This is not an Orange Alert of the terrorist variety.  Ballyporeen, is not about to be nuked any time soon. And sure, the Ronald Regan pub has been relocated anyway. This Orange Alert applies to a different part of the county.  In a recent chat with Peter Ward, he of the iconic Country Choice in Nenagh, we discovered he was buried under a mountain of Seville oranges. These are shipped in specially from Spain, to make Mary Ward’s Country Choice Famous Farmhouse Marmalade. Their peel is slow roasted for three hours to add caramel flavour to the finished product. As he says, ‘You know Christmas is well and truly over when you can smell the marmalade being made. In Country Choice, marmalade has a ‘tweedy’ intrigue. The country residents who shop here discuss it at large, and if it’s not right, they’d murder you, because they can make marmalade in their sleep! It’s one of the great Irish country house traditions.’ The consensus among those in the know, according to Peter,  is that good marmalade should be chewy, sticky and zingy with a long lasting flavour. That’s what Mary achieves in her annual marmalade making binge, currently underway for 2013! It’s on the shelves now at Country Choice and at the Country Choice Milk Market Pavillion Shop in Limerick. Rush to grab a jar or two. Mary will soon be making jams from seasonal spring and summer fruits. When the strawberries arrive, there will be a Red Alert no doubt…