Beautiful job Sol! OMG that little baby cracked me up!!

Sol, your bejeweled marmalades are so beautiful...gosh, they're amazing! I really look forward to your photography. I've even hauled DH in to look at your pictures. Lady, your love of cooking & photography really shines.

/tricia

PS That baby had me laughing out loud right along with him! He reminded me of Woodie Woodpecker!

Sol it looks beautiful. I can hear the excitement in your voice. The baby is hilarious - perfect for this occasion!

Isn't that little guy adorable? He cracks me up every single time.
Thank you for the sweet comments (pun intended). Now, I'm off to make more jelly, what else?

Sol

Well, I sure hate to say I told you so, but.....well, anyway. (grin) And I have to have habaneros to make Habanero Gold, which are not so easy to come by in White Cloud! Time is even harder to come by, now that I think of it.

Those are just beautiful, Sol, and marmalade isn't really jelly, it's sweet and tart and yummy and yours looks perfect. All sealed AND jelled, which is a feat with marmalade, trust me.

Now as for that cake....um.....only because I love you and I don't want anything to happen to you, put that stuff promptly in the refrigerator. The USDA says it's not safe to can cake so I gotta warn you. Although there are recipes all over the internet, there is a risk of botulism.

From various extension services and other sources:

(University of Minnesota) Canning Bread or Cakes: Many local cookbooks include recipes for canning bread or cakes in canning jars. This practice can be unsafe due to the low heat processing (usually done in the oven) and storing the canned bread or cake at room temperatures. Another concern is the bread is canned and stored in an anaerobic or airtight environment where Clostridium botulinum bacteria loves to grow and can cause death if consumed by humans. Usually, this canning method creates a weak seal and becomes unsealed once the bread or cake cools. Another concern is that chance for glass breakage during the "canning" process in the oven.

Penn State: The microorganism we are concerned about in these products is Clostridium botulinum. If spores of this type of bacteria are allowed to germinate and grow, deadly botulism toxin is produced. Very small amounts of the toxin can cause an often fatal disease called botulism. Clostridium botulinum spores are abundant in nature but fortunately will only grow and produce toxin in unrefrigerated high moisture foods that are low in acid and exposed to little or no oxygen. These conditions occur in canned foods such as asparagus, green beans, beets, and corn. Thus low-acid canned foods must be processed in pressurized retorts at temperatures of 240 degrees F or higher to make sure that the heat resistant spores are killed.

Outbreaks of botulism from more unusual sources have been reported such as garlic in oil mixtures, improperly handled baked potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil, and home-canned or fermented fish. Some research studies have shown that low acid canned bread or cake products may have characteristics that are favorable for growth of Clostridium spores.

MSU: Canning quick breads and cakes: Canned quick breads and cakes are unsafe. Do not prepare them and do not eat them if someone gives them to you. Canned quick breads and cakes are typically baked in glass canning jars for 45 minutes at 325 degrees. The metal lid and screw band go on the jar immediately after the bread or cake has baked. Heat from the product is supposed to create a vacuum seal that makes it shelf-stable for a year. This process has the potential to cause botulism which can kill or sicken the person eating the product.

Research done at Kansas State University showed that some "bread-in-a-jar" recipes contained too little of the acid needed to prevent bacteria growth in the closed jar. Utah State University explored whether it was possible to adjust the acid level enough to control C. botulinum (the bacteria that cause botulism poisoning) or add enough sugar to control the amount of moisture while still having tasty bread. They were unable to develop a safe and tasty canned quick bread or cake.

I don't want to scare you with any of this because canning is easy, safe and your own stuff is always high quality. No way can someone get sick from jam, jelly, fruit stuff, it's too high in acid. The same with pickles, relishes, chutneys, salsas that have that high acidic level.

Now, I'll be waiting for pictures of that Habanero Gold!

Annie

Thank you AB, but not to worry. I'm way ahead of you.
I did a lot of research before embarking on this canning expedition, and, Jeesy H Creezy, if I didn't run into a ton of controversy concerning this very subject.

Some people insist it's a perfectly safe practice as long as the jar remains vacuum-sealed. While the other side is dead set against it. So I played it safe and once the jars were completely cooled, I put them in the freezer, for one of those days when I need a sweet fix.

Btw, I have the apricots in their vinegar bath right now. It's supposed to soak for four hours, and I don't need to tell you how hard it is waiting around for that.

But, you have no idea how much I'm enjoying sitting around the house watching the Food Network.
And that funny chick Sandra Lee was just on. I'm so tempted to make her Vin-neh-grrrr-ette with Currrrum-bulled Feta Cheese and Furrrr-rench Beh-guet-te. Doesn't it all sound scurrr-ump-tious?

Okay, fun's over. I'll be back with the Habanero Gold pictures ... probably tomorrow, at this rate.

Sol

Fabulous and timely as I started making marmalade this morning. I hope that I have your success. I know what you mean about the ping. When I heard it at Canny Camp, it was a sense of achievement.

I love that baby. My Beau use to do that when we were driving and I would roll (or what ever we do now) down the window. I don't know why it tickled him so.

Yes, it sure is hard to wait for that fruit. I'm going home tonight, I think, and cut up oranges for marmalade. My old fashioned recipes says to mix with sugar and then wait 12-18 hours. Sigh. It's hard, I want instant gratification. I want marmalade NOW!

As for that cake, thank you, Sol. I know there are people who say it's safe to can cake, and maybe it is, but some things I'm just leery of. Now, I break the rules myself regularly, doing things like canning Chase's dill pickles without a water bath, but I always want to know both sides before I decide what chances I'm going to take. Then it's my gamble, but I just gotta know. I wanted to make sure you did too, just because you're my friend.

Annie

Annie YOU ARE SCARING ME!size> Your recipe says to add the sugar AFTER the 12-18 hours. You know I am following this recipe precisely. Help!!

Cathy-who will wait for your response before going forward.

I think these guys must have caught your enthusiasm too :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Laughing

What took you so long Sol! Those are some beautiful pix.

Annie, I won't be canning or fermenting fish any time soon, so don't worry about me.

Beautiful marmalade..where did you find the jeweled toppers?

Great pics too!!!!

Linda P

Sorry, Cathy, you're right, add the sugar AFTER the oranges soak for the 12-18 hours. Sigh. It's the peach preserves that macerate in sugar for a day or so. More waiting.....

Annie

Hey Annie, Thank you for getting back to me!!!

Those are beautiful! I can just taste it!

PINGsize>, I got ping! I hope everything else turns out. The marmalade is a tad sweet. I think I made a mistake shaving off most of the pith. Also, the rind is too soft.

Yay, Cathy got PINGED! I think marmalade is sweet, but it's so "iffy" to gel that I hesitate to cut the sugar content.

But the rind is too soft? Maybe you did have the rind a bit thin and so it cooked soft?

I was goign to make marmalade but my Small Batch Preserving that Readinglady sent me has a recipe for Preserved Orange that you use in salads. I feel an experiment coming on...

Annie

Carol, thank you for the recipe, it's pure Nirvana.

Yeah! Cathy got a PING.

Well, AB, I have a confession to make. I doubled the ingredients. It all looks normal, but will something weird happen down the road causing the jelly to mutate into something hideous? I suck at following instructions, but you already knew that.

Could somebody please roll your eyes and tell me: "Phht. it's nuthin'"

Sol

Sol I'll say 'pfft its nothing'. Actually I'll volunteer DH to do that. He doubles recipes and then (gasp) taps down the lids after the jars come out of the bath!

I'll second that "pfft, it's nothing". If it gelled, it's all good. Sometimes if you use commercial pectin it doesn't reach the necessary temperature in the magic amount of time and the pectin won't jell. If it's jelled, it's all good!

Jessica, did you tell your DH that's naughty. LOL Actually, you might get an unstable seal, but I get that sometimes anyway!

Annie

Thank you EJ and Annie. I can now go back to breathing at a normal rate ... normal for a high strung Cuban anyway.

Sol

Linda P, I almost forgot to reply.

Regarding the decorations, I used buttons that I bought at a crafts store long ago. I think it might've been Michael's.
At any rate, most craft stores carry a huge assortment of embellishments. I just happened to have these buttons and decided to put them to use. I had to dress them up, because there's nothing worse than a nakey canning jar, in my humble, Marthaesque opinion.
I know. Humble-Marthaesque should be considered an oxymoron.

Sol