My relatives on the East Coast have historically been the beneficiaries of our abundance of citrus. It tends to ripen all at the same time in February and March. I wash it and pack it into “if it fits – it ships” boxes along with a recipe for lemon bars, lemon chicken etc. There is always more than I can ship and the fruit starts dropping to the ground rendering it “lost”. This year I have decided to make marmalade.

I picked about six large oranges and scrubbed them well.

I prefer a more savory marmalade so I chose to add rosemary to the oranges. The rosemary is beautiful with its small blue flowers.

After scrubbing the oranges I sliced them very thinly and cut the disks into eighths. The sliced oranges, and six cups of water are added to a large pot and cooked at a full boil for about 45 minutes – or until reduced by about half. The orange rind should be quite soft. Add three cups of sugar and a handful of fresh rosemary to the pot and bring it to a boil again. Be careful to watch the pot to make sure it doesn’t boil over – if it does just reduce the heat to control the situation. Once the mixture thickens (fifteen minutes or so) test it for readiness by putting a spoonful on a cold plate – wait a full minute and tilt the dish to see if it is runny or jam-like. If it is runny, continue to cook until a thicker consistency is obtained. Can the marmalade according to “Libby’s” instructions – boiling the jars and returning the filled containers to a hot bath to be sterilized (it’s really not as hard as it sounds).

Serve on toast or drizzled over honey yogurt.

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