Quite a lot of times some of you have asked me where do I get the ideas from. Well, now this blog is about to be 1 year old I’ll make a confession: I spend the whole day thinking about food. As soon as I’m out of bed I start wondering what I’m going to have for breakfast.

A good coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice and a warm croissant with melted butter is my idea of a perfect one. However, since I need to be off to work at 6.30, I hardly have more than a couple of bites of toast and some milk.

Then I start thinking about lunchtime, how long it  will it take until midday, what I will have, when, with who. Lunching with my peeps is definitely the best thing of my job. After having my lunch I start thinking in the amazing snack I’m going to prepare for my boys after school. And then I check what is available in the fridge and what I am going to cook for dinner. After that I just keep on thinking about food until I’m in bed where, to be perfectly honest I quite often dream about food.

Tiramisu

Things are getting out of hand.

The whole marmalade thing is really affecting me. It is affecting my husband. It is even affecting my neighbours.

But even more worrying... I believe it is deeply affecting my sons.

While I'm writing this they are playing... how to express this... well, they are playing jam-battle. Literally they are playing a game where one of them shoots jam at the other one, then the first one does a somersault, and then the first one in getting up again wins. Eek.

Strawberry & Nectarine Sangria

The last few weeks have been completely hectic. Not that I don't like the buzzing feeling, but this week I feel I just need to sit down and share some of the news here in marmalade land. Or maybe I just need to sit down. Oh sofa, I miss you so much!

Anyway…  As you know, we are now selling our jams through some new amazing stockists, including Not On The High Street, one of the coolest online market places of all times. This is keeping us reeeeeally busy, with new customers all around the UK and Europe.

Amazingly, we have made it through to the Semi-Finals of the NatWest Venus Awards Devon 2014 in the category of Green Business Award. This is probably because we are deeply committed to people and the environment: all our ingredients come from sustainable, respectful, Fairtrade and responsible sources. We invest in our community buying from local producers, farmers and shops across Devon and Cornwall. All our jars come from recycled glass and all our boxes, paper and packaging are recycled or come from FSC certified companies.

Custard Egg Tarts

My 4-and-a-half year old is starting primary school this week. No matter how much I have prepared myself, I still feel like I'm not ready.

In a few days he will be a big boy. Dressed up in his brand new uniform, feeling excited and nervous. And I’ll spend the whole day thinking about what he’s doing, what he’s thinking, if he’s ok, if he’s eating his lunch, if he misses me and his dad and his brother.

He’s dreaming about being an inventor, a pilot, a scientific. Just 4 years old and he’s interested in electricity, DNA codes, machinery. He’s a clever, patient, intelligent, generous boy.

Roast Beetroot, Ricotta & Pastrami Roulade

I'm sorry.

Please, accept my apologies, I misjudged you.

All these years I kept you away from me. I declined, in a very polite way. I thought I was doing the right thing. But now I can see that was a big mistake. Sorry, beetroot. Forgive me for ignoring you, bypassing your existence, even (this is embarrassing) encouraging others to do the same. Apologies for being a hater. A massive one.

Gooseberry & Mackerel Ceviche

Luck. This is the word I've been hearing the most over the last few weeks. 

How lucky you are. How jammy can you get. You was born under a lucky star. You always come up smelling of roses. 

And I indeed feel fortunate. But to be honest, I know little or nothing about luck. I've never relied on it and I’m afraid of people who do.

So that’s it. I don’t believe in luck. I believe in hard work and in being ready to take advantage of opportunity. To overcome the bad times

Currants and Clotted Cream Parcels

What would the house of your dreams look like? That was the title of a post from a blog I follow. I’m afraid the text is in Spanish, but in summary the author poses the question and then talks about how probably most of the readers would imagine all sort of houses: big expensive houses with huge gardens and a heated pool, great cottages with loads of land, small cosy modern lofts… But all of them will have something in common: all of them will be feasible, doable and buildable in the real world.

I need to admit I imagined the house of my dreams. And it was pretty feasible (in a world where all money is available). Not too large, detached house, with 4 or 5 bedrooms, the top one being dormered, a huge kitchen with masses of cupboards, drawers and storage systems, pans and pots hanging on the ceiling, two ovens, an AGA kitchen and of course a Kitchen Aid!!!!!!  And I would kill for a cherry pit remover machine. There will be hidden corridors, passages and trap doors with slides and intricate stairs throughout the inner house. It would also have a great garden with all sort of flowers and a huge tree house on an ancient tree. There will be lots of windows with all sort of shapes everywhere. And a wooden mailbox.