It was Newport, Pembrokeshire,for Harry today, who wasfeeling better after yesterday'shepatitis jabs, which are advisable for Lifeguards.

Ollie was in Fishguard,learning how to administer defibrillators. The boys have one car between them and since their starting times were different, I took Oliver to Fishguard.

Before coming home, Ibought some locally growntomatoes.

Someone once remarked that if you're educated, you knowa tomato is a fruit, but if you're knowledgable, you don't put it in fruit salad. Quite. How about makingtomato jam?

Surprisingly, the tomatoes lose their peppery taste when jammed and don't even taste like tomatoes.

Fresh tomatoes deserve to be eatenuncooked. We're having a tomato salad tomorrow with toasted rosemary bread and slices of Havarti cheese from Denmark, to give a tangy taste. But when the tomatoes are a few days' old, I'll jam them. Here's how.

Ingredients:

1kg of tomatoes

1kg of preserving sugar

2 unwaxed lemons.

Method

Skin the tomatoes. Plunging them in boiling water first willmake things easier. Quarter them, remove the cores and seeds.

Microwave tomato flesh for 5 minutes until it is tender.

Grate the rinds of the lemons and squeeze the juice out.

Put all ingredients in a very large saucepan and warm slowly, until the sugar melts. Now bring to a gentle boil, mixing all the time, so the sugar does not burn.

Keep on a slow boil for 30 minutes or so, stir occasionally, but don't leave the kitchen. All sorts of horrible things can happen if you do, like the jam boiling over, for instance.

The liquid will reduce in this time. Put a spoonful of jam on a saucer. Take saucepan off the boil.Test in 5 minutes to see if thejam is setting. If not, give it ten minutes again, when it should have set.

When cool, pour into glass jars.

The addition of a bunch of thyme, added as it cools but removed after 10 minutes, gives a savoury bite. The jam could then be used to accompany roast pork or spread in a bacon and Brie sandwich.