Strawberry Lemon Marmalade

What to do with all my citrus.  Besides juicing it, I made strawberry lemon marmalade.

Here is a small corner of my greenhouse.  Someone please stop  me.

This is about 1/4 of all my citrus.  I'm afraid I am going to burn out my electric juicer.

Blood oranges, Meyer, Etrog, Ponderosa lemons, and tangerines too.

Finally.  Need to get some English muffins as I think they would be perfect for the marmalade.

Strawberry Lemon Marmalade

1 cup thinly sliced lemon peel

2 cups lemon pulp, chopped

4 cups crushed strawberries

1 (1 1/2 oz.) powdered pectin

1 tb. lemon juice

6 cups sugar

1. Place lemon peel and pulp in a pot with just enough water to cover.  Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.

2. Turn off heat. Cover and let sit for 12 - 18 hours. Drain water.

3. Combine peel and pulp, strawberries, pectin and juice in a large pot.  Bring to a boil. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved.

4. Bring to a roiling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly.

5. Remove from heat.  Skim foam if necessary.

6. Ladle hot marmalade into jars, leaving 1/4" headspace.

7. Makes 9 half pints.

I also made a blood orange, lemon and raspberry marmalade.  I didn't boil the pulp with the peels this time and I think it made the marmalade a tad too acidic.  It's good now though.

Baby Meyer Lemons

Already have a new crop of Meyer lemons growing.  Some have asked how I can grow such a large crop of lemons; this is just one little tip of a branch on one tree; multiply this by nearly 20 trees, voila.  This tree is covered in flowers and baby lemons.  Needless to say, I will have a large lemon crop next year too.  Now, if I can just use up last years juice and the year before...

Lemony New Year

My lemon harvest this year has been the largest yet. Literally. I've been growing lemons for several years now. Mostly Meyer lemons, but this year I also harvested Etrog and Ponderosa lemons. The small lemon is about the size you'll find in grocery stores, the next size up is the baseball sized Meyer lemon. The Ponderosa lemon is soft ball sized. And, just look at the football sized Etrog. Hard to believe isn't it.

So, now you know what I'll be doing New Year's Eve. Juicing lemons. I've run out of things to do with them. Curds, strudels, limoncello and juice... Last year, I tried preserving them like they do in Morocco, but I never did use them. Ditto, the limoncello tastes good if you are a heavy drinker as it is about 1000 proof and will grow hair on your chest. And, I still have juice in the freezer from last year. Wish I could share them with all of you.

LEMONY GOODNESS

What do you get when life gives you lemon, lemons and more lemons? Curds, juice, limoncello, desserts...It is that time of year when my lemons are ripe and I couldn't be prouder if I'd made them myself. Meyer lemons are my favorite, hands down. A fellow named Meyer discovered them in China at the start of the 20th century and did whatever with them. A hybrid cross between a lemon and mandarin orange, they are perfect. Thin skinned and larger than supermarket lemons, they are fat and juicy. I've made limoncello for years, but as a light drinker, I have gallons of the stuff still in the freezer (type in limoncello for my recipe). Juice too. This time around, I am going to preserve them. These are used primarily in Moroccan food and though I don't think I've ever made any North African cuisine, I am willing to experiment. I recently saw a recipe for preserved lemon halves baked or broiled with a goat chevre filling and though I can't remember which magazine I saw it in, I'm going to try and wing it.

Here is one of my Ponderosa Lemons alongside a Meyer Lemon. They are softball sized and wait till you see one of my future Etrog Lemons. Supposedly football sized, my big girl Etrog tree is too young to marry her off to some bee. If you too would like to grow lemons, Logee's Tropical Plants in Connecticut has a catalog with wonderful fruiting plants. Even in Oklahoma, one can grow citrus.