for 20 minutes, then stir and spoon into sterilised jars. Seal and label when cool.

Just in case it wasn't very good I used half the recipe.........which I'm glad about because the faff of preparing the 6 limes reminded me why I only use the ready prepared tins to make marmalade nowadays!

The 6 limes made this much...............4 small jars

It tastes good with a nice sharp tang but is a very poor set, I considered pouring it back in the pan for a bit more boiling but that's no fun. I'll have to eat it all quickly!

Conclusion............. don't bother again.

 

 Sorry I didn't reply to comments yesterday. I was doing some Nanna duty that involved a lot of driving and playing all day - bit tiring.

I've run out of church visits saved in drafts now so need to go out and about again further afield.

 Back Tomorrow

Sue

 

 

Strange Times Week 3 Post 3

Toast and marmalade is my go-to breakfast - and now it's usually between 9 and 10am, with a cup of frothy coffee - while I still have some in the cupboard.  I'm up every morning by 7.30 - thanks to Polly cat, but usually don't want anything to eat that early. This is all so different to the early smallholding years when we had a cuppa about 6 o'clock, then outside to milk and feed goats, check the sheep and let out the chickens, then back in again for breakfast and for Colin to be off before 8 and to get the children up, fed and out to catch the school bus at 8.30..............it seems a Very Long time ago now as I dawdle and potter around the house alone with no rush.
Accepting the situation we are in is much easier than moaning and I'm all for the easy life! and I've settled into a pattern of not hurrying with anything. My quiet life in Suffolk is even quieter although I do try and do something useful everyday - hence the marmalade below
 
 Several weeks ago I bought a tin of orange marmalade concentrate. I would have preferred a tin of the prepared lemon because my last batch was orange, but only Lakeland sell the lemon and I wasn't going to Ipswich, so orange it had to be.
Thanks to the Approved Food sugar I was able to get this made and, by adding a tin of grapefruit, rustled up 7¾ jars of Orange and Grapefruit Marmalade.....delicious. I have to admit to never making marmalade from Seville oranges and I never will while the tins are available.

This week I've also planted out the rest of the potatoes,  sown pumpkin, courgette and squash seeds and then peppers for the 3rd time. 3rd time lucky hopefully  - as  it will soon be too late.
And on dry days when I walk up and down the meadow I come in with a good bundle of sticks for lighting the wood-burner. A simple job but satisfying.

When I saw a Weetabix Loaf mentioned on a blog ( just a couple of days ago but I've already forgotten who and where - sorry but Thank you.) I remembered the pack in the cupboard ready for the Easter visit from oldest grandson which isn't going to happen.
It was so simple and tastes delicious...........I like simple and delicious!
2 Weetabix                                                      )
1 Cup Sugar - or a bit less as it's quite sweet )               All these into a bowl, mix and leave to
1 Cup Sultanas                                                )               soak overnight in the fridge.
1 Cup Milk                                                      )

Next day add one beaten egg and 1 Cup of SR Flour and stir well together. Pour into a lined loaf tin and cook at 150C for 50 minutes. (I used Mk 4 on gas because I forgot to look at conversion chart and most things are OK on 4!)

This week I'm so grateful for

• Another week staying well
• An improving weather forecast
• Food in the cupboards. 
• Quiet roads for cycling exercise

It's over two weeks since I went to Asda and 12 days since I got some fruit from the Co-op - I think I'm allowed to  head out for fresh fruit and veg next week to make a change from dried, tinned and frozen.


Hope everyone has a good weekend - enjoy the warmth and sunshine at home!

Back Monday
Sue

Purple Plums,Yellow Jam and Orange Marmalade

As well as the cherry plum tree we found growing in the hedge boundary at the bottom of the garden we also have a couple of old smallish damson type plum trees on the other boundary. One had several fruit on it, and some had already been eaten by birds, so a week ago while I held the ladder  Col climbed up and picked all the fruit he could reach.

It was just a couple of lb and made 2 jars of lovely coloured jam, which set well, rather TOO well. There was a little bit that wouldn't fit in the jars and Col had it in a sandwich - he said it was rather solid - whoops!
Better than too runny I guess.

A couple of weeks ago I made two batches of Marrow and Ginger Jam using two courgettes that had turned into marrows overnight! This used up over half a jar of crystallized stem  ginger  in syrup that had travelled from the smallholding to Ipswich and from Ipswich to here. Marrow and ginger jam is the other extreme and doesn't set well so needs using up quickly.

Yesterday I used the last of the jar of stem ginger to make Orange and Ginger Marmalade - using a tin of the ready prepared oranges. It's delicious and has completely changed the canned Mamade into something much more interesting and something else for our sisters hampers.

Thanks for all the comments.For the moment  I've set comments so that I see them first before publishing as there were multiple silly junk ones popping up everyday.

Back Shortly
Sue