From Our Farm Kitchen - Citrus Season Part 2

I love this time of the year as spring is right around the corner and we will soon enjoy many different kinds of beautiful blooms. We are now in March and our citrus trees are getting ready for their next season of fruit. While we are still enjoying grapefruits, lemons and oranges that came from our trees, they are now covered with buds that will soon open into beautiful fragrant little flowers that will eventually produce a tree covered with tiny fruit. When the buds open, I love to sit out in our greenhouse -- enjoying the flowers and fragrant air. A friend gave me this recipe for blueberry orange marmalade and oh my goodness..it is full of deliciousness! Yes we are using blueberries in a marmalade. Hey, we are a blueberry farm and I had to incorporate a recipe using some of the blueberries I put up last season! LOL Hope you enjoy the blueberry orange combination. Blueberry Orange Marmalade Yield: 3 pints Recipe from The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving by Ellie Top and Margaret Howard Ingredients: 1 small orange 1 lemon 2 cups water 1 cinnamon stick, about 3 inches long 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries 2 cups granulated sugar Directions: Squeeze juice from orange and lemon, including pulp. Discard seeds and set juice aside. Slice the rinds into very thin slices. Place rinds, water and cinnamon in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, cover and boil gently for 25 minutes or until rinds are very tender. Remove and discard cinnamon stick. Add blueberries and reserved juice; return to boil, cover and boil gently for 10 minutes. Add sugar and bring to boil. Boil rapidly, uncovered, until mixture forms a gel, about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. (I like to use the freezer test to make sure the marmalade has gelled). For freezer test, place a plate in the freezer ahead of time. Test for gel formation by putting a spoonful of the hot fruit mixture on the chilled plate. Immediately return to the freezer and wait for 2 minutes. While you’re doing this remove the saucepan from the heat source to prevent over cooking. If the mixture is sufficiently cooked, it will form a gel that moves slowly as the plate is tilted. If it runs off the plate, cook for another 2 minutes and repeat until the freezer test indicates a gel is formed. Remove from heat. Ladle into hot jars. Add lid and rings, and process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.