"Mother, please do not tell Daddy that I am going to make his marmalade for him," said Adelaide, busily preparing to begin.
"No, dear, I won't," responded mother, then added, "we'll keep it as a surprise."
Orange Marmalade
| Oranges, | Two |
| Lemons, | One |
| Sugar | |
| Water |
Mother told Adelaide to wash the oranges and lemons thoroughly and to wipe them dry, then, using the little sharp knife, cut the fruit into quarters, lengthwise. This made it easy to remove the seeds and cut out the thick parts of each center or core. For this Adelaide used a small, smooth board (in fact, it was the cover of a five-pound butter box) upon which to cut the fruit, and she sliced each quarter, peel and all, very, very thinly across (not lengthwise this time), then put them into a bowl until all were ready.
Adelaide was surprised to find that it took quite a long while to get these few prepared, and was glad she had not attempted too many.
Next, she measured the fruit, using the glass measuring cup, and poured the fruit into mother's four quart aluminum saucepan. In a separate pan Adelaide measured as many cups of sugar as she had had of fruit. Then to each cup of fruit Adelaide added two cups of boiling water, covered the saucepan, and let it stand for twenty-four hours.
This completed her work for that day, except for the clearing away of the things with which she had finished.
The next morning Adelaide removed the cover from the saucepan containing the fruit and put the saucepan on the stove. While the fruit was coming to the boiling point, Adelaide brought a number of tumblers from the preserve closet. These she washed thoroughly and stood in a large pan in which had been placed a wire rack. Then, being covered with cold water, they were put on the stove to be sterilized, or, in other words, boiled. This was to kill all germs and to prevent the spoiling of the fruit when put away.
When the fruit began to boil, mother told Adelaide to look at the clock, and then let it boil for one hour (not too hard), or until the peel of the oranges and lemons was very tender. In the meantime, the sugar had been placed at the back of the range to heat through, and as soon as the fruit had boiled sufficiently, the sugar was added gradually. The marmalade was then allowed to boil until a little dropped on a cold saucer would begin to jell. After the sugar was added, Adelaide stirred the mixture every few minutes with a long-handled wooden spoon.