Marmalade and noises off

 I finally got around to making the marmalade from the can of  mix I've had waiting on the shelf since the last batch. 

This is wonderful stuff, the mix being genuine seville oranges, bitter as how's your father, which you boil with sugar and  a bit of water.

 I only needed half a batch, so, the mix being in a can, I guessed at half then measured with a ruler to be fairly sure.

Likewise figuring half a bag of sugar labeled in pounds  with no scale, involved some counting cups and dividing. The water was an imperial pint needing to be halved, but they obligingly listed it in ml too, so I did that. 

Then finally got the stuff assembled, and boiling merrily, foaming up to where I had to drop in the knob of butter to contain the foam. This is, along with making toffee and deep fat frying, one of the more hazardous activities in the kitchen.

So it was exactly when my neighbor texted to say their water was off , (probably further chapter in the saga of the washing machine) and could she borrow my hose.

Well, I had to explain it was now a sprinkler system and couldn't be moved, but if she could unscrew it at the faucet, she could bucket water home.  She hasn't come over yet so maybe she's not up for it. 

I did mention I couldn't leave the stove because marmalade. Amazing how often people urgently need stuff when you're timing boiling marmalade or frying something tricky or up a stepladder fixing curtains. Hardly ever when you're sitting reading. The picture above is after the unstirdownable point, too busy texting then (!)  to take a pic, here it's boiling more gently, lower flame.

Anyway I followed their testing method -- some marmalade in a saucer in the fridge, test for wrinkles.

 I usually just estimate, using the big metal spoon approach -- dip it in, let it drain off, observe if it separates into separate drips. That's the done point. The wrinkles in the saucer happened, and I tested it with my spoon, too, same result.

Poured it into the three jars I'd had boiling merrily with their lids all the while.

This should last for quite a few breakfasts. Allowing for sharing with neighbors. For people clutching their pearls -- all that sugar!!-- just a note that I spread about a teaspoon a day on my breakfast toast. Not too dangerous.