Orange Marmalade

9 oranges, 3 lemons, a box of pectin and 9.5 cups of sugar. 9 and a half cups of sugar is only a half cup shy of an entire five pound bag!

Making orange marmalade seemed to take all day. Slicing the oranges and lemons took nearly an hour (I think it's cool how you use the entire orange, peel and all), then they had to simmer in water for over an hour. Bringing the orange and pectin mixture to a boil was another 10 minutes or so and then adding the sugar and boiling and stirring that took at least another 20 minutes. I usually just fill hot, sterilized jars with hot jam, put lids on them and turn them upside down for a several minutes. You then flip them over and as they cool, the lids pop and they're fine. Today, however, after I filled the hot jars I processed them the proper way -- 10 minutes in the boiling water bath.

The jam tasted delicious -- with all that sugar how could it not -- but marmalade supposedly can take up to two weeks to fully set so we'll just have to see how it works out.