Pfeiffer's Pfinest Pfancy

 You know, sometimes, you ask a simple question, and you get a simple answer?

Well, last week, when I asked my colleague's husband if Seville oranges had arrived in the stores, I didn't expect to find a 40-pound box of them sitting on my desk the next day.

My parents are avid jam, jelly and marmalade makers.  As a kid, the scent of Seville orange marmalade wafting through the house is one of my favorite memories.  It invokes thoughts of cold winter days, a cracking fire, and glorious, fragrant Seville orange marmalade, of course.  Sevilles are in stores for a short period of time at the end of January and the beginning of February, and if you miss them, you're out of luck until the next year.

A 40-pound box of Sevilles is a daunting task.  I've processed one batch already that gave me 12-250mL jars, that's about 3 quarts.  I've got a second batch resting right now that I will finish off tomorrow, and that should probably give me another 12 jars.  Well, that's about 5 pounds of Sevilles processed, and well...that means there are 35 pounds left to go!  I gave more than half the case to my parents, because there aren't enough canning jars in my life (nor time in this world) for me to process that many.

Seville oranges are bitter, almost inedible.  As you can see, they are full of pits, and therein lies the beauty:  the pits are full of pectin, and this gives the marmalade it's natural jelly without having to add any extra pectin for jelling.  The marmalade these oranges produce is a favorite among orange jam aficionados the world over, for due reason.

Because we were generously given a bumper crop of Sevilles, I thought this would be a great opportunity to try a few different recipes out.  Yesterday, my brother and I made David Lebovitz's recipe (I forgot to add the Scotch!), and right now, I'm trying a recipe I found on the Canadian Living site.  I cook a lot of Canadian Living recipes, so I am hopeful that this one will be a winner, too.

As we were canning the David Lebovitz batch, we kept eating spoonfuls of the hot marmalade - it was that good and that addictive.  And the smell in the house?  It can't be beat!  The smell alone is reason enough to make a batch.

When the second batch is processed, I'll let you know which turned out best, and what I would do different next time around.  By next year, we should have Seville orange marmalade down to a fine art.