A tried and Tested Marmalade Recipe.

This is the recipe I've been using for decades- so old that it's still in imperial- like my kitchen scales.

2lb Seville oranges
2 lemons
4 pints water
4lb sugar

Wash the oranges and lemons. Put whole fruit and water into a jam/ preserving pan and cover with a lid or tin foil. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for about an hour and a half until the fruit is soft.

Remove fruit from pan and place in a bowl. Retain the water / juice in the pan. Using a sharp kitchen knife and a fork to hold the fruit, slice the peel into desired thickness. I tend to do this by quartering each fruit, then scraping out the flesh, pips and pith. Put the pips aside to use later. We like the peel very fine "shred"- which makes the cutting process long and tedious- but I make this a little easier by using the fork to hold several pieces of peel together, then slicing through all of these at the same time.

Do NOT discard the pith as this gives the characteristic bitterness. Once all the pips have been assembled, put them all back into the retained water in the pan and boil for ten minutes (this is important in helping the marmalade set as you are harvesting pectin from the pips) Remove the pips from the water, then return the cut fruit back into this water. Bring to the boil, then add the sugar, stirring over a gentle heat until the sugar is all dissolved- making sure you don't leave any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan.

 Then boil rapidly- stirring only if it looks like it might burn- for about 30 mins or until the setting point of approx 220 F is reached. When set a small amount on a cold saucer will wrinkle when allowed to cool and pushed with finger.  

Put into clean, jars that have been preheated in a warm oven. I usually stand these on a wooden board covered in clean paper to make catching spills easier and clearing up less of a sticky nightmare! Use a ladle to fill jars. Cover with waxed discs of paper and put lids onto jars while still hot for a good seal.

This makes about 10 jars- depending on the size obviously!

Made March Hares

As a landscape painter, I realise that I've become increasingly aware of changes in the seasons and weather, which affect what I see in the countryside around me. I'm getting better at anticipating when I'm likely to see a particular flower in bloom or trees losing or gaining their leaves. I know when I can expect to see new lambs- and to expect to have to drive more carefully to avoid their random dashes onto unfenced roads.
I also seem to have developed some Spring rituals of my own...  one of which is to go hare hunting.  Not with a gun of course, but with a patience, binoculars, camera, sketchpad and warm clothing to allow for sitting/standing perfectly still. I have some favourite places to go hare hunting- where I know that if I'm lucky I can get quite close to them without alarming them and causing them to run. I hope you'll excuse me if I don't share the exact whereabouts!

Designing my new series of "Paisley Hares"
In celebration of hares I've seen... and those I hope I'm going to see... my next exhibition is called "Made March Hares" and it features hare inspired jewellery, ceramics and prints, which have been created specially for the occasion. 

Ceramic wall hanging hares after being individually hand painted in underglaze colours- but prior to glaze firing.

Glazed hares.

Made March Hares opens on Tues 28th Feb and runs until Saturday 28th April