January in the kitchen (part two): chocolate or coffee marmalade?

No January in the kitchen would be complete without some marmalade. I've made the orange-stuff enough times now that I'm becoming an old hand - dispensing with the cooking thermometers and the recipe book time guides in favour of a certain 'sense' that setting point is upon us.

To keep the thrill alive, I decided to kick off my 2013 marmalade journey with some innovation. Leafing through my copy of The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit, I came upon two obvious flavour combinations for oranges: chocolate and coffee. Perhaps less obvious in the context of marmalade, but with a glut of sweet oranges building up in the fridge, I thought I'd give it a whirl. I couldn't find any recipes online, although there was a bit of chatter about a Sicilian-made coffee and orange marmalade, which you only seem to be able to get in the US. I therefore had to make up my own versions, using a basic marmalade recipe (from my trusty Pam Corbin's River Cottage Preserves) and adding cocoa/coffee at the relevant stage - both recipes make a lovely dark, rich-looking marmalade, with the chocolate one looking particularly decadent! For anyone who wants to give them a go here's what I did:

Orange and coffee marmalade

500g sweet oranges
3 heaped tbsp strong cafetiere coffee
1kg demerara sugar
40ml lemon juice

1. Scrub the oranges, remove the buttons, then cut in half. Squeeze out the juice and reserve, then slice the peel into thin/chunky strips (according to how you like your marmalade).Put the sliced peel into a bowl with the orange juice. Add your 3 heaped tbsp of coffee to your cafetiere and fill with c250ml boiling water. Leave to steep and then pour into your bowl with the peel and orange juice. Add a further 1 litre of cold water and leave overnight/for 24 hours.
2. Transfer everything to a large pan, cover and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat to a low simmer and leave for up to 2 hours until the liquid has reduced by one-third.
3. (If you have one, you may want to transfer everything to a preserving pan at this stage). Stir in the lemon juice and sugar and bring back to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Boil rapidly until setting point is reached (do the plate test!) - this should take about 20-25 minutes.
4. Stir gently to dispel any scum and pour into warm, sterilised jars and seal immediately. Keeps for 2 years.

Chocolate orange marmalade

500g sweet oranges
4 heaped tbsp of cocoa powder
1kg demerara sugar
40ml lemon juice


1. Scrub the oranges, remove the buttons, then cut in half. Squeeze out the juice and reserve, then slice the peel into thin/chunky strips (according to how you like your marmalade).Put the sliced peel into a bowl with the orange juice. Make up your cocoa in 500ml hot water (my jar instructed me to first make a paste before adding additional water) and then pour into your bowl with the peel and orange juice. Add a further 750ml of cold water and leave overnight/for 24 hours.
2. Transfer everything to a large pan, cover and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat to a low simmer and leave for up to 2 hours until the liquid has reduced by one-third.
3. (If you have one, you may want to transfer everything to a preserving pan at this stage). Stir in the lemon juice and sugar and bring back to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Boil rapidly until setting point is reached (do the plate test!) - this should take about 20-25 minutes.
4. Stir gently to dispel any scum and pour into warm, sterilised jars and seal immediately. Keeps for 2 years.

A hat, a cowl and some owl wrist warmers - January's been busy!

Here's my latest train knitting project:

This is the project at week one of being knitted up on the train - I've just finished the hat 'cuff' and will be starting the lace pattern for the crown next week.

It is from Wendy Knits Lace and will be my first ever hat; the only problem with this book is that it is American so a lot of the yarns aren't available over here - I'm using Rowan Lima Alpaca Mix Yarn in Andes. Most excitingly, it is destined for..... me! Counting up for the purposes of this blog post, I've discovered that it has been more than two years since I made something just for me. This is in part due to the fact that I got very excited knitting things for Izzy, even before she arrived (baby knits are just soooooo quick!) but also because for the last two years I've been trying to reduce the number of presents I buy, in favour of something handmade.

Take January as an example - both my mother and my daughter have birthdays two days apart. This meant that I got to create this:

'Elizabeth's Cowl', also from Wendy Knits Lace in the same yarn as my hat. I even did the whole 'blocking' thing to bring out the lace pattern - this year has been chock-a-block full of new skills!

and these:

I adapted these cute owl wrist warmers from a pattern in Mollie Makes magazine. Intended for an adult, I swapped out the chunky yarn for a dk merino one and Voila! a pair of toddler wrist warmers - more practical than traditional mittens (which she won't wear) and so far, she loves them!

both of which have stretched my knitting skills and kept me occupied on my commute to and from work. I've done my first project on double-pointed kneedles, my first and then second project knitted in the round and my first lace project all within about 3 weeks!

But this one's for me and I'm enjoying it without guilt, knowing that next month's going to be all about new-baby gifts (there's four on the way among friends and family).

Shouldn't we get her some more?

'Essentials' from ELC

Let me begin by saying that for ten twelfths of the year I'm a paragon of ethical consumerist virtue. I think before I buy. I buy organic where I can, and if not I buy local, or British or Fair Trade accordingly. I even buy quite a bit secondhand and I like to think that I entered into parenthood with my eyes wide open to the array of nonsensical 'essentials' that companies tried to flog me from the minute I got my first 'maternity pack' of vouchers from the midwife.

But then we come to occasions. You know - the sort where you get presents. And I like presents - and the more there are the better. There's nothing quite like the pile under the tree at Christmas - I find squishing and prodding irresistible and regularly 'restack' everyones presents for 'aesthetic' and 'organisational' reasons. I also enjoy a good birthday haul - and it doesn't even have to mine. I love giving presents as much as receiving them - particularly if I've spent a lot of time planning and sourcing something, or coming up with a great, or unusual gift or 'experience', or I've made something myself. For adults, this at least translates into one or two thoughtful presents. But for some reason, when it comes to Izzy, I feel an overwhelming urge to splurge on as many things as possible and I really don't know why! I wasn't deprived of 'things' as a child - in fact with no siblings I probably had a lot more bought for me than my contemporaries in larger families. Having said that, I don't think (with two primary school teachers for parents) that I was unduly spoiled when it came to volume of gifts.

But when it comes to Izzy's second birthday next week, it's me who's having to be reined in from buying 'just one more thing'. I think this is probably why it was so funny to read the piece in The Guardian today on 'going cold turkey on kiddie consumerism', as I'm obviously not the only parent out there who, for whatever reason, can't stop buying things for their little ones. At least my mania only hits me for these two months over Christmas and her birthday in January - the rest of the year I tend to get by with 're-purposing' household objects into new toys. 

Oh well - I'm off to redirect this desire for 'one more' birthday gift into the creation of a pair of fingerless mittens, made from wool from my stash rather than anything bought new, and for the prosaic reason that my darling daughter absolutely refuses to wear her normal gloves at the moment.