Mixed citrus marmalade recipe

Since we have 3 citrus trees in our garden, I am trying to find some good ways to preserve it. Last year my favorite was preserved  lemon Meyer (lemons with salt), this year is new quick mixed citrus marmalade and lemon Meyer curd bars. I will be happy to share all of them.

Let's start with mixed citrus marmalade.

You will need:

1 lbs of lemon Meyer

1 lbs orange

3 cups sugar (or add some more if you feel that the mix is not sweet enough for you. I'd say, to taste :) )

2 tablespoon pineapple rum (I used Captain Morgan Pineapple rum)

water (to boil the peel)

Wash your citrus with warm water and wipe it dry. Peel them, then remove the inner white lining with a flexible knife. Discard the lining. Use the electric chopper to chop the peel to a small pieces.

Place the chopped peel into a small pot, cover it with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook on a medium heat for about 1 hour. Strain and discard the liquid.

While peel is cooking, prepare you citrus. Cut fruits in small pieces on a plate, remove the seeds, leftover of white linings and membranes, transfer it to a wide stainless steel pot. Add sugar, mix it and let it stay at the room temperature until the peel is done.

Prepare your canning jars. I am washing mine with warm water and dish soap, then cleaning jars with baking soda, rinsing it well and drying it on a clean kitchen towel. Then I am placing jars without the lids to a baking tray, placing it in the oven and heating it to 200'F to sterilize. They sits there for about 10 minutes or a little longer, so the cooked marmalade will go to a warm sterile jars.Meanwhile, I will place the lids to a glass bowl and add some boiling water on top to cover them. I will let them stay there for about 5 minutes, then transfer them with a kitchen tongues to a clean paper towel. The lids and jars have to be dry so wipe the excess water with a clean paper towel.

Add strained peel to the pot with citrus, mix it well with a wooden spoon and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook on low for about an hour. Add pineapple rum, stir into mixture and let it cook for another 10 minutes. Pour the marmalade into prepared jars and top with lids and rims. Close them tight and turn them over to cool on a clean kitchen towel.

Store in refrigerator.

Try it, it's delicious.

A day at the apple farm

We had so much fun picking apples and looking at the farm animals at the Date Creek Ranch farm (Wickenburg, AZ) last weekend. It is hidden in a middle of the desert so if you would not notice a small road sign we would have never found it.

 

So we turned from the main road to a rougher desert one that leads to the lovely place with barns, fruit stand, the rows of fruit trees and farm animals resting in the shade. 

 

We were there just for fun so we did not pick up too many apples. But whatever we got was enough to eat fresh and make some apple butter (recipe here).

 

 A wonderful day filled with sun and fun!

 

Half Sour Pickles recipe

This summer I found some really great pickling recipes to preserve our harvest in a jar. I tried so many of them and they are all very good but many of them have vinegar as an ingredient. While the vinegar is great to preserve food, I am trying to cut on acidic foods if possible, so I really like Inessa's (vintageer shop on Etsy)  half sour pickles recipes. The pickles are easy to make and ready to eat in about 3 days. I slice them and put them on a sandwich - delicious!

I don't have the black currant leaves and tarragon but pickles taste great anyway.

 

So with Inessa permission I am publishing her recipe on my blog today.

 

Ingredients:
Small pickling cucumbers (enough to fill 1 Quart jar)
Enough water to cover said cucumbers
2 Tbsp (per 4 cups of water) pickling salt (or sea salt)
4- 5 garlic cloves cut in half
3-4 stems fresh dill (with seeds and flowers)
1 tbsp black pepper corns
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp celery seeds
3-4 fresh black currant leaves (or horseradish leaf)
1 tarragon stem (optional)

Wash the cucumbers well and let them soak in a bowl of cold water for an hour. Put the cucumbers in a clean glass canning jar. Add the spices, the garlic cloves,  black currant leaves, tarragon and dill to the jar.

Dissolve the salt in the boiled water and pour into the jar over the cucumbers. Make sure the cucumbers are completely under the water.

Cover and let sit for three or four days in cool shaded space. Then move to the fridge to chill. Enjoy!

Nectarines are in season!

Nectarines are in season here in Arizona!

They are sweet and fragrant, juicy and taste wonderful when just picked from the tree and still heated by the sun. They are full of vitamin C and low in fat, what else can you wish for an easy summer snack!

We have hundreds of them on our tree and we are canning them, freezing, making jam and nectarine juice. Next we will be making a nectarine pie ... if the birds, those little winged thieves will not get it first! :)

To be continued on rest of the garden...

Lemon Harvest

Our garden is very young, we planted it just a 3 years ago as soon as we moved into a new house. It was nothing here... just a clay soil. We gave it a little TLC and a lot of hard work and it turned out pretty good! We are happy to have our friends for a glass of wine in a blooming fragrant garden from time to time. But this winter our garden surprised us even more and in a middle of February we had our first harvest of lemons! I gave away a lot, I made some delicious marmalade, I freeze some but still looking for a new ideas on what to do with it!