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.