The three lemons we bought the other day were split up one for Alan and two for me, hence there being only two in the photo. Then yesterday I sliced my two into thin slices to go into the freezer ready for my first drink of the morning for the next couple of weeks. I also squeezed the little ends into a glass of water to go alongside my easy peeler, just a tasty little snack while I was on the computer.
Then with so much citrus on my mind I decided to get the two bags of rinds, cores and bits of lemon out of the freezer and start the process of making a batch of Compost Heap Jelly. As you can see it only just fitted into my largest pan, but once it had all thawed and cooked up a bit the lid did eventually come down and sit neatly on the pan. 😀
I left the pan puttering away on a low temperature for about two hours and then turned off the hob and left the pan sat there to gradually cool down over the next couple of hours. Then all the lovely citrussy mush was left to strain slowly through a jelly-bag balanced over my large mixing bowl.
The next morning I had just over a litre of lovely citrus and apple juice all ready for jelly making. For this amount of liquid I used 750g sugar and I also added the last quarter of a jar of pure lemon juice out of the fridge, it was way past it's date and needed using up. We do like a nice tart tasting jelly or marmalade so this seemed like a great idea.
This was all brought to, and then held at, a roaring boil for ten minutes, before testing for the set and then pouring into sterilised hot jam jars.
So just about an hour from start to finish this was the results.
Three and a bit jars for me, and two for Alan who had given me back two jam jars and lent me his large soup pan as mine wasn't big enough for the roaring boil you need for jam and jelly making.
Not a bad hours work, including all the washing up.
The red and white lids are all new, the green one is an old one as I didn't want to waste a brand new lid on that much jelly, and the other was one with a safety seal centre so that I could hear the 'pop' when the jars had successfully sealed ... which they did in a matter of minutes as they began to cool down.
If you fancy having a go yourself I will share this link again. Pam Corbin, the real expert when it comes to all things preserves, making her Compost Heap Jelly ... and explaining it all so much better than I ever could.
Sue xx
Hi, just found you while random blog browsing ... and this sounds fabulous and I am going to give it a go, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my wacky ramblings. It's such an easy and waste-saving way to have lovely jars of spread, I usually do it around twice a year.
DeleteI'm glad your wrote about this before as mine turned out really well too. Stupid thing was that I labelled it Mixed Fruit Jelly so it sounded more appealing for the 2 jars I was including in the Christmas hampers - and then forgot to include them! DUH.
ReplyDeleteMixed Fruit Jelly is a much posher name and more suitable for a hamper, it's sad that you forgot to include them in the actual hampers, but oh well ... all the more for you, which can never be a bad thing. :-)
DeleteWhat a ray of sunshine on a dull morning. We also like tart tasting preserves especially as husband sometimes eats his with cheese. Catriona
ReplyDeleteThis one is beautifully tart thanks to the extra lemon juice that I poured in, so it would go brilliantly well with cheese or meat, something that Alan does with his all the time.
DeleteI used to make lots of preserves years ago, but it's been probably 4 years since I last did. We just don't eat enough jams, marmalades or chutneys now to make it worthwhile - plus I don't have a full cooker anymore - oh, and I can't be bothered! Haha ;-) x
ReplyDeleteI love making something from nothing, and the lovely warmth in the kitchen while this puttered away on the hob made it even more worthwhile in these super chilly days. I will always be bothered to make good food ... and Alan loves it, so worthwhile in so many ways. :-)
DeleteJust the look of those pretty, glistening jars gives me a warm feeling.
ReplyDeleteI've got Pam Corbins book, must dig it out and remind myself of all her lovely recipes.
Alison in Wales x
There's something special about a lovely row of jars of homemade preserve cooling in the kitchen, and even better when they are labelled and lined up in the cupboard ready to bring a little bit of tastiness to a future breakfast. Yes, I have Pam's book too. :-)
DeleteWhat a great way to use up the little bits of fruit that are left and which one does not want to waste.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
It works well, especially as I just collect all the scraps over time in a bag in the freezer until there are enough to fill a pan. :-)
DeleteLooks delicious Sue. I loved Rowntree jelly cubes. I would put one cube into hot water and suck on the jelly cube as it melted, weird of what:)
ReplyDeleteI used to beg a jelly cube off my Mum to eat before she turned all the cubes into a bowlful of jelly to go with evaporated milk for pudding after our Sunday tea. Obviously, now knowing what they are made of I wouldn't do that now. :-)
DeleteHi Sue, just found this new blog! Would you mind if I shared this link on mine (Thrifty Lesley) as an addition to an existing post where I boil up zested and juiced lemon carcasses and blitz them into marmalade. It would make a good additional bit of information for readers
ReplyDeleteApologies, I omitted my name
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