How to Make Killer Lemon or Orange Marmalade – A Happy Girl Kitchen Workshop – Best Places for Foodies to Live and Travel

farmhouse — Morning at the Temescal Farm House

What bliss to learn how to make lemon, orange, and / or grapefruit marmalade at a mini 2-3 hour workshop with Jordan Champagne, the girl behind Happy Girl Kitchen, in the oldest farmhouse in Oakland, California.

At once point Jordan called out “Would you pick a lemon from the back yard?” This was music to a new Bay Area dweller’s ears. “I’m from Massachusetts,” she explained. “Seeing cactus growing outside a window is totally new to me.” Then again I remember my glee upon seeing blueberries growing right there out of the ground in Maine.

While I’m a Californian, turning the bounty of citrus into edibles was new to me–an exciting skill to add to my homesteading arsenal. The ten or so people who came to learn Jordan’s marmalade techniques left full of knowledge, samples of various marmalades and pickles, and a jar of their very own marmalade for the spreading. (Mine seemed to be overly firm, destined as a fro yo mixer. Can’t wait!)

We compared and contrasted a few different marmalades.

Jordan demoing ways to chop up the fruit, keeping the seeds for the pectin bag.

The class participants each filled a jar.

Lady Marmalade (aka Jordan) water baths the jars to seal.

The secret to not killing people with your marmalade: Apparently there is no secret due to the high pectin and acid. We learned there are no known deaths-by-marmalade. Check out Happy Girl’s classes, other jam and preservation events on Epicuring, and the National Center for Home Preservation. Share your own creations on Punk Domestics!

Susie Wyshak