Re: Jams, Jellies and Chutneys

Thank you Mags, I don't eat jam myself and I bet your fig jam was a bit on the sweet side. I do make a pretty good marmalade, orange, lemon, orange & lemon, orange ginger and grapefruit and my biggest seller orange marmalade with rather a lot of dark rum in it. I call it Cap'n Bligh after the rum which comes from St. Vincent.

Re: Jams, Jellies and Chutneys

Oh this brings back memories. I remember when I was young my little brother and I used to be dragged the 2 mile walk to Knaresborough market once a year by our grandmother to help carry bags of Seville oranges home for the marmalade making. Her house used to smell of the delicious aroma for a week. One of the other expeditions we used to make was the picking of the crab apples for making crab apple jelly. Now that was a delicious jam. I remember fondly the sight of the apple mash hanging in the pantry being strained through an old pair of stockings lol. Hard to find nowadays is crab apple jelly, I found it in a couple of speciality shops, but it doesn't taste the same. I'm going to my mothers today to finish off putting her new fence in. I know she has grandma's old recipe book so I'll get you some jam recipes.

Re: Jams, Jellies and Chutneys

Oh wow thanks Chippy, I've been making Strawberry today and have cut up some rhubarb to make rhubarb and ginger tomorrow. I am going to put a message on freecycle to ask if anyone has any apple trees that we can go an pick the apples from. Last year we saw so many apples being left to fall and rot it made me so sad cos all I saw was loads of jellies and jams going to waste.

Crab apples make great pectin that you can add to soft fruit that doesn't contain any and that makes it set.

I must admit the house certainly smells good most of the time a bit vinegary when I am chutney making but even that makes you feel hungry.

Home made jam is special nothing tastes the same because it is made with no preservatives, colours or flavouring it is all natural but bloomin hard work.

Re: Jams, Jellies and Chutneys

Ok I got the one I promised, but time ran out on me to copy any more out. I'll get more tomorrow as I'm back painting the fence I put in.

Hope this helps.

Re: Jams, Jellies and Chutneys

It must be brilliant doing something like that, Cate. Just make sure you're legal though lass when you're selling it. You have to have a licence to sell home-made food-stuffs otherwise you'll have the Food Inspectors on your case. Check out Food Inspectors on the TV section of this forum.

http://www.over50sforum.com/showthread.php?t=8000

I hope it goes really well for you.

Re: Jams, Jellies and Chutneys

You've taken the joy out of what I am doing. I have all the hygiene certificates and all the insurance. You can't do large shows without them. Yesterday when I had spent the day making strawberry jam which is hard to get to set a male friend said 'what do you do? go to Asda and buy jam then put it in your own jars'. This was a supposed friend I really am fed up with people not being as happy for me only pointing out the negatives. Did this programme point out that several large supermarkets have been closed because of filth. Why people only look at Chinese Restaurants or small burger vans to find dirt is quite remarkable. You have no idea what is going on when you buy a sandwich from anywhere, this is not cooked and therefore any germs or bacteria just go straight into your stomach. Ice cream men are another group that annoy me. Touching food that will go straight into your mouth while touching filthy money, they are the people to look at.

my jam will cook at 221f or 105c to bring it to setting point no germs, bacteria could survive and I certainly know enough about hygiene to make sure that everything is done properly.

ChippyThanks for the recipe. I have found one in my WI books for Scroggins Jelly which is what they call crab apples in Northumberland. It is the same recipe but using actual weights rather than cups which is a bit American. I prefer my recipes in lbs and oz still I am a bit of a dino.

Re: Jams, Jellies and Chutneys

All my grandma's recipes are in cups lol
Mind you seeing her ancient scales it was probably quicker and more accurate to measure stuff in cups for her.

I copied out a couple more recipes today. I'll type them up later for you.

Some of the recipes I can't read because her handwriting was terrible and on some the ink has faded quite away.

Re: Jams, Jellies and Chutneys

Am just catching up on your jam making activities Cate. I used to chuck my crab apples in the bin until I noticed that the blackbirds love them, so last year I didn't throw any away and it kept them going all winter and all that was left were the skins! Just thought I'd share that with you Have you been to the show yet?

Re: Jams, Jellies and Chutneys

No, first one is in May am working like a jam maker making the jam. I am head of production and him in doors is head of everything else including warehousing, advertising and making the jam look pretty. Today I made raspberry jam from some frozen rasps and red tommy chutney. I have made friends with a greengrocer and they help no end. They are giving me fruit which won't last over the week-end and I am giving them a pot of whatever I make with the fruit.

Do not give those crab apples to the birds, throw yourself in front of them and don't allow a bird to eat even one. Plus don't forget the plums and damsons.

Tomorrow is apricot jam and hamburger relish. Sunday, I made some banana jam. I gave some to a young lad up the road to taste without telling him what it was. He thought it was mango with a touch of ginger whereas it was banana with a touch of lime, I am going to add some triple sec to it and call it banana daquiri jam. i am also going to make a strawberry and kiwi margarita.

Re: Jams, Jellies and Chutneys

Oh wow, Cate darlin' - when do I get to taste some of your produce??? - just reading it here what you are making makes me hungry!!!!