Marmalade Lady and the Grapefruits of Wrath

**Bugbear** · 21st January 08, 04:54 PM

Had an idea today. I wonder if a grafting knife could be used as a sgian dubh... Although, I use a utility knife a lot more out in the garden. Might be something I'll look into.

Haven't done much today, but I have been hopping around the garden on and off in a kilt and driving hatt. The air quality is bad today, so I've been going easy. I woke up with one of those headaches I get when the weather is going to change. I do have several hard shell gourds out there drying down; I usually don't move them until the seeds rattle. They're all looking good.

Looks like this thread is over for now. Kind of feels like I'm talking to myself at this point, LOL!

**Bugbear** · 26th January 08, 11:09 PM

Just giving this old thread a bump to see if it's dead. Syl and I haven't made the marmalade yet, but there's no hurry I guess.

**Pleater** · 27th January 08, 10:11 AM

Hmm - honey in marmalade is not something I have done or heard about - I am wondering if the heat might change the honey either in flavour, or its enzymes - honey is actually well, not alive, but active, in a way.

If you buy the clear, runny honey and leave it, it reverts back to the opaque stiff form eventually. It has not 'gone off' it is just what honey does.

Personally I would keep things simple and if you want to mix the flavours just put two jars on the table. It would be a shame to lose both the marmalade and the honey if there was some riotous reaction in the jar, or if the process was not successful in some other way.

**Bugbear** · 27th January 08, 11:30 AM

Have a honey marmalade recipe in my notes.

**Pleater** · 28th January 08, 09:32 AM

I had visions of exploding jam jars if the honey was still 'live' and off tastes if it was 'killed' - but if you have a recipe it might, should, have been tested.

I have a recipe for marrow and ginger jam that was quite good. I made it one year when the courgettes got away from me and one of them weighed 6lb. I imagine that you could grow such things easily - as long as you can supply the water.

Here a summer long drought is something for the record books - years ago now there were two dry years together and the country looked very strange, the wrong colour. Then when it rained - and rained - everyone was either moaning about it or predicting disaster.