Week forty-nine

As Christmas/Chanukah approach faster and faster each year, I get this feeling of dread and anxiety in the pit of my stomach when I realise I can no longer put off buying presents.  To be honest, I love buying presents for people - it gives me a lot of joy, but only when I find something truly amazing and perfect for that person.  That certainly doesn't happen easily and not when I'm buying for at least 11 people every year.  Sometimes it just gets a little too much and I always envy these very clever, creative types that make all their presents.  Fancy knitwear, sparkly jewellery, smelly things and arts and crafts.

Well I can't do any of it as I possess none of the skills or for that matter, the time, in which to learn how to make all of these super fancy things.  Courses are long and expensive and are seen perhaps traditionally as a bit dull.  Well not lately.  There has been a trend in craft-making venues popping up all over the place that provide quick but relaxing courses in anything from jewellery making, cupcake decoration, bespoke lamp designing, the list is endless.  I wanted to learn something new, something different and something useful no less.

A friend told me about The Make Lounge, a centre in Islington that was set up by an American journalist, Jennifer Pirtle. When she came to London, she struggled to find courses in basic crafts that weren't really expensive or long and drawn out. So, she set up The Make Lounge and 4 years on, there are over 35 different courses that run.  There are loads that I could have done, but the one that took my fancy the most was jam and chutney making.  I love jam.  I love chutney.  I love scones and jam.  I love cheese and chutney.  Mmmmmm. The decision was made.

On a very cold Saturday afternoon I made my way to Islington and soon found myself staring through the large windows of The Make Lounge, where I saw a large table of ladies in aprons, already inquisitively chatting and getting along.  I was warmly met by the teacher, Jane Montgomery who offered me a cup of tea before I'd even sat down.

8 of us sat along the table with a few utensils and a list of ingredients for the 4 jam and chutneys we were going to make.  Already sweating in a jam pan in front of us was a vat full of chopped red onions for the caramelised red onion chutney that we were going to make.  It smelt so pungent it wrinkled my nose, but it was amazing.

Jane began telling us about what we were going to be doing for the afternoon.  As well as the onion chutney we would be making a sweet chilli jam, apple and blackberry jam and a plum and orange jam.  We started off by chopping all the ingredients for the sweet chilli jam: garlic, ginger, peppers and chilli and added everything to one of the 4 huge pans that sat in front of us.

Jane was incredibly relaxed with her teaching manner and yet she was also very informative, giving us all the basics and the science behind it all.  I had no idea that granulated sugar dissolved quicker than caster sugar - the granules are bigger.....but that also means they have a larger surface area, therefore breakdown more easily.  My years of not really paying attention in physics were coming back to me.  But this time, I was listening and enjoying myself.

We then moved onto the fruit jams and I learned a little more.  Pectin is what makes jam jam.  Its found mainly in citrus fruits and is the gelling agent for jam when heated and mixed with sugar.  That was about as technical as it got but nevertheless, very useful and we started peeling and chopping fruit.

While busy chopping, I asked Jane how long she'd been teaching cooking classes for and to my surprise she told me that she had only trained as a chef 2 years ago.  Before that, she had always worked in advertising.  However, food had always been a passion of hers and so she just gave it all up and went to cooking school.  She now teaches courses, is writing a cookery book and has her own catering company.  I felt rather inspired by her.

After everything was simmering away and all we had to do was keep a watchful eye on all the pans, we all sat drinking wine, eating some delicious bread and cheese and just sat chatting and pottering around.  It was such a welcome change to an every day Saturday afternoon for me, which is invariably either, rushing around trying to see as many people as possible, or sitting around vegging in front of the TV.  This was relaxing stimulation at its best.

Since we were getting to take home all of these lovely jams we were also able to customise the jars.  The Make Lounge is a veritable treasure trove of fabrics, ribbons, buttons and other haberdashery goodies.  I felt like I was 8 again, using a circular template to cut around my fabric which formed the top of my jars. I couldn't help spying on everyone else and seeing what colours of ribbons and fabrics they had used.  Jane said that everyone always gets "jar envy".

Soon enough, we were checking to see whether our concoctions were ready.  For fruit jams, there is a simple test you can do.  You layer a very small amount of the jam on a pot, scrape it back with your finger and if it doesn't recede, its ready.  This is called the wrinkle test.  Obviously we left enough bread and cheese so that we could try all of our yummy creations before potting up and I have to say, I was rather impressed.

Making jam is definitely not as hard as you would think - you just need a little bit of time.  I told my Mum I was going to be learning how to make it and she told me she had actually never made jam as my Grandma always used to make it for her.  Well, instead of me teaching my Mum how to make it, I'll just make it for her.  Although I'm not sure that I'm actually going to give any of these away as presents - they just look too good.

If you want to learn how to make jam or anything else for that matter, check out The Make Lounge's workshop calendar here. There are so many things to choose from and regardless of how good you are or what you end up making, you'll have a great time.

Next week I'll be recounting a Xmas party, where we hired a house to have it in.  Debauched times ahead.