WE ALL love the taste of something homemade and handmade, it gives you the feeling of quality as you taste and the maker the feeling of pride that appreciation is shown to their creation. Follow these three little recipes and create your own tastes and flavours and savour as you both enjoy the eating and watch as others appreciate your work.

A simple chutney

Perfect for cheeses, curry or served with your favourite cold meats.

WHAT YOU NEED

600mls Pickling vinegar

900g tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped

900g cooking apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped

225g raisins

225g sugar

2tsp Salt

2 large onions, diced

WHAT TO DO

Place all of the ingredients in a large saucepan. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 1-1/2 to 2 hours until all the ingredients are soft and there is no excess liquid remaining.

Spoon into warm jam jars and cover immediately.

Lemon curd

There’s lots to do with lemon curd, from tarts, pies and cakes to trifle, why not revert to its original traditional roots and spread it on a warm scone.

WHAT YOU NEED

100g sugar

2 Large lemons

4 Egg yolks

100g Unsalted butter

WHAT TO DO

Finely grate the rind of the lemons and squeeze them to extract the juice. Mix the grated rind with the sugar. Add the lemon juice to the egg yolks and whisk until evenly blended. Pour over the sugar mixture. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the egg mixture. Place in the top saucepan of a double boiler and heat gently until thickened, approximately 15 minutes. This recipe produces a jam jar size of lemon curd that is quite thick once cooled. Once opened, refridgerate and use within two weeks.

Citrus marmalade

Nothing says good morning like a zingy marmalade on toast served with fresh tea or coffee.

WHAT YOU NEED

3 limes

2 lemons

2 grapefruits

2 oranges (Seville if available)

1200g sugar

WHAT TO DO

Scrub and clean the fruit. Peel the fruit as if for eating and then cut the peel into thin strips, removing any excess pith. Cut the flesh into chunks.
Place the flesh and peel in a pan, add 1 litre of water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer for 1 - 1½ hours until contents reduced by 1/3.
Remove the pan from the heat, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Return the pan to the heat and bring to the boil. Boil for 10 - 20 minutes depending on depth of colour required.
Boil the marmalade rapidly for an additional 10 minutes, then test for set and if necessary boil until desired set reached.
As soon as the setting point has been reached, remove pan from heat. Allow to stand for 15 minutes.
Stir well then pour into warmed sterilised jars and cover immediately. Once the marmalade has cooled, place in a cool, dark place. Refrigerate once opened.