Easy orange marmalade

4 lbs oranges*
5.5 cups granulated sugar
5.5 cups brown sugar
juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Boil oranges, in enough water to allow them to float away from the bottom in pan, for two hours.
2. Remove from the water, wipe off, and allow to cool until they can be safely handled.
3. Cut each orange in half, remove seeds, and squeeze the juice into a saucepan. (This is simply to keep the juice from squirting all over your cutting board! If the flesh is still firm, you can just chop it.)
4. Finely slice the rind and roughly chop the pulp.
5. Add orange solids, sugars, lemon juice and vanilla to the orange juice.
6. Bring to a boil.
7. Run about half the mixture through a blender at this point if you want fewer peel shreds, and return to the saucepan.
8. Bring back to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
9. The jam is ready to can. Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.

* I've tried this recipe with grapefruit and orange, and I suspect that lime would work equally well. To cut the bitterness of the grapefruit, I added a teaspoon of baking soda with the sugar. Another way to decrease the bitterness is to separate the membranes from the citrus fruit before chopping, tie them in cheesecloth (for the pectin) and remove the pouch from the marmalade before canning. I'm looking forward to combining orange and lime for a combo marmalade.

If-Shepherds-Had-Sweet-Potatoes Pie

1 frozen pie crust
1 large sweet potato
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 lb ground beef
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
1 small onion, diced
3 slices bacon, chopped
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 can (8 oz) low-sodium tomato sauce

1. Bake pie crust according to package directions.
2. Prick the sweet potato several times with a fork.
3. Bake the sweet potato at 350° for 45-55 minutes.
   
4. When the potato is cool enough to handle, peel.
5. Add butter and salt, and mash.
6. Spread half the mashed sweet potatoes in the pie crust, and set aside.
7. Brown beef and remove from pan.
8. Add carrots and parsnips to the pan and saute for 5 minutes.
9. Add bacon and onions. Saute until onions are translucent.
10. Add beef and Worcestershire sauce and bring up to heat.
11. Add tomato sauce, and bring up to heat.
12. Place meat mixture on top of the sweet potato layer.
13. Top with the remaining sweet potatoes.
14. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are browned.

This was a hit at a recent pie potluck.