Mandarin Orange Jelly

Like sunshine in a jar.

I had some beautiful Australian Mandarin oranges so I adapted the recipe for tangerine jelly in the blue book. I made three pint jars, but you could also do half pints. Because the lemons have been so thick skinned lately, I advise buying a few extra-just in case they don't yield enough pulp-not a bad idea for the oranges/tangerines either. You never know if you'll hit a dry orange in the bunch.

This was incredibly easy and the way the steps came together allowed plenty of time to clean-up in-between. We'll keep one jar for ourselves and a couple of lucky people will get the others for Christmas. I might need to make a few more batches.

You Will Need:

6 cups chopped Mandarin orange pulp (about 3 1/2 pounds-but buy extra)
1 cup chopped lemon pulp (I needed 4)
1/2 cup thinly sliced Mandarin orange peel( peel closely so as to avoid pith) (about 3 medium)
1 cup water
1 package powdered pectin
5 cups sugar

To Prepare Juice:

Combine tangerine pulp, lemon pulp, peel and water in a large pot. Cover, and simmer ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain juice through a damp jelly bag. You'll need four cups of juice. This might take a while, so why not do the dishes at this point-you'll need the pot again.

Measure 4 cups of juice and place in pot with the pectin. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. When juice comes to a full rolling boil, stir in the sugar and keep stirring. When juice returns to a full rolling boil, cook one minute longer and remove from heat.

Pour into pints or half pints prepared and heated according to USDA guidelines leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe threads clean, place heated lid in place and adjust screw bands fingertip tight. Place in canner.

Lower jars, cover canner and bring to a full boil. For pints, process 15 minutes, half pints 10. Remove lid, turn off heat and let stand five minutes before removing to a towel to cool. Let cool 12-24 hours before checking for seals.