What's Cookin' Now?

Day 45: Oh my! What's going on in Crow's kitchen now? If you guessed cranberry-orange marmalade, you'd be right. Second only to gooseberry jam, this is one of my favourites, but marmalades are more labour-intensive, so it's been several years since I made any. Those last two or three jars in the cupboard kept insisting, "You're not supposed to archive us!" but it's always hard for me to use the very last of anything. I haven't done much canning this year, so I decided it was time to replenish the pantry. I picked up all the ingredients this morning, and have the hard part of the job done already. A while back, I discovered a slick trick for taking the peels off the citrus without getting too much of the white pulp underneath. I use a potato peeler! It cuts the exact width I prefer for my "shred" (the bits of peel which are a characteristic of marmalade), and it's easy to stack three or four to slice into fine pieces. But then there's the problem of getting the white pulp off the outside of the segments. It's harder to do when you don't have a fleshy peel to use for leverage. In any event, the peels and fruit are now simmering to tenderize, and I'll be jamming tomorrow!

Cranberry-orange Marmalade
Remove the peel from 2 oranges and 2 lemon with a potato peeler. Cut peels into tiny strips. Remove and discard the pulp from the citrus fruits. Break apart, removing seeds and any fibrous bits. Grind the fruit in a food processor, leaving it a bit chunky. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/8 tsp. baking soda to the fruit and peels. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add 2 pounds of fully ripe cranberries. Return the fruit to a boil and simmer for an additional 15 minutes. This can be done in advance (like, the day before).

Measure 5 cups of fruit into a large saucepan. Add 6 1/2 cups sugar and a smalll pat of butter to prevent foaming. Stir to combine. Bring to a rolling boil, and boil for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in 1 packet of Certo liquid pectin. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, stirring often to prevent floating fruit. Pour into sterilized half-pint jars (8-9), seal and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.