Blood Orange Marmalade

5 thin skinned oranges. Pictured to the right are organic blood oranges. Select only organic fruits, as the skins are added to the mix. If you would like, you can add one lemon to this recipe.

4 1/2 cups of raw and/or organic cane sugar. Cane sugar is best for jams, jellies, and marmalades. Anything else can lead to a bitter and runny spread.

2 1/2 cups of filtered water.

1 box of Sure Jell Premium Fruit Pectin

8 wide mouth half pint jars with new lids and bands. Bands can be reused, but you will need a new lid as the rubber seal is less reliable after the first use and could lead to spoiling.

Scrub the fruit very well! Quarter and cut away the white bitter pith down the center, removing 1/8 from the top and bottom of the peel, as well as the seeds.

Using a mandolin slicer over a large bowl, place the quartered fruit pulp side down and slice. Dispose of the excess peel. Be certain to get the juice into the bowl, wasting as little as possible. And watch your fingers! Slicers and knives can do a doozy on your fingertips.

If you do not have access to a slicer, using a well sharpened knife, cut the fruits into slivers. Remove excess center pith, seeds, and the cap ends of the peel.

Add the water and sugar to the fruit and mix well. Pour into a enamel lined pot, using a silicon scraper/spatula remove every last drop, and then set to boil for twenty minutes. Sprinkle in the pectin and stir well. Scrape down the sides frequently. Reduce to a simmer and cover for approximately thirty-five minutes, scraping the sides and bottom every five minutes.

Wash and sanitize the jars, lids, and bands. Start the canning pot to boil.

Evenly pour out the marmalade into the jars. Be certain the rim is clean and dry before placing the still warm and completely dry lid and band on it. Using a hand towel to hold the base while tightening with a rubber jar opener/ tightener provides traction, ensuring that the band is on really tight.




Place in the canning pot, cover and boil for fifteen minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the lid, let sit for ten more minutes and then using the canning tongs, remove the jars and set on dish towels to dry. When the lids pop they are sealed. Allow to cool for at least one hour before storing in a cool dark pantry or cupboard.

There are all sorts of recipes that call for overnight soaks, excessive trimming, and more, but I'm telling you - you don't need any of those things. This recipe turns out just the right blend of sweet and bitter, it spreads beautifully, the color is like a sunset, and the peels are tender. As with all orange marmalade recipes, it will take about a week or two for the spread to thicken or gel. It is still perfectly fine and spreads nicely, it's like honey the way it pours and spreads.

I poured the excess into a little dish and placed it in the refrigerator to thicken over night and it was perfect on my toast in the morning.

Late Summer Tomato Dressing

There was a little more than one pint of farmer's market yellow kumquat tomatoes left and I was sick of eating them as they were. I tossed them, along with four 'Baby Girl' tomatoes from my garden, quartered, into my new blender.

Then I squeezed in half an orange and added it's pulp and drizzled in 1/4 cup of D'Avalio's Cilantro & Roasted Onion Infused Olive oil. I also added fresh cracked pepper and flaked salt.

Blended the ingredients on high and then added in 1/4 cup of Pecorino Romano and continued to blend until smooth.

The dressing was strong and rich and brought out the sweetness of the spinach and basil leaves in this salad. It was such a snap to make that I know I'll definitely be making this again soon.

Ducks, the Talmud and Symbolism

Not our ducks, but they looked exactly like this.
Fell all over themselves like little acrobats trying to scramble behind mom.

This morning as I was taking the girls to school we saw a mother duck and her eight baby ducklings trying to cross a major street here in the Westside. She kept snarling traffic as she would cross, get half way and then cross back again. Some drivers waited patiently, some tried to scoot her back to the side of the road (the wrong side of the road), while others crossed the double yellow line to go around the traffic, oblivious to what was taking place.

Leto looked miserable as the situation unfolded and Samantha looked equally sad and concerned. I called non-emergancy and they connected me with wildlife SPCA officers who told me they couldn't be there unless an officer was there to direct traffic.

WHAT!? You mean like this?

They could all be dead in the next five minutes with morning rush hour just beginning.







This moment made me think of the saying, "If not I, who? If not now, when?"

I also had recently read that the Talmud says, "Man has three friends on whose company he relies. First, wealth - which goes with him only while good fortune lasts. Second, his relatives - they go only as far as the grave and leave him there. The third friend, his good deeds, go with him beyond death."

It was then that I decided to pulled over and with the help of a passing cyclist and a nurse from the Mental Health services clinic across the street, herded the mother and her babies to the river side of the street. The cyclist and I high fived. The women in the car that stopped cheered. The nurse remarked "Well that's enough good deed doing for a weeks worth of mornings." and I got to see two very relieved, excited and happy girls in the van.

Mr. Duck and the new marigolds

When Bob and I had purchased the couch it came with a number of tacky items. Including this ceramic duck. So more orange being thrown my way. And now ducks?!

Ducks, like geese, share the same symbolism of transition due to their migratory nature. They also represent honesty, simplicity, resourcefulness and sensitivity.

This leaves me to wonder two things.

One: The Talmud's phrase, "Teach your son, teach your son's son." Mother's and their children and teachable moments. Even the scary moments in life can be got through with the help of family and strangers.

Two: How will all of those duck-like attributes come into play and when?

Lemon, Orange and Pineapple Sorbet

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups of orange and pineapple juice
1/3 cup lemon juice from 2 to 3 squeezed lemons
4 to 5 tsps grated lemon rind

In medium saucepan, combine sugar and water. Over medium heat bring to a boil. Boil for five minutes, continually stirring. Chill the syrup.

In a bowl using a mixer or in an ice cream maker, add the remaining ingredients to the sugar syrup. Mix ingredients for five minutes with a mixer or 15 minutes in the machine.

Then pour into a 1 quart storage container, cover and freeze for about 5 hours.

This is delicious with minced sweet strawberries as a topping.