This time of year, the Texas Valley has a great variety of citrus at the peak of flavor.  Why not get out your grandmother’s canning equipment and try your hand at making your own marmalade?  Homemade marmalade takes effort, but the taste is rewarding.  With oranges and lemons at about $1 per pound, how can you resist?  I recently made this recipe with Valley lemons and blood oranges from Central Market.  The result —  a beautiful jeweled marmalade with a slight bitterness that I will be reluctant to share. Definitely try it on an English muffin with a bit of good butter slathered on it.  Heaven!

Blood Orange and Valley Lemon Marmalade

2 pounds unpeeled bitter oranges (blood oranges or Seville oranges)
8 ounces unpeeled lemons (Valley lemons or Meyer lemons are a great choice if available)
8 cups water
6 1/2 cups sugar, divided use

Chill the citrus, then halve crosswise, snip out tough centers, and thinly slice, removing any seeds.  (I put them in the refrigerator overnight before slicing to make it easier.)  Combine the sliced citrus in a bowl with their juice and add the water.  Cover and let stand overnight in the refrigerator, then simmer until the citrus peel is tender.

Divide the mixture in half into two saucepans.  In each pan, add 3 1/4 cups sugar.  In these two batches, boil rapidly, stirring frequently unit reaches the jelling point (I use the temperature method— the jelling point is between 220 and 222 degrees).  Remove from the heat and skim off any foam (While cooking, a little scum may float to the center; remove it to produce a crystal clear marmalade.)

Combine the batches before packing into hot, sterilized jars (To sterilize jars and tools, put them in a large pot, cover with 1 inch of water, and boil for 10 minutes.)   Leave 1/4-inch headspace and process for 10 minutes.

Allow the jars to sit overnight and test if they are properly sealed (the lids should be sucked down).  If not, store in the refrigerator.  Otherwise, they will last at least one year in the pantry.

Makes about 8 (1/2-pint) jars.

Adapted from”Joy of Cooking: All About Canning & Preserving” edited by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker

(photos: Nicholas N. Mistry)

Q. My parents had a very fruitful harvest from their lemon tree, over 400 lemons before the big freeze.  They have juiced the lemons and frozen hundreds of cubes, made lemonade, used the zest for lemon poppy seed muffins, looked into making lemon extract (but are not big vodka drinkers and don’t want to invest in a bottle…). They’re trying to brainstorm other recipes to try before the crop ripens any more. Any other lemon-filled suggestions? They still have a ton. Any recipes requiring lots of lemons would be great. —H.H.

A. First, I invite anyone with the same “problem” to check in and comment here with any tips you have.

Next, I congratulate your folks, H.H.,  on their terrific crop: A wealth of lemons is a good thing. Before we get to food preparation tips, have your folks thought about donating some of the fruit to a food bank or giving away baskets to friends or take them to their church? Just an idea, especially if they get tired of lemon processing.

Here are a few other suggestions and links to recipes:

1. Make preserved lemons. These are great for Middle Eastern dishes and are supposed to be easy to make. Check out a recipe and method at http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_preserved_lemons/

2. Lemon Curd: Nearly everyone loves lemon curd, and it is useful in many ways (including eating by the spoonful out of a bowl). A couple of jars of good lemon curd also makes great gifts.  Look for a recipe at http://www.recipezaar.com/Lemon-Curd-for-Canning-269028

3.  Try the recipe, below, for Honey Lemon Marmalade, from www.foodinjars.com.  The author says the lemons require some knife work — and you might want to be sure you don’t have any paper cuts on your hands before you begin. But, it’s one way to use up 14 lemons.

Honey Lemon Marmalade

8 cups chopped lemons (14 lemons)
2 cups honey (I used buckwheat honey, but you can use whatever you’ve got)
4 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups water
2 packets liquid pectin (6 ounces)

Sterilize your jars (try using a combination of pint and half pint jars).

Combine lemons, honey, sugar and water together in non-reactive pot. Bring to a boil, reduce temperature and let simmer for 30 minutes.

Add pectin to the fruit and let it gently boil for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and fill jars. Apply lids and rings and process in a water bath for ten minutes. Let the marmalade sit overnight, to give the pectin time to fully activate.

Makes 6 pints.

From www.foodinjars.com