Blue Jean Chef

Ingredients:
2 quarts of water
2.5 cups Honeybell juice (about 4 Honeybells)
3 lbs. sugar
2 – 3 inchs of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into very thin strips
1 tsp. butter
Directions:
First, prepare the Honeybells by cutting them in half horizontally, and squeezing out all the juice through a strainer. Save the seeds and any pith that separates from [...]

Ingredients:
2 quarts of water
2.5 cups Honeybell juice (about 4 Honeybells)
3 lbs. sugar
2 – 3 inchs of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into very thin strips
1 tsp. butter

Directions:
First, prepare the Honeybells by cutting them in half horizontally, and squeezing out all the juice through a strainer. Save the seeds and any pith that separates from the peel. Place the seeds and pith in a square of cheesecloth and save for later. Continue to juice to all four Honeybells. Pull all the loose pith from inside the squeezed Honeybells and add this to the cheesecloth. Tie the cheesecloth bundle up, leaving a strand of string to tie to the handle of the stockpot.

Slice all the Honeybell peels into thin strips. Slice the ginger into thin strips.

Place the water, Honeybell juice, Honeybell peel and half the ginger into the stockpot. Add the cheesecloth bundle to the juice, tying it to the stockpot for easy retrieval, and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer for 2 hours.

When the peel is very soft, remove the cheesecloth bundle and let it cool. Add the sugar and the other half of the ginger to the pot. Stir this over low heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and bring to a boil. Don’t walk away at this point, as boiled over marmalade is not something you want to clean up (trust me!). Squeeze the cheesecloth bundle between two plates to extract all the syrupy pectin and juice and stir this into the marmalade.

Place the plates into the freezer and set the timer for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, drop a little marmalade onto one cold plate. Place it in the fridge for a couple of minutes. If, after a minute or two, there is a skin on the marmalade when you drag your finger through it, the marmalade is finished. Otherwise, set the timer for an additional 10 minutes and repeat the process. Continue to do this until you see a skin on top of the marmalade.

Meanwhile, place all your clean, dry jars and lids into a 350 degree F oven for at least 5 minutes. When the marmalade is done, let it sit for about 15 minutes and remove the skin that has formed on the top, or stir in the butter, which will help the skin to dissolve. Fill the jars with the hot marmalade and seal. Cool in the refrigerator. Make nice labels. Give to friends. Make people happy.