Go on a course: MARMALADE MAKING

JUST APPROACHING ALL HALLOWS FARM, an impressive 17th-century red-brick building in the depths of the Dorset countryside, is a lovely way to begin one of Lisa Osman’s courses. Walking up to the front door, past her free-ranging flock of Light Sussex hens, I was given a warm West Country welcome. An award-winning caterer, certified cooking teacher and employed by Aga to pass on her specialist skills, Lisa knows her way around the kitchen. It wasn’t long before she was teaching me professional knife skills (harder than they look) as I finely sliced up the skins of Seville oranges. The marmalade-making process was more complex than I expected, but Lisa explained it well and soon there was a pan simmering on the AGA, filling the kitchen with aromatic steam. Meanwhile, we used the time to knock up some English muffins and whip up some fresh ‘farmhouse’ butter. A staunch supporter of local produce, Lisa likes to use her cooking to showcase the wonderful ingredients created in Dorset, including what she grows in her garden. My marmalade needed to be left with Lisa to ‘set’, so at the end of the lesson we enjoyed one of her award-winning preserves on muffins hot from the oven. Then, a week later, I was thrilled to receive in the post a gleaming amber jar that I had created.

A two-day course, including accommodation and meals, is £450 for two (allhallowsfarmhouse.co.uk).