In a way, Scilly can be at its best when shrouded in fog. Your senses aren't distracted by the stretches of beaches and rocky cliffs. Instead you listen to the confused birds singing for their companions. You notice branches drenched in sea mist.
And sometime the jobs you hate can be the most relaxing. I can't say I enjoy making marmalade. It's not my kind of cooking. Soaking, peeling slicing, boiling, more boiling, settling. It's just not for me. But sometimes sitting on a stool thinly slicing orange peel, listening to the radio can be cathartic. When you've got a 5 month old baby making demands of you 24 hours a day it's nice to have a pile of oranges just sitting there, happily waiting to be sliced.
This is a combination of about 5 friends and families recipes. I don't even use Seville oranges so sorry to the marmalade purists.
My Marmalade (makes about 5 jars)
2kg oranges
2kg jam sugar
About 4 litres of water
Pop the whole oranges in the water and leave overnight. The next morning remove them from the water (but keep the water which now will have the faint smell of oranges.) Peel them and put the insides in a bowl to one side. Start slicing the peel and put into the pan of water.
Bring to the boil and boil for about an hour until the peel is soft. Add the jam sugar and boil until it reaches 105'c or put a little on a cold saucer and run a spoon across it to see if it makes creases. You can scrape the frothy scum off as it makes the marmalade cloudier.
Pour carefully into sterilised jars and leave the lids off. Leave to stand for 12 hours (as it helps it set better) then put the lids on.
Thanks for the recipe, I had never thought of making marmalade as I thought it would be complicated. But although time consuming it looks pretty straightforward, will give it a go :)
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