Cycling UK Forum

With Storm Denzil forecasting 200mph winds down here in Cornwall this PM, I wondered just what to do.

No chance of a ride out, so I nipped up to my 'local', bought some Seville oranges, and have just finished sealing 30 jars of marmalade. Nice and strong, nice and sharp, by the time I get around to eating most of it (next autumn) it will have matured like a good wine, and be even better.

A rotten forecast for tomorrow s well, so out of the freezer came two kilos of blackberries that I picked in September; a Sunday of jam making awaits.

While in France I make 000s of jars of chutney, from a garden full of apple, peach, plum and pear trees; it's a great way of making the long winter days pass by more quickly.

I'd make some wine as well, but I can buy it from my farming neighbour for 50 cents a litre (the better stuff) so why bother. Hic.

Any other preservers out there?

Happy days,

I'm afraid I'm in a terrible state of preservation.

Morzedec wrote:Any other preservers out there?

Mrs Mick F is (locally) famous for it.
She has box of Seville oranges ready for this week to make some of her wonderful marmalade.

Hilda May, late landlady of the Queens Head 30 years ago who we knew well, had a recipe for Bean Pickle made of runner beans. Mrs Mick F has her recipe in Hilda's own handwriting. The Bean Pickle goes very well with a decent Cornish pasty.

We go through at least 1 jar of marmalade a week 52 weeks a year. Reverted to buying Mamade years ago when I couldn’t get any Sevilles Whilst I’ve no doubt all that work with Seville oranges gives a superior product I take consolation that at least what I make is far better than any commercial product available.
I make quite a bit of jam from the hedgerows that’s, raspberry, bramble and gooseberry. And from the garden blackcurrent jam. Le Tour is usually in the alps when my black currents are ready for picking but were a bit earlier last year

We don't get through marmalade very fast - in fact we've just finished a jar of home-made which was labelled "2015" - and still in good condition! But we made a fresh batch last month. Should last us for a while.

In France - if we can get there at the right time of year - we can pick many cherries, plums, apples, and quinces - plus a few pears, peaches, and apricots. The quinces - once you take the trouble to prepare them - when combined with the apples make an excellent chutney. They are troublesome to prepare, though, because nearly all of them are infested with worms (don't know why - the books say quinces are immune from attack ), and it's quite a lot of work to cut out the good bits. But worth it!

Couple of years ago i made a batch of Bramble Jelly. First time i had a go at making jam. Entered it into the village show and much to the consternation of the WI it won first prize.
I decided to retire whilst ahead and didn't enter last year.
What recipe are you using for your blackberries, ive got a couple of kilos in the freezer as well.
Last year i tried rhubarb and wild strawberry which makes a nice jam, tastes of strawberry not rhubarb.

A visit to Dalmain House, Cumbria is called for. They have an annual marmalade competition that includes international entrants. The shop has a good selection throughout the year. It is also well placed for some great cycling.

Hello all, I'm so very pleased that there are other cyclists out there who are so well preserved.

Whilst posting I forgot about our cherries, and we also get a fruit that looks like a small damson but is called an 'epine'. It comes on a nasty, spikey, tree; one an absolute pig to prune but worth having for the fruit.

We were taught by our farming neighbour to make what he calls an 'aperitif' from Epine, but I call it 'blow your bum off' because, although extremely tasty to drink, it has the same effect on me as baked beans do - and 'wind assisted cycling' can be dangerous to the nasal tubes of those following on behind.

Happy days,

Blackberries; water; sugar to taste.

Nuffink else, so does that make me one of them Vulcans? (That's a vegetable eater who mends punctures)

Happy days,

Why water?
Fruit + sugar is all I use.

I made this year's batch of marmalade a couple of weeks ago. Today was a brewing day, stout this time. I was planning a walk or a cycle ride tomorrow but given the weather forecast I think I will make some chutney instead, stocks are running low

I have blackberries and an apple tree in my ‘new’ place so I think some jams and pies might be in order come the autumn. The tree is about 10 ft height and a graft with three varieties, so I have been told. It has not been tended for a number of years and is a bit of a mess. I suspect a prune and a feed would do it good. Any gardeners like to pass on some advice?

Morzedec wrote:.... and we also get a fruit that looks like a small damson but is called an 'epine'. It comes on a nasty, spikey, tree; one an absolute pig to prune but worth having for the fruit.

"Epine" is simply French for "spine" or "thorn". I wonder if your fruit is what we know as a 'sloe'. Looking up in Wiki, it seems that Blackthorn or Sloe (Prunus spinosa), a wild form of plum very common in Britain, is known in French as Prunellier, but also other names including Epinette (but not Epine).

Or maybe it's another species of wild plum, Bullace (P. domestica subsp. insititia)? Less common than the sloe, the fruit is slightly larger and almost spherical. I don't recall the bush being particularly spiny though.

We have tried making sloe jelly, but the sloe is lacking in pectin, you need to combine with apple to get a set. The jelly was very tasty but we thought it was too much trouble: you have to pick an awful lot of sloes and pass the pulp through a cloth bag, to get a small quantity of jelly! Maybe someone knows of a more efficient recipe?

I started using Made about 10 years ago and never looked back.

I make pickle/chutney with anything I can get: apples, marrow, tomatoes and jam with plums,blackberries, apples, raspberries, strawberries. Never buy jam, marmalade or pickle.

Morzedec wrote:Hello all, I'm so very pleased that there are other cyclists out there who are so well preserved.

Whilst posting I forgot about our cherries, and we also get a fruit that looks like a small damson but is called an 'epine'. It comes on a nasty, spikey, tree; one an absolute pig to prune but worth having for the fruit.

We were taught by our farming neighbour to make what he calls an 'aperitif' from Epine, but I call it 'blow your bum off' because, although extremely tasty to drink, it has the same effect on me as baked beans do - and 'wind assisted cycling' can be dangerous to the nasal tubes of those following on behind.

Happy days,

A friend here has a large cherry tree that fruits beautifully but he gets very few to eat as the birds have defeated all his efforts to stop them stealing the fruit.