A stripped bed means

@KenH

Thanks for your quickie marmalade recipe! I have copied it into my collection of “must try” recipes. Honest-to-Pete, I have never heard of grapefruit marmalade and I have a two trees (Ruby Red and Pink). I also have two trees of Valencia oranges, a Meyer Lemon tree and a Bearrs Lime. I only have oranges and football-sized Ruby Reds on the trees now but I’m excited to try them out. (I remember the days of Pectin and stirring over the stove.)

I’ve got my work cut out for me.

I love Meyer lemon marmalade and make tons of it in January when my organic farmer’s crop is ready to harvest. My mother alone can consume this by the quart. My recipe is not quick, however.

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Marmalade making seems to have become a competitive sport among male retirees of my acquaintance here in Spain (and of course we have the Seville oranges) so I’m never short of different varieties for guests … the French are quite delirious about it and I usually have to give them a jar to take home …

I make jam the same method as yours, but with less jam (about half weight of fruit), so since it obviously doesn’t keep as well I freeze it in small portions (ice cube trays) and defrost it into mini Kilner-type jars (US bail jars?). I’m interested that you use Splenda … do you find it sets as well as sugar, and do you add pectin?

Oh, and @jaquo, I knew you were my long-lost twin … Marmite … hate, hate, HATE!

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I remember Marmite though I’ve only tasted it once (in Australia). Dark, viscous and rather salty. (Excuse me, I just scraped my tongue across my teeth and gave an involuntary shudder.)

The memory lingers.

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@Evelyn; most states and cities (including New York) allow a Personal Chef to prepare food for a client, in their home, without requiring any sort of licensing, commercial kitchens or any other sort of nonsense. I know a couple of PCs in NYC who only carry their knives from job to job, as the clients have purchased for them all the other tools and equipment and keep it at their homes. That’s what I’m legally doing here, providing food for a client, preparing it in their home… Who eats the food is irrelevant.

Other than shopping (which I do every couple days for the house anyway), my time is less than 30 minutes per day.

@SandyToes – Ruby Reds make WONDERFUL marmalade! So do Meyer Lemons! Marmite is English; Vegemite is the nasty Aussie stuff. I don’t mind Marmite, but prefer Bovril instead.

@Malagachica – Splenda sets just as easily as a sugared recipe. As long as you have all the peel of the fruit you do not need additional pectin; pectin occurs in naturally large quantities in the skin of citrus fruit That’s why this recipe works so well with citrus, but not with other fruits (which do not contain enough pectin naturally to thicken),

Whack! That’s the sound of my hand hitting the side of my head because you’re right…I meant it was Vegemite that I tasted, not Marmite. I’ve not yet had the (urp!) pleasure of slathering it on a nice piece of toast.

I think I’ve seen or used Bovril…some sort of beef paste or flavoring, I think. But I may be wrong there as well.

The contents of my cupboard :slight_smile:

Bovril is just the meat version of marmite. Very very good on toast.

I did have some marmite XO at one point but it was so delicious i ate it all…

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Definitely not one for the vegetarians:

Nice pics! The products have me curious as to what they taste like but…perhaps not that curious.

I’m trying to think of something nice to say…uh, I know! Those are really cute jars!

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Generally they say if you didn’t have these items as a child you will struggle to find the appeal in adulthood.

Marmite’s strapline? You love it or hate it.

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Wow, amazing menu!!!

If you didn’t have it as a child, “you will struggle to find the appeal in adulthood.” Ooo…great phraseology!

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I’ve only had 3 guests strip the bed, and twice it was because they were hiding stains. So I have it in my checkout guidelines not to strip the bed (but worded in a way that makes it sound like I want them to have a relaxed check out!). So much easier to treat stains as I’m stripping the bed and not having to search in balled up icky sheets!

Where’s the vegemite?!?

Ken I am very impressed that you do all this and know where I will be booking if I travel to your neck of the woods! Out of interest, do you have to get some kind of certification to serve food? Also, if you don’t mind sharing, what budget do you allow for food?

Yuck. That’s all I’m gonna say. You’ve gone to the dark side @Kirsty_Jane!!! :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes::stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes::stuck_out_tongue:

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@anon20475376, As I mentioned above, I am a trained Personal Chef and member of the US Personal Chef Association. But that is not required anywhere in this country to call yourself a Personal Chef. It does give me a good knowledge-base of the field and what can and cannot be done. Some counties/states may require you to have a Food Handler’s or Food Managers’s Certificate, but those area low cost tests of safe food handling information and skills – min/max temperatures to store and cook foods, sanitation, best practices in kitchen safety, etc.

I don’t budget for food per se. But I do food cost analysis regularly. I know for example that eggs cost me 33 cents currently, a slice of the “good” multigrain bread that I buy for toast is 14 cents, challah bread for French toast is 46 cents a slice, etc. The same for sausage, bacon, fruits and other items I serve. I know how much a serving of each of my menu items costs, and I try to keep that under $2.50 per serving.

Living in Florida, I’m lucky that I can often get different fruits for free from neighbors, friends, etc. Or by “gleaning” – there are banana trees nearby in a local power company right of way; likewise a starfruit tree, a couple mango, feral orange and grapefruit trees that are “freerange” not in anyone’s orchard.

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Love it “freerange” You can always say farm to table… hehe

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What’s marmite gold?? I’ve been out of the uk too long!

It’s aged marmite with gold flecks. Not as aged as marmite XO

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