[sunshineband]

Hmm quince jelly, not seen any about for sale or been offered any freebies this year😞

I had about 8 from a friend at the plot. The last four went in the jelly with a few small apples in the box. Only got three little jars though so it is not on the list for hampers for people this year 😉

[Beekissed]

First batch of the season....more to go.  Chicken, stock and schmaltz.   Nothing like a retired, fat layer hen to produce good schmaltz! 

[Beekissed]

Not as lovely as jams and such, but still a certain beauty to this chicken stock....





Canned chicken...old hens on the left, young cockerels on the right.



Rendered fat on top of the stock, chilled in the fridge over night so as to make removal easier...

[New shoot]

Well I thought I had done, but got another spark of inspiration today 

Quince gin strained and decanted into pretty bottles for gifts.  Then it seemed such a shame to bin those quince chunks, I ended up making quince cheese.  I am amazed so much fruit and sugar ended up as just 3 small jars and a moulded shape, but it is so rich and delicious, I don't care   



The cheese looks quite dark in the jars, but when the light is behind it, its a lovely colour.  This bowl has now been topped off with greaseproof paper and is maturing in the fridge. My recipe says it needs 4-6 weeks so just in time for the cheese and cold meat after winterval    The jars were all going to be gifts, along with the gin, but I may need to keep at least one for myself 

[chrissie B]

That is a nice colour very festive.
chrissie b

[chrissie B]

Just found a recipe for gooseberry and gin only makes a small ammount so going to try it .
chrissie b

[snowdrops]

Three fruit marmalade

[snowdrops]

Seville marmalade

[snowdrops]

First batch of black currant & redcurrant jam

[snowdrops]

Red currant jelly with port

[jaydig]

That all looks wonderful, especially the Seville marmalade. What a lovely colour. Did you make that from fresh Seville oranges or from the tinned ones?   I must admit that I never think to make marmalade, and yours looks so impressive.

[snowdrops]

Thank you, the colour is lovely. Yes from fresh Seville oranges, there's 2 batches there cooked as one

[New shoot]

What a lovely lot of jars 

Was the rest of the fruit all from the freezer?  The marmalade does look very appealing, but the redcurrant jelly with port grabbed my attention - yum 

[snowdrops]

Yes red currants,black currants all from the freezer, some was 2016 fruit & lots 2015, that I just didn't get to use one way or another. I've still got cherries, raspberries & blackberries in the freezer, but they go very nicely in pies. I really want to learn how to bottle some as that will save space in the freezer. Today I finished the whitecurrant jelly, I added Rosemary to that, so I'll see whether that's a winner, if not I think I'll mix them in with either the redcurrants or the cherries another time

[snowdrops]

Today's white currant with Rosemary jelly, not sure what this will be like, I used the same recipe as for the red currant jelly but added a few sprigs of Rosemary in when I cooked the currants then added finely chopped rosemary for the last 10 minutes or so of cooking once the sugar was in