|
Jam tomorrow, Jam yesterday... So yesterday I promised I would elaborate more on my "site of the day". After some discussion with my darling husband, we have decided not to go writing details about the choice we have made for our sons with regards to circumcision all over the internet. Having said that, if you care to know, please ask, and I would be happy to discuss it with you sometime. Instead today I am going to write about my jam-making adventures, hence the bit about that song from Alice. I haven't actually had any jam-making adventures yet, but I plan to very soon. In my quest for more control over the food we put in our mouths, I have decided that as products I have in the fridge or pantry run out, I will replace them, where possible, with a homemade version. I recently ran out of my absolute favourite breakfast spread, marmalade, and have subsequently been searching far and wide for a suitable marmalade recipe. I found an interesting article from Choice saying that most orange marmalade we buy at the supermarket doesn't have a whole lot of oranges in it. In fact, the marmalade I buy (IXL Breakfast) has only 24% fruit and 65% sugar! It is rated 25th overall for fruit content, out of 33. All the more reason to try making my own I think. I am going to try either the recipe found at the end of that same article, or perhaps this one (scroll down a bit) from Geoff Jansz. Of course after I scoured the internet and found lots of enticing recipes (such as passionfruit marmalade), I remembered a book a friend gave me called "Mary Norwak's Book of Jams, Marmalades and Sweet Preserves". There are also some fantastic recipes to be found in there. Regardless of which recipe I choose, I think I need to wait till winter when I can buy some Seville oranges, which are apparently perfect for making marmalade. I have found reference to these kind of oranges in a Harris Farm Markets newsletter, so when winter is in full swing, I should be able to get some there. In the meantime I will have to have blackberry jam on my toast - until it runs out as well. While I was browsing for different recipes, I came across today's very amusing site of the day. English Housewifery by Elizabeth Moxon. Apparently this is an online version of a book which contains 450 "receipts" (recipes). It is "A BOOK necessary for Mistresses of Families, higher and lower Women Servants, and confined to Things USEFUL, SUBSTANTIAL and SPLENDID, and calculated for the Preservation of HEALTH, and upon the Measures of Frugality, being the Result of thirty Years Practice and Experience." Good for a bit of a laugh, if nothing else. |
|