Well not really jamming … but marmalading didn't have the same ring to it 😁
I was upset this morning, it was icy cold and everything was frozen solid, I was out topping up the chickens and wild bird drinkers with warm water when I found a poor little mouse drowned in a bucket of icy water. I immediately went round checking for more accidents waiting to happen but once I had tipped his little body out of the pot and left it on it's side I couldn't get his icy perfection and sad demise out of my head.
Luckily last night I had put my sugar packets and marmalade mix tin to warm in my jam pan on top of the Aga, so once the dogs were walked around the white frosty paddock I kept myself busy filling the kitchen with the aroma of cooking lemons and sticky marmalade.
While the marmalade was slowly brought to a boil, and then left bubble away on top of the Aga ...
... the glass jars were sterilising in the bottom oven,
and the lids were in a bath of boiling water in a jug.
Fifteen minutes later I had ten jars of lemon marmalade cooling down on the rack.
After taking the now empty marmalade mix tin out to put into the recycling bin I wrote out enough labels to put onto the jars once they are cold. Not a bad bit of work for a cold Monday in January.
I have three more tins of marmalade mix in the cupboard, one more lemon and two orange. Rather than moving house with the tins of mix, empty jars and bags of sugar I intend combining the three and just moving with filled jars of marmalade.
Top Tip of the Day
Fill your jam pan with hot slightly soapy water and leave to soak while you sit on the computer with a cup of coffee. Everything washes up so much easier after a soak … and I'm much nicer after a cup of coffee 🙂
Sue xx
I soak everything in my jam pan like that but also wash everything in it ASAP. By the time I get to just the pan left, it’s almost cleaned itself.
ReplyDeleteI did read somewhere that five minutes is enough time to soak anything which needs washing up. Not sure I agree with that as I have just washed up the dish I roasted veg in for my lunch - left it a quarter of an hour and still there were naughty bits which fought hard to stay on the dish.
ReplyDeletePoor little mouse! We have 2 pet rabbits who are housed in hutches in the winter inside our garage. Every day I find mice inside their hutches - they're there for the warmth and food. We've got a cat who's not a very good mouser. I can't bear the thought of mouse traps or poisons for any animal to ingest, or indeed any other of the cruel methods used to catch or kill, so I'm leaving them to it. Hopefully when spring comes they'll find their food elsewhere. From what I've read, they do no harm to the rabbits.
ReplyDeleteExcellent job done, for a cold morning! And it is cold here too. The snow is covered with 'diamonds'! -smile-
ReplyDeleteOh yes, soak messy pans. Makes the clean-up so much easier. I quickly soak, before we sit down to eat, even.
♫♪•*¨*•.¸🔥💛🔥¸.•*¨*•♪♫
There is something satisfying and comforting in home preserves, especially on a cold day, I love to see the jars lined up neatly in the cupboard, so much nicer than most shop bought too. Poor little mouse, we had a pond at one of our previous homes and we found a mouse floating in it one morning, I felt as if I'd lost a pet , but I'm daft like that. Now you just need a nice thick piece of home made bread to smother with marmalade !
ReplyDeleteLike you I have found soaking the jam/jelly pot makes cleaning a breeze.
ReplyDeletePoor little mouse.
God bless.
I feel bad for the poor little mouse too! :-(
ReplyDeleteFurry, sweet little guy...
I would love it if you would share the recipe with me for Lemon Marmalade - I LOVE lemon!
In this instance it was a complete cheaty style recipe, just the tin of prepared lemons, 4lb sugar and a dash of fresh lemon juice. I get the tins from either Asda, when they have them in or Lakeland.
DeleteThose tins make fantastic marmalade and so much simpler than making it from scratch.
ReplyDeleteSad about the mouse.
xx