Food in Jars Mastery - Marmalade #3 (Three Citrus) and #4 (Cranberry Clementine)

I was lucky enough to have the whole day today to stay home so I could play with my marmalade making!

The next recipe was Three Citrus marmalade - also from Marisa McClellan's Food in Jars.   For this recipe, the rinds of the fruits I used needed a little more prepping.  With straight orange marmalade, you use all of the fruit, rind and all, in the jam (not seeds!).  But in this recipe, I also used lemon and grapefruit... both of which have a lot more of the white layer between the fruit and the peel (pith).  That layer is very bitter, so it's not good in the actual jam.  BUT you do save it and the seeds and wrap it up in cheesecloth to cook with. 

Somewhere in my marmalade research  [sorry I can't remember now but will add the link when I find it again,] I also learned how to get the fruit sections out and leave the membranes behind - it's called 'supreming'.   New word, new technique - go me!

Anyway - last night I actually peeled the fruits as a first step to the preparation.  This morning, I actually supremed and cut up the fruit and made the marmalade.

I think this batch is just right!  And I love the flavor... you can really taste the grapefruit.  (My little fox kept me company today as I played!)

Second batch for today was sort of accidental..... just the other day, my husband (the clementine eater) mentioned that he was really tired of eating them..... and, since they are citrus and I am in marmalade mode. I decided to hunt down a recipe.  And voila.... Cranberry Clementine Marmalade!  Perfect since I had cranberries left in the freezer from the holidays!  Win-win for using up!

I was tired though and didn't do this exactly as directed.... the instructions said to put the fruit itself in the cheesecloth bag along with the pith.   It didn't make much sense to me since there really isn't much pith to a clementine.   So I used the bag for the lemons... but the fruit of both the lemons and the clementines got chopped right up into the marmalade.

The jars are really pretty!   The spread is fruity-chunky..... and nice and tart.  My tasting jar is on the right.... Can't wait to finish my project and have a tasting party!