S. Worthen | Weblog

We've never attempted any kind of preserve before. Cranberry sauce is as close as I've come, and that we froze since we didn't think to jar it.

No, we didn't buy a sugar thermometer. We used the wrinkle test to see if it was ready to set yet:

Put small plate in the fridge when jam is nearly done.
Take plate out when jam might be done and put a small spoonful on the plate. Wait until jam is cool (optionally, stick plate with jam back in the fridge to speed this process along).
Push at the jam with your finger. If it wrinkles up along the top of its surface and feels slightly firm, it's ready.
Otherwise, repeat until wrinkles are achieved.

We did, however, have an enormous stockpot already in the house which gave us greater confidence in making marmalade and not having it get everywhere!

It had set and was very nice for breakfast this morning, a decent balance between sweet and bitter.

Ginger's a good idea - thank you. This was the first time we'd made jam of any variety, so we stuck closely to the recipe. Now that we've conquered it once, with a few jars left over, and know it's not too difficult, I'm certain we'll be trying it again at some point.