Make It Festive: Leftover Luxury

I try to reduce waste as much as possible. It saves money while helping the planet so seems to be a no-brainer.

I’m a big fan of satsumas and their clan, but they generate a lot of peel at this time of year. Cheap bulk buy offers mean they can end up lingering too long in fruit bowls too.

However, though old satsumas can lack flavour uncooked, sugar can make a world of difference to aging citrus fruit. Marmalade is a great way to #MakeItFestive on a budget.

I use a cheat’s version, rather than faffing around with thermometers. This means you can use any leftover fruit and peel you have rather than worrying about the weight too much.

When making this batch, I chopped 6 satsumas finely, skin and all (after washing) and added segments of another 6 satsumas as I prefer a sweeter, less peel filled marmalade. Then, it was just a case of boiling in water for an hour, adding sugar by eye (roughly equivalent amounts of sugar to orange) and boiling then simmering for another hour or so.

When making marmalade, stir regularly to avoid the marmalade sticking – and appreciate the aroma.

I still have some spiced orange vodka from last year, which would make a fun addition to marmalade, if possibly only for a particularly festive breakfast. You can add vanilla pods or honey, or keep things simple.  Finally, decant into sterilised jars.

Twelve satsumas made four small (spice) jars of marmalade – one for a future breakfast and the rest to be added to the ‘gift larder’.

I’ve saved the extra peel, which will be shredded and added to toiletries (such as yesterday’s bath balm baubles). I’ll post more recipes for these soon.