This morning, I measured the liquid from the apple/bramble pulp .........
....... poured it into a large glass bowl, and put it in the microwave on high to come to the boil. Then I added the sugar - the ratio is a pound of sugar per pint of liquid. Once the sugar had been thoroughly stirred in, I put the bowl back in the microwave for about five minutes. By that time a scum had formed on the top, which I simply skimmed off
After boiling the jelly some more, setting point was reached, then I filled the jars and covered them
There was apause in the jelly making at that point, as we popped into Hawick for lunch. We decided to go to the Damascus Drum
There is a small outside seating area, but since the smoking ban, these tables are generally used by smokers!
My lunch was delicious - a 'ploughman's bagel'. Malcolm had a bagel spread with cream cheese, and the same tasty salad
Back home, I made the apple/rosehip jelly, but all did not go to plan! It just didn't want to set. First I added lime juice and boiled it again - still runny. Then I got out the big guns - pectin!
I finally achieved a rather wobbly set - and I had decidedly sticky fingers from all the pokingof my samples to see if they were setting! However, I ended up with another four jars of jelly. The fruit was free, the electricity for the microwave was free, so all I had to pay for was the sugar. I have eight jars of jelly for about £3!!
Years ago, I used to make curries from scratch, using Madhur Jaffrey's book (you can see I still have some recipes marked with bits of paper!)
I used to dry fry the spices, then grind them, and make a paste with onion, garlic and ginger. These days, curry making is much simpler, with a ready made paste for my rogan josh
Soon it was simmering - enough for two meals. We'll have one for dinner tomorrow and the other one will go in the freezer
When we got back from lunch, before I started on the second round of jelly making, I indulged in a bit of fun, inspired by Rachel. It was very simple .... walk 132 steps from the front door, then take a photo. I cheated slightly, as by the time I walked along the path, through the gate and down the drive, I would have used up quite a few of my steps, so I started counting when I stepped out on to the road. The 132 steps didn't take me as far as I thought they would, and when I stopped to take my photo, it was a bit boring
So I went back to the house and walked 132 steps in the other direction - oh dear, it was even more boring
But then, back home ..... this was the view from the front door step
There was one last job to do after the jelly making - giving the 'jeely bag' a thorough wash and hanging it out to drip dry!