Quince Marmalade

I've had the Simply Quince cookbook by Barbara Ghazarian for years and never had a great source for this exotically fragrant fruit...until today. When we were having dinner at some friends' house, Dylan waltzed in with his hands full of quince. I have never been so excited about a fruit. And that's saying something. So we hauled a wagon out to the tree and loaded it up. I hadn't planned to do anything with them tonight, but all the way home, the sweet scent was intoxicating. I was inspired.

I flipped through the cookbook and settled on a simple quince marmalde. The book explains that marmalades originated in Portugal where cooks added citrus peel sto a quince base. I cannot wait to break into one of these jars tomorrow morning.

3 C water
2 C organic granulated sugar
6 C fresh quince (peeled, cored, and grated)
juice from 3 key limes

1 t pure vanilla extract

Put the water and sugar into a large heavy-bottomed pan. Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Add quince, key lime juice, and vanilla extract. Simmer for an hour until most of the liquid is reduced. Spoon into sterilized jars. Process in a water bath for 10-15 minutes. Remove the containers with tongs and let cool on the counter. You’ll hear the sound of can tops popping shortly—a sign that a secure seal has been made. Pop, pop, pop. Or, you can refrigerate the jar without processing and use it within three weeks. Enjoy!