Well it’s still too cold to garden properly.  I have nipped out for a quick tidy between cold snaps and to dig up leeks or carrots when the ground is not frozen and checked on my tender plants overwintering in the potting shed under their blanket of hessian but I am itching to get outside and do things, anything.  So to stop my itchy feet I have decorated the house for Christmas.  Each year I pull my swags and wreaths out of their boxes and decorate them in a different way.  I have a white stick wreath that I made years ago from birch sticks wired together and then sprayed.  This year I have entwined red pyracanthus berries, red and gold ribbon and gold sprayed berries.  I also wrapped little lights around.  This has been hung in pride of place on the front door for all to see.  I expect if the birds get really hungry they might eat the berries!  I carried on putting up bits here and there until every room in the house has a display or something Christmassy.  I had a wonderful time.

This years Christmas Wreath

I also get really homely at this time of year and want to cook more than normal, making flapjacks, cakes, jams and pickles.  I think its the idea that we might get snowed in again and need lots of food in the larder to see us through.  So today I am going to make some Clementine jam and this is the receipe.

450g Clementines, 1 Lemon, 675g Jam sugar, clean used jam jars.

Wash Clementines and squeeze out the juice into a pan then scrap the juicy bits out with a spoon and add to the juice with 280ml of water, bring to the boil.  Simmer for half an hour, topping up the water if it  starts to dry out.  Cut up the skin and place in a pan of water and simmer until tender, this will take about 2 hours or you can use a pressure cooker for 10mins.  Drain the skins, keeping the liquid and cut them into strips.  Seive the juicy liquid pushing all the bits through the seive then combine both liquids in a jam pan ( or large saucepan ) with the jam sugar.  Warm gently until the sugar dissolves.  Add the chopped skins and the lemon juice and boil until setting point is acheived.  Test a drop of the liquid on a cold plate to see if it will set.  Allow to cool for 5 to 10 mins, stir and put into clean jam jars.  I always clean mine just before using in the dishwasher.

This is a lovely jam to eat on Christmas morning or to give as presents,  all thats left to say is have a wonderful Christmas and  hears to lots of happy gardening in 2011