Merry, Merry!

The holiday season has taken me over entirely today.  Everything else is pretty much on hold as I make marmalade for holiday gifts.  The citrus fruits were all shaved yesterday afternoon, while I listened to the podcast at thecreativepenn.com.  Do check it out, if you have not already.

A big cutting board and an exceptionally sharp ten-inch chef’s knife allowed me to go into zen mode, as I plowed through four pink grapefruits, eight oranges, 4 lemons, and 6 limes.  That was yesterday.  This morning I started the simmering, and now the addition of the sugar.  The process always fills me with wonder, just as it did when I first tried it decades ago, and just as the holiday season does each year.

It may be that I decided on marmalade this year because my head has been firmly planted in 1986 lately, the setting for Volume II, LOVE AND THE EPIDEMIC.  I made so many preserves in those years—citrus sometimes, but also lots of quince, and a particularly memorable pepper/pear relish.

I love the process, even though all the instructions about finding the gel point—eight degrees above the boiling point; when the mixture sheets off the spoon; when it gels on a cold plate—do not work!  Like most things in life, it’s really all about intuition.  When it feels right, then you move to the next step.

With that thought in mind, I wish you a lovely season.  It is always so important to me to pause to feel the joy.  And I hope you will too!

Bruce