Lemon Marmalade

My mother-in-law is in town and she brought us tons of lemons from her lemon tree!  I didn't want them to spoil before I could use them so I've been busy.  This past week I've made lemon bars and candied lemons.  Today I made lemon marmalade.  I absolutely love marmalade but have never had a lemon version before.  When I looked around for recipes most call for Meyer lemons which these are not.  I finally found this recipe at  About.com and went for it.

Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Total time: 2 hours, 55 minutes
Yields: 3 pints

Ingredients:
10 large lemons
4 cups water
4 cups sugar

Using a vegetable peeler, remove yellow part of peel in strips from lemons.  Cut stripes into 1-by 1/8- inch strips.  With knife, cut off all white membrane, or pith, from peeled lemons.

Cut peeled lemons crosswise into 1/4- inch thick slices.  In heavy non-aluminum 5-quart kettle combine lemon peel, sliced fruit and water.  Cover and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours.

Heat lemon mixture to boiling over high heat, stirring frequently.

Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until lemon mixture is very soft, about 1 hour.

Add sugar to lemon mixture and increase heat to medium-high.  Stir until sugar dissolves.  Heat to boiling and reduce heat just so mixture boils gently.  Boil uncovered, stirring frequently, until candy thermometer registers 220 degrees F., 45 to 60 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare three 1-pint canning jars with their lids and bands for processing following manufacturer's directions.  Spoon marmalade into hot jars, leaving 1/4- inch space at top of jars.

Wipe jar rims clean.  Seal with lids and bands.  Process jars in boiling water bath 15 minutes.  Cool jars on wire rack.  Store in cool, dry place.  Refrigerate after opening.

Let me share some notes and observations I made while making this.

• 25 minute prep time my butt!  Peeling and slicing all those lemons took at least an hour to do.
• I used 9 lemons and one orange.  No reason, just because I felt like it.
• I didn't refrigerate my lemons in the water bath (no room!).  Just used cold water and kept it on the counter for 3 hours.
• After I added the sugar, my marmalade never reached 220 degrees.  It stayed at 210 for an hour.  Around that time, the consistency was jelly-like so I called it good and ladled it into the jars regardless.  Turns out it was fine.  My marmalade is the perfect thickness.
• This yielded slightly more than 2 pints for me not 3.
• This is an awesome marmalade!  My husband used the word 'rich' to describe it.  It's definitely not a marmalade for the weak-hearted.