Of Cranberry Marmalade and Christmas Martinis

For the first time in several years, I made cranberry marmalade. It's good, but there are so many possibilities when you get on a binge with canning, and this one fell out of rotation for a few years.

 

 

Most people like the flavor, if they are marmalade fans, and it's undeniably Christmassy; it makes a good gift. It's great on toast, swirled into yogurt, or used as a relish. Try it over a block of softened cream cheese; serve with crackers.

 

 

I make mine a trifle more bitter and tart than most, as I use not only lemon and orange, but grapefruit, for the citrus elements.

 

 

As you can see below, scissors can be used to sliver the peel. I like a serrated knife for trimming away excess pith.

 

 

 

 

Here it is not long after being put on the stove; most of the berries will have burst by the time it's ready for processing.

The processed jars. I let them sit overnight. In the morning, I check the seals, wash the jars and lids, and make sure they are completely dry before adding labels.



A Christmas martini.

 The final product. I got eleven full jars, and another about 2/3 full, which went into the fridge. I had some this morning. We were out of bread, so I had it on a buttered crumpet.

Still Christmas

I'm one of those annoying people who insist that Epiphany is the last day of Christmas. You know, Twelfth Night? The day the Magi came?

Today's society doesn't much hold with that, so no 12 day vacation or round of parties (we did get to go to one, a nice intimate gathering with local friends). And it seems odd to not have the tree out where we can see it. (It's living in the guest/TV/spare room, and I don't watch much television.)

Nevertheless, it's Still Christmas, and it's been very nice so far. We didn't give or get extravagant gifts, but the ones we got were lovely. DH found me vintage earrings to match a vintage Christmas brooch I already have. That's a wonderful combination of good luck, a good eye (he's got two), and persistence.

The cats were stunned by the windfall of toys...they wound up fighting over the same one, of course. (It met its end before Boxing Day, at the jaws of Than Chai. A fuzzy yellow candy cane. The hip thing for cats this year, I understand.)

The mortgage is paid for next month, we have plenty of food, it's warm in the house, and we both still have jobs. Still Christmas.