Apart from warming casseroles and soups, and every possible excuse to spend an afternoon baking, winter in my Gozo kitchen is a time for making preserves, especially marmalade. And how not? I see oranges in profusion on my neighbour’s trees. Local lemons are coming down in price and going up in ripeness. Grapefruit are always available and limes increasingly so.

Making marmalade is not difficult, just somewhat time-consuming, thus it is worth preparing plenty of it. All that is required is a pan and a measuring jug together with a long-handled spoon, suitable jars and closures and plenty of patience. And at the end of the process you will be left with the glowing satisfaction of having filled jars and jars for your store cupboard, as well as for presents.

Quantities can never be exact. For example, you might simmer the fruit longer than I do. They might need it if they are less than fresh. Thus, more water will evaporate in cooking them. You might push more pulp through your sieve than I do. That affects overall weight. Your fruit might contain more juice and/or pectin than mine. If, as I sometimes do by mistake, you use too small a pan, you will have to let it off the boil occasionally to stop it bubbling over. All this affects cooking time and quantities of sugar and water.

An extremely rich and luscious, and rather quicker, alternative to marmalade, fruit curds are something of a luxury. The essential ingredient is a sharp, acidic fruit to act as a foil to the suave, velvety blend of eggs, butter and sugar.

Bitter oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit and passion fruit are perfect. As for raspberries, strawberries and even blood oranges, all of which I have seen in curd recipes, I find they are they are too bland to provide a contrast. There are many other better uses for these fruit.

The essential part of the method is the continuous stirring over gentle heat, ensuring that the mixture does not curdle. A bain-marie or water bath is the answer. Doing this in a china bowl set over a saucepan of water and stirring with a wooden spoon can take 45 minutes or so. In a small stainless steel saucepan set inside a larger saucepan of water and beating with an electric stick blender, the whole process takes less than 10 minutes.

As well as the more traditional breakfast and teatime uses, you can also use the curd to make a number of easy, yet luxurious chilled or iced puddings, such as soufflés, parfaits and ice creams.

Because, unlike jam, curd is not made for long storage at ambient temperature, I prefer to pot it in small (250 grams or even smaller) jars, or to keep the curd in an airtight plastic container in the fridge.

The curd also freezes very well. You could take a large ice cube tray and freeze portions of curd in each space, then store the frozen cubes in a freezer bag. Fresh curd does not keep long, no more than four weeks, and it must be kept in the coldest part of the refrigerator.

In addition, the freshest possible eggs should be used, but even though they undergo some heat treatment, this is not enough to kill bacteria. The eggs should be regarded as being raw. Therefore the usual warnings about consumption of raw eggs apply. No one with immunity deficiency, the very old, the very young or pregnant women should consume any of the curds.

And since we have the jars and preserving pans out, and the season is right, it’s time to preserve some vegetables.

My friend, Mary Grace, uses the local artichokes, of which one sees fields and fields in winter and early spring, to make these delicate pickles. I added the fennel flowers, which give the pickle a subtle hint of anise. These artichokes are delicate enough in flavour to use in pasta with prawns.

Pickled artichokes and fennel flowers

(Makes 1 litre)

1kg baby artichokes
250g Gozo salt
1l water
500ml white wine vinegar
250ml white wine
2 tbsps fennel seeds
1 tbsp white peppercorns
250g granulated sugar
75ml olive oil
6 to 8 fennel flower heads

Artichokes discolour quickly when cut surfaces are exposed to the air, so have a bowl of water with a generous splash of lemon juice into which you drop each artichoke as you prepare it.

Remove the outer leaves from the artichokes and put them in the acidulated water.

When all are prepared, drain them and put them in a glass or plastic bowl. Mix the salt and water, pour over the artichokes, cover the bowl loosely with a clean tea towel and leave for 24 hours.

Meanwhile, boil the vinegar, wine, fennel seeds, peppercorns and sugar and put to one side.

Rinse the artichokes and put them in a non-reactive saucepan with this sweet spiced vinegar. Bring to the boil and boil the artichokes for two to three minutes until just softening, but not cooked through.

Drop in the fennel flowers. Remove the pan from the heat. Pack the artichokes and flowers into sterilised hot preserving jars, with non-reactive lids. Shake the jars to ensure there are no air bubbles, topping up with vinegar if necessary.

Make sure the artichokes are submerged in the liquid then float a layer of olive oil on top. Seal and label the jars.

Try to keep for a month before using.

Pink grapefruit with lemon marmalade

(Makes 3 x 500g jars or equivalent)

2 large pink grapefruits
2 large lemons
1.5l water
1 kg preserving sugar

Scrub the fruit well, rinse, and put in a lidded saucepan with the water. Cook gently, covered, for about three hours or until absolutely soft. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool, overnight if this is convenient.

Halve the fruit, scoop out the pulp and seeds into a sieve, set over a wide pan. Rub through and add the cooking liquid and the sugar. Heat gently, and when the sugar has dissolved, boil for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, finely slice the grapefruit peel, or process for a few seconds in the food processor. Stir this into the boiling sugar syrup. Continue cooking just until the marmalade reaches setting point, 112˚C. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to stand for 10 minutes to distribute the peel evenly.

Pot the marmalade in hot, sterilised jars, seal and label.

Lemon or bitter orange curd

3 lemons or bitter oranges
2 or 3 sugar lumps
175g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 eggs, well beaten with 1 tbsp orange flower water and sieved

Grate the zest from the citrus fruit and rub the sugar lumps firmly over the skin to get any last drops of essential fragrant oil. Halve and squeeze the fruit. Put the zest, sugar lumps, orange flower water and juice in a double boiler or in a stainless steel saucepan, set inside a larger saucepan half filled with simmering water.

Add the eggs, butter and sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Continue cooking gently, and stir until the mixture thickens. Remove the pan from the heat. Spoon the curd into warm, sterilised jars, cover and seal immediately. Label, refrigerate and use within four weeks.