Attempting marmalade

I like making jam. I find it relaxing preparing the fruit, weighing the sugar and waiting for, and sometimes missing, the right setting point. I also find it rewarding measuring it out into the jars, adding pretty labels and twine.

I was flicking through last month's Delicious magazine and there was a four page spread on how to make Seville orange marmalade.

I decided to give it a go. Turns out making marmalade is quite a lot of work....

So I started in the evening, by 8.30pm I had enlisted Barney's help so we would stand a chance of having dinner!

The next day the boiling process began. There was lots of running back and forward to the freezer with a cold plate, watching the thermometer rise very sloowwlyy...

And then I had fun sorting out the jars and making tags. Of course most importantly we had to taste test the marmalade on hot buttered toast.

Turns out neither Barney or I really eat marmalade but I think it was pretty good. We need more taste testers.

So there we go, I've made marmalade and I'm still cleaning up the sticky patches in the kitchen. But it was worth it, I now have a stack of homemade gifts ready for any occasion as well as enjoying a jar myself!