BRIT Award Nominee to Endorse Marmalade?

Rumours have reached Marmaland that a leading marmalade manufacturer is considering approaching soul singer Lemar Obiki with a sponsorship offer.

It is thought that the deal would see 27 year old Lemar become the 'face' of a new product launch in the preserve market.

It is not known if Lemar, who got his big break after he was runner up in BBC reality TV programme Fame Academy in 2002 has already been approached with the deal.

But our source tells us that the London based PR team who pitched the idea in December are confident that Obiki can bolster flagging marmalade sales by reaching a younger audience.

Excited by the idea and the prospect of Lemar-malade, the Marmalord decided to ask Lemar directly via his web site.

We await Lemar's response................................

2006 Marmalade sales are down....

It's no great surprise here in Marmaland, but marmalade sales have dropped by 4.4 per cent to £53.9 million in the year to November 2006, according to figures from the market analysts TNS.

That equates to about 441,000 households stopping buying marmalade during the period, on a positive that does leave over 10 million households are still buying our preserve of choice. By contrast, sales of honey rose by 5.7 per cent to £66.9 million and jam by 1.4 per cent to £88.3 million.

What does this mean? Well the figure that is of most interest to us is that 81% of people eating marmalade are over 45 years old. Youngsters are just not buying into marmalade and the manufacturer's seem unable to come up with a solution to this.

Essentially we put a lot of it down to a turf war between Winne The Pooh and Paddington Bear - and sadly Paddington, with his cold, hard stare seems not to have turned up yet.

With a recent returns from Rhubarb and Custard, Noddy and with the ever present Pooh pushing his sweet Honey to the kiddies, surely a return of Michael Bond's genius Peruvian bear would help marmalade's cause - we are pretty sure he would kick Winnie's ass!

And if marmalade manufacturers want some tips to reach that all important 19 - 39 age bracket, then they should drop the Marmalord an email on marmalord@marmaland.com

Marmalade 31 ways to serve.

What did the Americans do with Marmalade in 1919?

(It's that question that we have all been asking!)

A recent ebay discovery by Mr Jones has seen this 88 year old booklet published by American marmalade manufacturer Sunkist wing its way to Marmaland form the states.

The publication gives an insight to what our friends across the pond were doing with marmalade in the early 1900's, and stars a lady called Alice Bradley who shares her 31 favourite ways to serve marmalade. Some of them seem a little odd now, and over the coming months we promise share the best with you.

Interested in finding out more about Alice?

Alice Bradley Biography:

Alice was born on June 28, 1875, in Bradford, Massachusetts.

She started her culinary career performing cooking demonstrations with Janet McKenzie Hill, who in 1896 became editor of American Cookery, the magazine of the Boston Cooking School (BCS).

Alice went on to attend the BCS, where the fabulously named Fannie Merritt Farmer was director; she and other students tested recipes for Farmer's new book, The Boston Cooking School Cook Book, which became famous for its novel use of precise, level measurements of ingredients. Both Alice and Fannie were thought to be real sticklers for precision.

In 1897 AB was graduated from the BCS; she then taught in Montreal and Ottawa for 3 years.

In 1902 Fannie opened Miss Fannie Merritt Farmer's School of Cookery (MFSC). Fannie and Alice were pretty tight so she invited her old chum Alice to teach there.

The school used two teaching methods: the demonstration lecture, and laboratory work done in small groups in kitchen/classrooms. AB taught at the school for nine years, and then taught at the New York School of Cookery for two.

When Fannie died in 1915, Alice bought MFSC from Fannies sister Cora Dexter Perkins, and became its principal.

The curriculum included proper methods of serving food in formal settings, which was practical training for those who wanted to open tearooms or restaurants.

In 1916 Alice became cooking editor for The Woman's Home Companion, a post she held for twenty years. Her talents were sought by government and private industry: during World War I she was employed by the US Food Administration as consultant and by the Drexel Institute in Philadelphia as the head of its Nutrition Department - it is thought that it is here where Alice's interest in marmalade grew.

By the end of the war she was writing cook books and manuals of her own, rather than for the government; AB wrote more than ten books in 26 years.

In 1925 and 1926 she went on a culinary lecture tour of the United States and Europe. In later Years she also ran a "radio school" of cookery, had her own newspaper column, and contributed articles to other newspapers and magazines.

Alice retired as principal of MFSC in 1944 and sold the school to Dr. Dana Wallace.

Alice died on November 28, 1946.

Sadly Alice never married, some believe that she chose to dedicate her life to food and that this dedication never left room for a man in her life - others simply feel that she was probably a rampant, comfy shoe wearing, carpet munching lesbian.