Stuck on You

Marmalade Awards 2015

March 2015

Its a long accepted fact that in the Wild Side production process I can claim a certain prowess in the fields of preparation and packaging, but in the the vital areas of cooking and the application of the fairy dust element I have remained uninitiated, till now.

But during a recent period of illness I became bored and spent several mornings preparing a mountain of Seville Oranges, over which Helen would then weave her magic. But then the inevitable happened and she succumbed to my lurgey - rendering her unable to make the planned marmalade.

Rather than abandon all my had won preparation I wondered "just how hard is this preserve making malarkey"? I have watched Helen working over steaming cauldrons so many time I decided to have a go myself. Whilst I did make several batches of Sloe Whisky Seville for sale, I also started to think about the Marmalade awards on my own account.

If she can do it, why cant I?

The various categories were reviewed and my eye was caught by the "First Timers" and the "Man Made" sections. I figured I will always be a man but I can only make marmalade for the first time once. And so a jar of "Andy's Succulent Seville Marmalade" was packaged and sent in for judging.

After several weeks when I had forgotten all about it, I received notification that my rookie marmalade had won a silver award! But I was in good company as all of Helen's five marmalade's had won Silver or Bronze Awards. Come to that, Sue Cook (Indigo Dream) also won a silver this year!

That is probably the end of my amateur marmalade career. By the time we get to next years awards I will be on the threshold of leaving work and, with Wild Side becoming a larger part of our lives, I guess I will be better described as an Artisan.