Bits and Bobs

I was chuffed. On my way to town today I saw two grey haired ladies out walking, and when I got closer I could see they were clearing up rubbish as they walked along. Yay, good for them. They got the big thumbs up.

LOW SUGAR MARMALADE

I've been doing research to try to find a good recipe for low sugar marmalade as the commercial one isn't that nice. 
The sugar helps the marmalade set, and also stops it going off quickly, so I would need to take that into account. Well I couldn't find a recipe that I was happy with, but found suggestions, like boiling the fruit longer, say 3 hours, to get it to set better, or using low sugar pectin. Some jams used chopped apples because the pectin in them helped the setting, and some used gelatin.
I thought that I would just give a combination of ideas a go - and it worked!

1 grapefruit
1 lemon
1 Granny Smith apple
4 cups water
1 cup sugar
stevia to taste - I used about 1/2 teaspoon

Grate the skins of the citrus, then slice thinly and chop fruit, removing pips.
Peel, core and chop apple finely. Place fruit and water in a large saucepan and boil gently. I only boiled mine for an hour, by which time it was starting to thicken. At this stage add the sugar and sweetener - tasting as you go until you are happy with it. Boil for a further 20-30mins and bottle in sterilized jars. Makes about 5 cups. Keep it in the fridge.

It probably wouldn't win any prizes at the Women's Institute, as it is a bit cloudy, thanks to the apple, but it saves me having to buy it for Derek.

A beautiful Northland Winters' day. The Cabbage Tree is approx 100 years old, and  half has died off, hope the other half hangs on - it wouldn't be the same without it.