With the last of my lemons I made Honey Lemon Marmalade adapted from a recipe I found at Food In Jars. 
It was the most amazing day yesterday. We let the fire go out and I had the windows and doors open. The air wooshed through on the tail of the wind but I did not care. It was FRESH! I just dressed appropriately! But I did not even need a jacket, and my clown suit sulked on its hook all day. As the day warmed up so did the bees and out they came. I took you out to see.
So I had 8 juicy organic lemons left over. Just enough to make the honey lemon marmalade. This is a sensational marmalade. Quite a change from the straight sugar variety.
- 8 lemons (about 4 cups of chopped lemon)
- 1 cup home made honey
- scant 2 cups of sugar
- 1 cup water
Now Marissa added pectin right at the end, but I made a tiny change, don’t tell her, she might get cranky, and I used the seeds to thicken the jam. I do not like it too thick you see. And I am making it to cook with, so it does not need to keep for months.
Cut the lemons into wedges, slice the thin end of the wedge off along with the seeds, flick out and collect any extra seeds. Wrap those slices of pith and the seeds in a small muslin bag to cook with the marmalade.
Put the lemon wedges through a food processor using the slice blade, twice. This was my first attempt at a short cut and it worked very well. Lemon juice and cut fingers do not go well together.
Cook all ingredients plus the muslin bag for about 30 – 45 minutes. Drop tiny bits into a saucer of freezing cold water to test, the marmalade needs to gel into a rolling ball. If it is not thickening to your satisfaction then you could add the pectin. Just a heaped tablespoon, then simmer for about 5 minutes.
Ladle into serilised jars. Lids and rings and into a boiling bath for ten minutes. I omitted the water bath as well because this marmalade is destined for the fridge. But Marissa would encourage you to use the water bath just to be sure.
Stand by though, as this special marmalade is an ingredient in a lovely dinner! I shall cook it for you today. These are the bees in the struggling hive. They were out and about yesterday in the warm as well, and I was much heartened by their vigor. It is not their honey we are using today, they were left with all their honey for winter food.
Today is also destined to be warm. No fire to warm the house today. No-one will be inside anyway!! After doing the barn I shall be hanging the clothes out on the line to dry. Later today we are off to the junk yard to find something we can turn into a harvest table. I shall take the camera in case there are treasures! You can have a wee excursion!
Good Morning!
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
100 responses to “Honey Lemon Marmalade on a lovely late Winter Day”
Oh, I love junk yards! It’s like Christmas and birthdays all rolled into one great adventure. Can’t wait to see what goodies you find. 😀
This junk yard has the archetypal junk yard man to go with it.. he LOVES his junk! c
This marmalade sounds delicious. Better than a bitter orange one I tried the other day.
So many marmalades, so little time! c
Love that first bee picture. Glad they are happy! Sun dried clothes – it all sounds like heaven.
morning Karen, well i hung the clothes out and the fog rolled in.. ah well..it may clear up again later on! c
Ah, there’s that beautiful marmalade, and with home made honey it must be stunningly good. I can’t wait to see what you’re making with it and am looking forward to your junk adventure. I may hit the thrift store at lunch today, myself! Have a fun day!
Morning betsy, life is wonderfully busy!! c
I love reading about your daily experiences and tasks.You make them all sound like fun.
I learned another thing from you and am trying to put it into effect: you said in another you do your housework quickly to get it over with and have the rest of the day for more enjoyable projects.. I have adopted that method and find it makes the dreary work go by so much faster.
Ronnie
fantastic ronnie, if you run from one job to the next, just avoiding collisions keeps the mind occupied! awesome.. c
Good morning, Cecilia. Beautiful color on that marmalade. It must taste extra good with homemade honey. The color resembles that of the filling on a Shaker Lemon Pie — I just made my first: stay tuned.
Shaker lemon pie, that sounds interesting.. i shall indeed stay tuned! c
I love the idea of using honey, I have a 5 kg pot from a friend who keeps bees
fantastic to have real honey from your own source, i bet you put it to good use! c
Oh yes, the marmalade is truly beautiful! And a recipe I must try also – I have a friend who keeps bees, and gives me honey. Happy…Wednesday, isn’t it? 🙂
Happy Wednesday Vivian! c
Sounds wonderful. I used honey in a jam over the summer and will do it again. Love the taste.
It is great isn’t it! c
Now that’s an interesting marmalade 🙂
My aunt today told me that the pips do not need boiling to release their pectin. If you stand them separately in a bowl over night the pectin will be released and you can then add it after the sugar (and in this case honey) have been added. In fact she holds back the pips and juice until that stage as she feels the the juice is not boiled away while softening the skins and this gives a fresher flavour.
thank you Sarah, this is good info, i will try it that way next time!
another little fact: with regard to Seville oranges: there’s more pectin in the oranges early int he season. But I don’t know if this is so with other citrus 🙂
Celi, those bees! So industrious…and organic lemons too. Sometimes reading The kitchensgarden is like stepping into a rather wonderful modernist fairy tale. I come just to read and look dreamily out of the window 😀
You need to pop a few plants in the ground out for that window! .. c
Morning C.,
Once again you’ve given me something new to try. Can’t wait to see how you use the marmalade, not to mention what you find at the junkyard. I love junk sales/thrift stores/garage/yard sales. I’ve created some really cool garden totems (Thank you Jaz at October Farm for the insipration) with the teasures I’ve found.
I love crazy stuff in the garden.. i will look out for some interesting shapes! I love Jaz she is so cool.. c
The marmalade sounds delightful.I can’t wait to see what your excursion turns up. How is Mama?
Fat. Mama is fat and taking her own time about it! All this lovely weather and no lambs.. c
Bees are AMAZING and give us the sweet treat of HONEY:)
Exactly renee and i hope we get a decent drop of honey this season i am sowing more flowers in anticipation. c
I just love those days when the windows can be opened! There is nothing better than that. I hate having the a/c going constantly. I remember when I was up North, the excitement of a break in weather. This marmalade sounds really yummy!
I hate A/C period, we never have it on, I love air! even in the depths of winter tho this winter has been so kind! c