I am soooo proud of myself.
I just canned 6.5 pints of lemon-cherry marmalade. Oh yes, yes I did :) Actually, it's really a total of 6.75 pints, but I was -1 top, so the 4 oz jar will cool, get some saran wrap, and go right into the fridge. Breakfast, tomorrow!
I'm SO happy with them. I used four of the GIANT frickin' lemons I got from plymouth.... Oh wait. I'm getting ahead of myself :)
My friend plymouth has a lemon tree in her backyard in California. I asked her to send me 10 lbs of lemons, and she sent me 11 and I got about 18 of these HUGE ASSED LEMONS. They are freaking GINORMOUS LEMONS. plymouth thought they were Meyer lemons, but my friend Jmd was in visiting and grew up on a Cali farm and has 2 meyer lemon trees in *her* backyard and said she thought they were Globe lemons. Mostly because of their size (GINORMOUS), their thick skins, and the fact that two of them actually looked more like grapefruits than lemons. Did I mention that these lemons are huge?
I've given 3 lemons away so far.
Four of them I sliced up for this marmalade. Taste tests (from the Very Scientific Stirring Spoon) indicate a Yum Factor of 300%!!! (I've been watching too much Eureka!)
Here is the method, adapted from The Joy of Cooking's "Orange, Lemon & Grapefruit Marmalade":
Sour Cherry-Lemon Marmalade
1) four GIANT ASSED lemons - or 6 regular lemons
Slice the lemons thin, and soak them in 2x the amount of water as you have volume of lemons. I had about 8 cups of lemons (I told you they were Giant Assed Lemons). Use your biggest stock pot. Realize the recipe calls for 3x the volume of lemons and realize you'll need a bigger stock pot so stick with 2x the volume. Which means you now have 8 cups of lemons, soaking in 16 cups of water, and a really full stockpot. Reserve lemon seeds in a tea bag as they have pectin, and add baglet of seeds to pot.
Let soak for about 12 hours. Go to bed while lemons soak.
The next morning, get up and while making your morning coffee bring your ginormous stockpot of lemons & water slowly up to a boil. You are supposed to simmer it for 20 minutes. Make cappuccinos. Get into bed and drink cappuccino. When done, realize lemons are finally simmering, set timer, and take shower for work. Get dressed, let timer go off, and turn off stock pot.
Let sit for another 12 hours. Go to work while lemons soak.
2) Add 3/4 cup of sugar for every cup of fruit & juice, and 1 lb of pitted, sour cherries.
Come home and wonder if you really counted right. Re-measure lemons and juice and divide them into your two biggest stock pots. Yep, you have a ton of lemons. Break out calculator and almost have a heart attack pouring 15+ cups of sugar into mixture. Add 1.2 lbs of pitted sour cherries from your cherry-picking extravaganza a couple of months before. Be happy about your freezer. Marvel at how much volume this stuff has.
3) Simmer until jammy.
Realize as you are typing this they recommend doing 4-6 cups at a time. You didn't. You cooked it down for an evening. No jam. Put it in fridge, and finished cooking it down 4 days later on the weekend (today).
Can using whatever method you prefer. I used the hot pack method today.
4) Marvel at dar red color and fine cherry-lemon taste.
Listen to the satisfying "pop" the lids make as the jars cool. Be inordinately pleased with yourself. Contemplate eating some warm marmalade on bread.
N.
I'm SO happy with them. I used four of the GIANT frickin' lemons I got from plymouth.... Oh wait. I'm getting ahead of myself :)
My friend plymouth has a lemon tree in her backyard in California. I asked her to send me 10 lbs of lemons, and she sent me 11 and I got about 18 of these HUGE ASSED LEMONS. They are freaking GINORMOUS LEMONS. plymouth thought they were Meyer lemons, but my friend Jmd was in visiting and grew up on a Cali farm and has 2 meyer lemon trees in *her* backyard and said she thought they were Globe lemons. Mostly because of their size (GINORMOUS), their thick skins, and the fact that two of them actually looked more like grapefruits than lemons. Did I mention that these lemons are huge?
I've given 3 lemons away so far.
Four of them I sliced up for this marmalade. Taste tests (from the Very Scientific Stirring Spoon) indicate a Yum Factor of 300%!!! (I've been watching too much Eureka!)
Here is the method, adapted from The Joy of Cooking's "Orange, Lemon & Grapefruit Marmalade":
Sour Cherry-Lemon Marmalade
1) four GIANT ASSED lemons - or 6 regular lemons
Slice the lemons thin, and soak them in 2x the amount of water as you have volume of lemons. I had about 8 cups of lemons (I told you they were Giant Assed Lemons). Use your biggest stock pot. Realize the recipe calls for 3x the volume of lemons and realize you'll need a bigger stock pot so stick with 2x the volume. Which means you now have 8 cups of lemons, soaking in 16 cups of water, and a really full stockpot. Reserve lemon seeds in a tea bag as they have pectin, and add baglet of seeds to pot.
Let soak for about 12 hours. Go to bed while lemons soak.
The next morning, get up and while making your morning coffee bring your ginormous stockpot of lemons & water slowly up to a boil. You are supposed to simmer it for 20 minutes. Make cappuccinos. Get into bed and drink cappuccino. When done, realize lemons are finally simmering, set timer, and take shower for work. Get dressed, let timer go off, and turn off stock pot.
Let sit for another 12 hours. Go to work while lemons soak.
2) Add 3/4 cup of sugar for every cup of fruit & juice, and 1 lb of pitted, sour cherries.
Come home and wonder if you really counted right. Re-measure lemons and juice and divide them into your two biggest stock pots. Yep, you have a ton of lemons. Break out calculator and almost have a heart attack pouring 15+ cups of sugar into mixture. Add 1.2 lbs of pitted sour cherries from your cherry-picking extravaganza a couple of months before. Be happy about your freezer. Marvel at how much volume this stuff has.
3) Simmer until jammy.
Realize as you are typing this they recommend doing 4-6 cups at a time. You didn't. You cooked it down for an evening. No jam. Put it in fridge, and finished cooking it down 4 days later on the weekend (today).
Can using whatever method you prefer. I used the hot pack method today.
4) Marvel at dar red color and fine cherry-lemon taste.
Listen to the satisfying "pop" the lids make as the jars cool. Be inordinately pleased with yourself. Contemplate eating some warm marmalade on bread.
N.