It was my Hubby’s birthday yesterday and if you regularly read my blog or know me, you will know that my Hubby is the most important person to me in the World, he is my best friend and I love him to bits.

Last year for his birthday I set myself the rather daunting task of making him a three tier chocolate cake, this year because we were going out for dinner and didn’t need a cake, I thought that I would make him some of his much loved marmalade. Oh I do like to set myself up, I didn’t realise just how time consuming and back breaking it would be, but it was worth it to see his face and to be able to make him breakfast in bed with his very own homemade marmalade, made by his Wife’s loving hands made me very happy.
 
Hubby had a lovely birthday, we had a gorgeous meal at Toby Tobin’s restaurant The Dinning Room in Reigate and sat opposite us was Phil Tufnell the ex-cricketer, who was actually being served by Toby Tobin. What was funny was Hubby setting me up telling me to check how much wine we had left in the ice bucket, then realising it wasn’t ours but Phil Tufnell’s !!! Really wouldn’t want to come between him and his wine. Lucky for me he didn’t notice and Hubby found it all rather hilarious.
 
Anyway his birthday isn’t over yet, we have a weekend alone to look forward to, nice meals out and on Sunday I have brought him tickets to go a see the Formula 1 at Silverstone, on the big screen at Oxted Cinema with Olly, beer and snacks included. I’m sure they will have a ball and I don’t have to sit through it thankfully.
 
As I said, making marmalade was time consuming and a bit of a fuss, but very rewarding and the taste makes it all worth while. I am already planning to make grapefruit marmalade and I am also thinking up other ways to jazz it up a bit, maybe some vodka, whisky, that sort of thing.
 
Buon appetito
 
Below is the link for last years mammoth birthday task:
Ingredients
 
6-8 small oranges, weighing about 550g
juice of 1 lemon
1.4 litres water
1.1 kg granulated sugar
 
Method
 
To sterilize jam jars, place them in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer briskly for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the water with tongs and place upside down on a clean surface to dry.
 
Slice the oranges in half. Using a metal spoon, scoop out the flesh over a bowl to collect any juice, leaving the pith behind. Reserve the shells.
 
Put the flesh, juice and pips in a food processor and blend until smooth.
 
Push the purée through a sieve into a preserving pan or large heavy-based saucepan.
 
Now scoop out as much of the pith from the shells as possible. Slice the rind into very thin matchstick strips and add these to the sieved flesh in the pan.
 
Pour in the lemon juice and water.
 
Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the rind is very soft and the mixture has reduced by half.
 
Over a low heat, add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved. Boil for about 10 minutes, skimming off any froth on the surface.
 
After 10 minutes, spoon a little of the marmalade onto a cold plate and place in the fridge. If it sets to a jelly the marmalade is cooked. If necessary, cook for a further 5-10 minutes and test again.
 
Allow the marmalade to cool slightly, then pour into the sterilized jars.