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

 

 

The Church of St Ethelbert, Hessett

This is a visit I did a few weeks ago.

 Hessett - another small village, not far from the A14 just into West Suffolk.  I decided to go cross country after shopping in Stowmarket and got 'lost' a couple of times in the small lanes between villages.

 The way in..............

 

 

The medieval wall paintings are the reason this church is included in the 100 treasures book. Most (all?) churches would have had these - Partly as a visual aid for the parishioners who wouldn't have understood the Latin scriptures and part of the tradition of devotion.

The painting below dates from 1370 and is probably the clearest remaining depiction of the Seven Deadly Sins

There's a drawing below to show it more clearly

 

And to show the figures

Sorry the information below isn't too clear, too much reflection. But it says the paintings were done between 1370 and 1450 and worked in tempera. During the Reformation the paintings were covered with a lime wash which helped to preserve them.

The font and another wall painting just visible

View down the Nave to the decorated Rood Screen

and closer

 The Last Supper carving behind the altar

  

There are several good stained glass windows.

 

 

The workings of the old church clock are on show and above are the arms of Charles II which were altered during the reign of Queen Ann but then changed back during the C19.

 The key to this ancient iron bound chest was lost for years but when opened it was found to contain a rare pyx veil or cloth (the pyx was a receptical that held the the sacrament above the altar)

 

Below is a life size photo because the original went to the British Museum

In the churchyard I saw this..........Remains of a cross maybe?

As usual there are lots and better photos on Simon Knott's Suffolk Churches website Here

 Back Tomorrow

Sue

Saturday 14th

Thank you to everyone for comments yesterday. Yes I'm a lucky Nanna to have 4 gorgeous grandchildren and another due in early October. My only sadness is that Colin died too soon to see them all growing up.

I had a quiet day yesterday after the busy week with visitors and gadding about, and finished reading the British Library Crime Classic book of short stories "Guilty Creatures". I'm way behind with reading this months library books.

In the evening there were fireworks in the churchyard opposite! ? Yes honestly....... The photos are taken from my front door

 Before the fireworks there was a Parish Mass, a beer tent with specially brewed local beer, hot dogs and a draw. I didn't feel like going to  look on my own.

 All due to this...........(copied from the website)

Friday 13th August 7.00 pm
Patronal Festival of 
the Assumption of Our Lady

Our wonderful parish church of St Mary is dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady - when after her death she was raised in glory to be with her Son, Jesus - a foretaste of our Christian hope for us all. As always, everyone is welcome to join our worship of Him, which is at the heart of our celebrations.

Parish Ales

In Mediaeval and Tudor Times Parish Ales or Church Ales were important celebrations in many English parishes. Originally instituted to honour the patron saint of the church, these were events held in the south-side churchyard. Home-brewed beer was sold by the churchwardens to offset the maintenance and repairs to the church fabric. At one time many churches had brew-houses in the churchyard, or attached to the church itself. Frances Beaumont (1584-1616) wrote the following verse in ‘Exaltation of Ale’:

 ‘The churches much owe, as we all do know, 
For when they be drooping and ready to fall 
By a Whitsun or Church-ale up again they shall go 
And owe their repairing to a pot of good ale.’

Looking at the web pages from previous years it seems that pre-covid they used to have other events during the festival as well as the beer and the fireworks. Fun to see a firework display without leaving home - I'm one of those people that love them!

 **********************

Now I just need to boast about eldest daughter! In her time as a textile print designer she has worked for Monsoon, a couple of smaller print design companies and most recently Phase Eight.  Lots of her print designs have been made into clothes for those companies in the past but no one would know they were her work. 

She decided to go freelance 6 months before covid  started when all the traveling into London meant she hardly saw Eldest Grandson and recently sold designs to a company Dashwood Studios who then sell it to the company who make and sell the fabric HERE  which actually has her name on. This is one of the 5 designs.................

 

I was proud before but now a Super proud Mum! (Just in case the other two read this and feel left out I'm also proud of Archaeologist son and my Optical Assistant Youngest Daughter too!)

 

This week I'm Grateful for

• Spending happy time with family
  
• Brother in Law is OK after angiogram
• Watching fireworks from the front door
  

Hope you have a good weekend. I'll just be looking for treasure at the boot-sales.

Back Monday

Sue