Thursday, April 25, 2013

When Life Gives You... Oranges?


Patience is a virtue, or something. I’m still waiting for snark and cellulite to make the list, because then I’d be really amazing.
Last weekend I made a gallon of delicious marmalade. Well, I made something that in theory will become a gallon of delicious marmalade. Perhaps next time I’ll use a smaller recipe. Perhaps next time it won’t eat up seven hours of my Sunday. Right now, let's just say I am building character.

Here is how my endeavor played out.
First I had to remove the outer peel from eight oranges and three lemons. One hour.

Then I had to peel the spongy white membrane off of eight oranges and three lemons. One hour, five minutes.

Then I had to seed, chop, and boil eight oranges and three lemons. One hour, thirty minutes.

Some pectin, sugar, and a good rolling boil later, I had a delicious citrusy soup. The recipe warned that it could take up to two weeks for the marmalade to set. Certainly, after the success of the blueberry jam from last week, this disclaimer did not apply to me. I confidently processed the nine jars of syrup. Since my pot only held four jars at a time, I had to repeat this three times. Three hours, ten minutes.

That was four days ago. I have ten more days to go before I have either marmalade or a meltdown. So far, the syrup has not responded to tears, logic, or threats of violence. Therefore, I have decided to stop obsessing over it, because that’s what an adult would do. If you need me, I’ll be in the yard, waiting for the lavender to bloom.

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