We visited some dear friends recently – our mums were best friends, meeting at school and staying in touch all their lives. As you can imagine there was a lot of reminiscing, and when at breakfast, home-made marmalade was produced this cued more! We talked about breakfast marmalade – my dad had always made our marmalade, calling it parmalade because pa made it! Our cousin had made some which he called Arnolade as his surname is Arnold! It was mighty fine, most enjoyable, and he very kindly gave us some to bring home. We went on to discuss jam in general and the lovely varieties available at local food markets – and in fact we nipped across the road from their tiny but delightful cottager and bought some fig jam from the little market in the church hall!. When I got home I was glancing through Zena Skinner’s little cookery book which just happens to be beside me her on my desk, and came to her section on preserves.
A small selection of preserves in the store cupboard is away handy,and they provide a variation in the diet particularly during the winter months.
She has a number of recipes, each with a little description:
- marrow cream – marrows are not very popular for some reason, but made into marrow cream it will be an asset in the store cupboard. (nothing to do with cream, it’s made from marrow, butter, ginger and lemons)
- cherry jam – stoning the cherries is the worst part of this recipe, but I think the end product justifies it.
- blackcurrant jam – the season for blackcurrants is very short, so why not make some when they’re about and enjoy it at Christmas?
- three fruit marmalade – this is a must for the Traditional English breakfast and we make enough to last us the whole year. (grapefruit, oranges and lemons)
- pickled peaches – this is an unusual preserve which is delicous with cold meats, particularly cold poultry
- rhubarb preserve – this is a quick preserve to make, but don’t expect it to set like jam as it’s not supposed to. (sounds like an excuse to me! :D)
Lois Elsden 