Jammin'.................

I'm not one for boasting really but I have always said (rather tongue-in-cheek, I may add) that my homemade jam/marmalade/jelly is so good it would win prizes.......well, here's the proof.....

....let me explain...
Way back in the earlier months of the year (January to be precise), my boss persuaded me to enter my marmalade in this year's prestigious marmalade competition so not one to refuse a challenge and adhering to my New Year Resolutions of 'think outside the box and see where it leads' (and before I knew what the New Year really had in store for me!), I set about ordering the best marmalade oranges in the land and picking out the finest among them

before the actual work of turning them into something resembling an award-winning specimen could begin......

     

.....always time to fit in a little knitting to calm the nerves.....

then when everything's been sliced,chopped, (I do all this by hand - although some folks use a 'Magimix' for the purpose - the blisters from chopping are an occupational hazard!)pulped and boiled to setting point, it's time to fill the jars with the amber nectar. Unfortunately, I don't have the pics of this part of the process but you can refer to last year's blog post about making marmalade if you really want to see what the fruits of my labour look like(so to speak)!

Anyway, after I had decided which categories I was entering the marmalade into |'First Timer', because it was the first time I'd entered a competition, not the first time I had made marmalade and 'Family Tree' because the age-old, tried and tested many,many times recipe came from my boss's dear Mother-in-Law who first taught me how to make it many years previously) off the jars went, dressed in their bubble-wrap finery to avoid any catastrophes, on their journey to await scrutiny by the WI judges, who wore white lab coats to carry out the judging - be afraid, be very afraid! Oh, and someone from Fortnum and Mason's was on the judging panel too because the top prize included having your marmalade for sale on their shelves!No pressure then?

Well, needless to say, after the jars departed, never to be seen again, life's events rather overtook any excitement about winning a marmalade competition so it was quite a shock and a very uplifting surprise when the lovely envelope enclosing the awards and my marks (which earned me a Bronze and a Certificate of Merit respectively) dropped through my letterbox a few weeks later. Ok, so I didn't win any major prizes but it was just as if I had and I was ecstatic to receive my 'diplomas' which, of course, are taking pride of place in my kitchen for all the world to see (told you I wasn't much of a boaster|!).

**************

Oh, and just to compensate for not having my jars of golden goodness on the shelves of a prominent and refined West End department store, my boss sent me a hamper filled with the most tantalising culinary tidbits, a few of which are shown below (and a couple of teatowels!).....

...some lovely little Easter puddings (I love the artwork)...

 ...this pudding was delicious...trust me!

...this fancy sealed package actually contains dried pasta!

 ....fancy a cuppa?

...remember to dry up afterwards.

******

I quite enjoyed my 15 minutes of fame and of course, next year I'll be going for gold!

************

Many thanks for all your sweet comments on The Wedding Post. So glad you enjoyed the day too.

********** 

'Til next time.

xxxxooOOooxxxx