It’s time to make Marmalade

16 comments

I love January. Okay, its cold and wet in the UK. Not as much daylight as I would like, but there is time to catch up and maybe, oh maybe, get ahead. For instance, I have time to make marmalade, especially now that the seville oranges are in season. Later in the year, there are more outside demands. In January, I really don’t mind warming up the kitchen as it cooks. Filling the house with marmalade fragrance really is no hardship.

Last year, I made no marmalade. It just didn’t happen and I sorely missed it. I usually make enough to last us the whole year. Maybe I should say almost the whole year, as marmalade is very popular in our household. I’ve ordered more oranges for this weekend, now that I’m back in the marmalade making swing. Yeh!

I think if I just limited myself to blackberry jelly, strawberry jam and marmalade, there would be no lonely jars left at the back of the cupboard, keeping the dust bunnies company. Still, I do like to experiment. (The less popular experiments end up in cakes and sponge puddings, where the family least expect to find them. Shh!)

The one change I made this year to the marmalade, was that I only put in half the peel. Partly because I reached a point where I just didn’t want to chop up any more peel. The marmalade seems just as good.

Making these preserves, does save money. Thrifty as ever, I’ve done my calculations and it really is much cheaper for me to make. I also find shop bought preserves very sweet. No idea why they are sweeter. My ones set and keep, so it’s not due to me cutting back on the sugar quantity. More likely, that I’m generous with the fruit.

And this little jar is going into school. TF is giving it to his teacher who just so happens to like marmalade.

Joining in the Making Winter bloghop.

edited: marmalade recipe here

16 comments

  1. I’ve never made marmalade, yours looks delicious, just wondering if the oranges are easy to come by as you mentioned that you were ordering more…………….would be a great use of all my saved jars too. x

    1. I order most of my fruit and veg through a local veg box scheme. I have seen them in greengrocers and bigger farm shops, but never in our local supermarket. Then again the latter doesn’t even stock the wax circles for jam making, so I shouldn’t really be surprised. I’d try asking your local greengrocer. If nothing else I’m sure they would get them in for you. Excellent use for all those empty jars. 🙂

  2. Ohh, we all LOVE marmalade too and I have never made it. I’m not sure why, and now would be the perfect time of year for it.
    Could you share your recipe 😉 please

  3. Yum yum! I love marmalade. I have been given a jar this week by my dad, who really started my love of marmalade. I only have to smell that seville orange smell to be back there in mums kitchen as a child, watching my dad chopping peel. The sheer deliciousness of freshly made marmalade on freshly baked bread! It is still the most comforting food to me when I am ill. Marmalade on toast with a big mug of tea, just perfect! Enjoy the cooking, and more importantly, the eating!!

    1. The smell of marmalade takes me back to childhood too. Freshly baked bread and marmalade just says it all. Enjoy your pot of marmalade.

  5. Oh – straight back to childhood!!! My parents had a citrus hedge and my mom used to spend winter making marmalade, oh the smell, oh the clink of jars, go the taste – All lovely!!!

    1. It takes me back to childhood as well. My mother and grandmother used to make pots and pots of preserves. Love the idea of a citrus hedge. If only we had the climate in the UK. We used to have a bread lemon tree in our garden in Italy, but I can’t remember my mother ever making marmalade with them.

  6. There’s nothing like homemade marmalade – thanks so much for submitting this to the bloghop – it’s so perfect for this month’s theme. I will be setting up a separate page on my blog with links to all the delicious recipes.

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