Wednesday, January 26, 2005

When life hands you lemons...

...You make lemonade, right? I made marmalade.

Yesterday, I decided to use the lemons that I had picked and preserve them with this great marmalade recipe I had found. Now making marmalade, jelly or jam is quite a complicated process, using precise amounts of fruit, sugar and pectin, plus perfect timing. A hard boil for 1 minute, no more and no less! According to the recipe, I was to use 6 lemons, 5 cups of sugar and 1 pouch of liquid pectin.

I did all that was required, boiling the jars and lids for 3 pints. The recipe stated that I would end up with 2 pints for all of my efforts, but I wanted to be safe and prepared 3 jars. The stove top was covered with large vessels for boiling water and the steam was abundant while I scraped the lemon peels free of that white membrane and cut them into long slivers. Cook, stir and boil. Finally the moment of truth came and I began to pour the marmalade into the jars. And I poured and I poured. It seems that my lemons are super lemons, oversized and filled with juice. I made 3 ½ pints. No one mentioned that the size of the lemons would make a difference! So now I have 3 lovely jars of very sour and not quite jelled marmalade. Maybe I can use it for a marinade for Lemon Chicken?

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