The bliss of citrus

Sometimes in the mornings I need a boost  that goes beyond the reach of coffee to really alert me to the possibilities of the day ahead. There are days that appear so gloomy first thing,  that it really takes the kick of  tangy citrus to remind me that sunshine still exists even if it is not streaming through my window. The popularity of marmalade at breakfast tells me I am not alone in this feeling.
The top five in my all time best ever marmalades would be home-made ones. That is not to say all home- made marmalade is better than all commercially made marmalade. (My first attempt is a case in point. Can we just say it was a salutary lesson in the value of pith, pips and pectin and leave it at that?) My point is that having a go at making your own could be very rewarding - provided you follow a good recipe to the letter! And 'sworn by' recipes abound and with a vast array of methods, one is bound to work for you.
My mother makes a version which involves cutting the fruit into quarters, taking out the pips and blitzing all the rest with a some  water in a liquidiser  before cooking it. It tastes good and achieves a set you could probably slice.  Spread on thick slices of granary bread and washed down with a mug of tea it is just the thing to set you up for the day, especially when you have your pruning knife in one pocket, the keys to the tool-shed in the other and wellies waiting by the back door.
There are more leisurely days though, when  more elegant little spoonfuls of amber gel are called for. They  will be dolloped onto soft rolls or crisp toast while you plan to spend time in a garden where somebody else wears the wellies and wields the spade, hoe and topiary shears. To prepare for this, I would turn to Nigel Slater. Yes, the recipe takes time and effort so it  is only for you if you are after the buzz of making something delicious from scratch and providing you haven't left it too late to find the Seville oranges in the shops. 
(Word of Friendly Advice: Find a large enough piece of muslin to hold all the pith and pips of all the fruit you use in the initial boiling up!)
Now having made all that delicious marmalade there may come a time when you feel you could do with that citrus lift mid-afternoon and some how, Paddington Bear's predilections not withstanding, marmalade on toast at 3 in the afternoon seems inappropriate. Sparing a couple of spoonfuls of your precious hoard to make some biscuits might be the answer.

Oat and Orange Biscuits

Ingredients

125g butter
3 tablespoons marmalade
1 Teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda
1and 1/2 Tablespoon of boiling water
125g Porage Oats
150g plain flour
90g dessicated coconut
80g demerara sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 160 deg C. Lightly grease 2 baking trays.
2. In a large bowl mix together the oats, flour, coconut and sugar.
3. Gently melt the butter until it is liquid then stir in the marmalade. You can do the melting in a small pan on the stove or in a bowl in the micro-wave. Either way don't let it start to bubble or brown.
4. Add the liquid to the dry mixture.
5. Blend the baking soda and boiling water together and then add to the rest.
6. Mix it all together. It will be a fairly dry crumbly mixture and you may need to add tiny amounts of water just until it starts to hold together. Just don't over do it!
7. Take heaped teasponfuls of the mixture and squeeze until it makes a lump. Place this on the baking tray and flatten it down. Continue until all the mix is used, making sure you allow some room for spreading during the cooking.
8. Cook for 15 - 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and use a spatula to ease them from the tray onto a cooling tray. They will be very brittle at this stage so handle carefully.
9. When cool they can be stored in an airtight jar. They keep well. Makes about 30.

Serving Suggestion: Take a small tray and add  a couple of these biscuits along with tea (in your favourite cup) and a well- loved read. Withdraw to somewhere quiet and cosy and wait for spring to shake off the last vestiges of hibernation in the garden. The forsythia is flaunting its wake-me-up yellow. It can't be long now.