Orange and Gray

This morning I am going to begin making marmalade, which means first peeling the oranges. After that, all the pith must be taken off the peeled skin, and finally the skins need to be cut into little matchstick-sized pieces before one can even think of starting the jam itself. Labor intensive, marmalade is (says I, in my best Yoda voice).

But this kind of job is just right for a day that looks like this outside. Up here on the hill, we're still stuck in the clouds left over from yesterday's storm. Marmalade is appropriate for a day like this, as it feels like we're lost on the Moors, somewhere near Scotland.

A warm fire, some music on the radio and a Big Project are all on hand though.  Perfect recipe for a Deep House kind of day.

Foolproof Marmalade Recipe

This morning I finally got around to finishing the marmalade I'd begun making a couple of days ago.  The recipe I use is great, because there are several logical stopping places where you can put all your food in the fridge and leave it until you have time to fire up the canner, sterilize your mason jars, etc. So this morning I took the pulp, the little matchstick-cut peels, and the sugar, and brought them all to a boil.  

The exact recipe for this is almost foolproof, hence perfect for me.   You need one cup of peels, and then equal amounts of pulp and sugar.  I ended up with about 3 and 3/4 cups of orange pulp, so I added the same amount of sugar.  The peels, sugar, pulp, and a half teaspoon of butter (to cut down on foaming) are put in the pot to boil, until they reach 220 degrees F.  At that point, you will want to place a little on a cold spoon (I'd freeze two or three in advance for this purpose) and put it into the fridge.  When the marmalade on the spoon cools, it should be thick enough that when you push on it, it wrinkles up a bit.  This lets you know your batch has cooked enough to gel.  I have to emphasize that it MUST hit 220 degrees for this to happen.  Otherwise you'll end up with some lovely orange sauce.

Once the right temperature and consistency is acquired, you can then shut the heat off and ladle the mixture into hot jars and place them in a water bath canner for 10 minutes or so.  

When you are done, you will end up with delicious Scottish-style marmalade! 

Making Marmalade...Or Not

It's January, which means it's marmalade time.  Organic oranges are ripe and cheap for the asking, and so I picked today to fire up the canner and get a few jars put up for the rest of the year.  This morning has been about preparation, which has consisted of:

1.  Thought about making the marmalade.

2.  Thought some more.

3.  Watched an episode of "House Hunters," where the couple moves to the South of France.

4.  Thought about moving to the South of France.

5.  Took cute pictures of my dog sleeping.

6.  Headed into the kitchen.

7.  Ate an orange.

8.  Arranged surviving oranges in a nice still-life for a picture for my blog.

As you can see, making marmalade is a complicated process with many steps.  The reason I put it off and procrastinate is because the first step consists of peeling about six oranges, removing all the pith from the skins, then cutting the skins into little, matchstick-sized pieces.  It's maddeningly meticulous, before you even get to the cooking part, but if you like authentic Scottish marmalade, the orange skin is an essential part.

And so it must be done in the exacting fashion described above...thinking, dog pictures, eating your ingredients.

So I'm going to get right on this marmalade business.

Really.

(I'm thinking I will at least do the matchstick part today.)