Strawberry Meyer Lemon Marmalade

Hi friends! How are you? Going strong, I hope! Today’s recipe is a sweet and tart Strawberry Meyer Lemon Marmalade. YUM!

One of my projects for 2017 was to join Marissa McClellan’s Food in Jars Mastery Challenge. As a Master Food Preserver, I’m always looking for fresh, fun ideas to encourage others to begin canning, learn about preserving foods and to try new things in the kitchen. For me, this was a personal challenge to stretch out of my comfort zone and do something different.

Each month there is a new challenge and January is all about Marmalade. Growing up, I hated Marmalade. It was “old people food.” My grandparents were the only people I knew who ever liked the stuff. My parents didn’t like it. It was bitter, had chunks of peel and did I mention it was bitter? Yeah, not my favorite thing. Thank goodness I grew up and learned to appreciate it. While I enjoy marmalade now, prior to this challenge, I’ve only ever made an Onion Marmalade. It was a Red Onion Marmalade and technically, not really a “marmalade” because it only used zest and not the peel. Before we get too deep into this, let’s define Marmalade. Marmalade is: “A soft spread that contains pieces of citrus fruit and peel evenly suspended in transparent jelly.” This definition is from freshpreserving.com which is the website for Ball Canning. The key here is the citrus fruit and peel. I took this challenge to heart and did some research on different marmalades and the variety of techniques involved in making them. You can’t grow, if you don’t know, right? This challenge is all about learning and growing!

I learned some marmalades take up to two days to create because they require the fruit to be boiled and then sit overnight. This process is to further soften the peels before making the marmalade. Others don’t call for an overnight soak, but rather to boil the fruit several times in order to soften it. And others, require no time at all, other than the time it takes to thinly slice whatever citrus fruits you’ve chosen to use in your marmalade. No matter which method you choose to use, marmalade can be time consuming. So when you make marmalade, be sure to plan ahead and use a sharp knife!

The reason I choose this particular recipe was two-fold. I had a few Meyer lemons left from a larger batch and strawberries are just coming in to season here in Southern California. Plus, it’s been raining quite a bit and Strawberry Lemonade always reminds me of summertime and sunshine. Everyone can use a little bit of sunshine on a dreary day! Why not eat it for breakfast, spread on toast or stirred in oatmeal? Or use it over ice-cream!

Or perhaps make another batch because this one seems to be gone…

Since I can’t seem to stop at just one. I tried my hand at traditional Orange Marmalade too. It came out beautifully!

That recipe can be found here: Small Batch Orange Marmalade

What kinds of things do you do to stretch out of your comfort zone? I’d love to hear about it! Share with me in the comments below. Let’s grow and learn together this year!

Until next time friends, live life deliciously!