Freelance funtime

So I was at my mum’s house on Sunday, flicking through the papers, and Nigel Slater was waxing lyrical about marmalade.

Which got me all excited about the idea too. Never done it, but I was in the right place, because by the time I left to head back up north, mum had kitted me out with a preserving pan (big, battered, beautiful in its own way), a bit of muslin and a selection of jars.

Got some Seville oranges (and a lemon, for the extra pectin, don’t you know) on the way home from the fan-bloody-tastic veg shop on stoke newington church street, and was all set for Monday. No work, just preserving.

What follows is a little photo essay of the process…

Chopping, squeezing, shredding

The pips get tied up in the muslin, and in go two and a half litres of water

Turn on the heat and stir it up

There’s sugar, more heat and lots of faffing around with blobs on plates to test the set (still managed to make mine a bit too sticky, but it was my first time, or that’s my excuse, anyway)

And then… taa daa! We have marmalade.

My first batch. And my first post.

And the aftermath: