There is nothing better than orange marmalade on a toasted English muffin to start a wintry morning.

  • Orange Marmalade
  • Yield: 5-1/2 cups (3-1/2 lb.)
  • 4-1/2 cups prepared fruit (3 medium-size oranges, 2 medium-size lemons)
  • 1/8 tsp. baking soda
  • 5 cups (2-1/4 lb.) sugar
  • 1 envelope Certo Liquid Fruit Pectin

First, prepare fruit. Remove skins in quarters from oranges and lemons. Lay quarters flat; shave off and discard about half of the white part. With a sharp knife or scissors, slice remaining rind very thin, or chop or grind. Add 1-1/2 cups water and baking soda to rind; bring the mixture to a boil and simmer, covered, 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Section or chop the peeled fruit; discard the seeds. Add this pulp and juice to the undrained cooked rind. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes longer. Measure 3 cups fruit mixture into a very LARGE saucepan. Stir in sugar and mix well.

Place over high heat, bring to a full rolling boil and boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; at once stir in Certo. Skim off foam with a metal spoon. Ladle into jars, leaving 1/2″ headspace.

Wipe the rims of the jars and screw on the lids. Turn the jars upside down for at least thirty minutes (or as long as hours and hours–doesn’t matter). If the fruit is floating, give the jars a shake every once in awhile. Turn the jars right side up and let cool completely before marking and storing.

Notes: I usually, not always, use Certo Liquid Fruit Pectin for my jam. The recipe booklet that I use is from 1975 when the liquid pectin came in bottles. Now the pectin comes in sealed envelopes and each envelope is equivalent to one half-bottle. As you can see, my recipe booklet is falling apart. The new recipe sheet that comes inside the packages now isn’t as comprehensive as the old one. I do not water-bath can my jam. There is enough sugar in it to act as a preservative. Using canning lids keeps air from getting in. When I was a child, my mother only used paraffin to cover the jam and many people still do it that way.

  • This is how I prep for a jam-making session
  • Set out enough sanitized jars and rings to match the yield of the recipe, either pints, cups, or half-cups.
  • Put the appropriate number of lids into a small saucepan of water over low heat.
  • Set out my canning funnel, a ladle, metal serving spoon, and small dish.
  • Cut open the envelope of Certo and set it in the small dish.
  • [The small dish is for the foam (which is just as delicious as the jam, only foamy)]