January 2026
January is generally a quiet month for the fireworks company I run. Time, then,  to turn my attention to another of my passions: marmalade! This is the month for making it, when the bitter Valencia oranges arrive in the shops. My Sunday mornings wouldn’t be complete without three slices of toasted ciabatta topped off with a few spoonfuls. Making marmalade is quite like making gunpowder – there’s always the danger of an explosion! With marmalade, the dangerous bit comes when you have to bring your mixture to a very rapid boil. It’s a good idea to wear an apron because all too often the contents of your foaming cauldron will suddenly burst from the pan and splatter you! Not sure if your marmalade is ready to set? Put a saucer in the fridge, take it out when ice cold and put a teaspoon of the mix on the plate for 30 seconds. If you can hold the plate on its side and the marmalade barely moves, you’re done. One time-saving tip I came across in reading countless recipes concerns the peel. Slicing it into dozens of thin strips takes ages. But if you use a blender, the job is done in seconds. You dont get the strips, of course, but the bits do the same job. There’s something very satisfying about tasting that first mouthful of the new vintage: the bitter, sweet tang that you only get with home-made marmalade!