I’m the only one in the household who eats marmalade (British parentage, forsooth), It feels like a personal luxury to buy it when I’m in charge of the food budget.

So I’ve just learned to make my own, and am embarrassed to have spent so much money on it in stores over the years.

Here’s all that’s in it:

• An orange (preferably an organic one, so you don’t have to worry about pesticides in the peel).

• Half a cup of brown sugar

• two or three tablespoons of water.

Seriously, that’s it. It doesn’t need to be brown sugar; that’s my own variation. Any sweetener will do.

One orange makes quite a lot of marmalade, and it’s a great smell to have wafting through your kitchen.

I have a small Teflon-coated slow cooker which is ideal for this; I don’t have to keep stirring and scraping a pot on the stove constantly until it’s cooked down. I just set in on high and check it every 15 minutes or so. But that’s all that’s required, anyhow—boil it down until it’s thick but not burned.

Since I’m now making my own peanut butter as well (recipe forthcoming) and have baked all my own bread for years, I am at the peak of self-sufficiency regarding sandwiches.