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Rethinking marmalade
Marmalade has long been a staple of British breakfasts. This odd mixture of orange rind and sweetened pulp has graced many a slice of toast, muffin, scone, or as the case may be. But what is marmalade? In the English language, and in EU law, marmalade refers to any preserved citrus fruit. Peel or no…
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A word on food safety
So your vegetable garden didn’t do so well. You only got a measly few quarts of home grown veggies to put by. Now it’s the depths of winter and you need some summer veg to make a nice stew. But, oh no! There’s some mold on there! Oh, well, you can just scrape it off,…
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Quoting Wil Wheaton
From Wil Wheaton’s Twitter feed: The single most insulting thing you can tell a creative person is, upon viewing their creation, “you have too much free time.” http://twitter.com/wilw/status/7105714708 Thank you, Wil – you hit the nail on the head. I do this – all the cooking and putting food up – because I want to…
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Spiced apple jelly
Here’s a simple jelly recipe to start you off – lightly spiced apple jelly. Makes about six 8-ounce (250ml) jars. 4 cups / 1 litre unsweetened apple juice 1 package regular fruit pectin 7 cups / 1.75 litres sugar 3 cloves 3 allspice berries 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder Prepare jars and lids according to instructions…
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Jelly? Jam? Which is which?
Being from the UK, I tend to call fruit preserves “jam”. Being in the US, most folks call them “jelly”. Both useages are, in fact, wrong, and here I explain why. The approximate definitions, in ascending order of fruitiness, are roughly as follows. Jelly Jelly is the thickened (with pectin), sweetened juice of fruits or…