PRESERVING MARMALADE APPEAL
The first time I fell in love was at a Howard Johnson’s restaurant, and it was with marmalade. With their striking orange roofs and booths, Howard Johnson’s restaurant chains were everywhere in 1960s New England. They served BLT sandwiches and big slices of pie to hungry travelers, but breakfast included baskets brimming with miniature jars of colorful preserves. While my parents chose strawberry jam, and my sister lathered her toast with grape jelly, I opted for orange marmalade.
Marmalade may seem like an unusual choice for a child, but it combined two of my favorite things — oranges and British culture. The taste of marmalade filled my head with visions of thatched cottages, and tea with crumpets. To fully enjoy crumpets, you need a bittersweet marmalade (some clotted cream would be nice, too).
My grandmother made jars of jam and jelly every summer, but no one in the family made marmalade, so I depended on Howard Johnson’s for my
