Blood Orange and Rosemary Marmalade

I don't like marmalade. It tastes like jam, but it's got orange peel and pith in it. Ugh.

However, I love making it. I love making jams, and jellies, and preserves, and, well, marmalade. Maybe that's just me, being old fashioned - but I think it's fun.

I've actually made this marmalade before, but I think that was about two years ago, because we kept missing the blood oranges. I mean, seriously, they're in season for about a week, and if you miss them like I kept doing, you have to wait another whole year before they come back again (which sorta sucks, but whatever).

So, here it is. The promised post. It would have been sooner, except I was away on holidays (they were really nice, I'm glad you asked), and I had no internet, not to mention no computer or marmalade, so I couldn't do it then. Sorry about that.

I'll shut up now and give you the recipe.

Blood Orange and Rosemary Marmalade

6 blood oranges, sliced very finely
1 lemon, sliced just as finely
2 cups of water
Between 3 and 5 cups of white sugar (don't worry, I'll explain later)
3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
A few sprigs of fresh rosemary

1. Put the finely sliced oranges and lemon into a big pot with the water. Cover with a cartouche (I'd never heard this word, but when I googled it, Google said to cut a circle of baking paper two inches bigger than the pot you're using, scrunch it up and then pull it back out flat again - and there you have it. Apparently it helps reduce the amount of liquid that evaporates or something), the lid, put on a low heat and let it boil for a hour.
2. After an hour, test the rind - you should be able to squeeze it easily between your fingers. Take the pot off the heat, and measure out the liquid&pulp&rinds (basically, measure out how many cups not-quite-marmalade you have). For every cup of mixture, use 3/4 cup of sugar. For example, if you have 5 cups of mixture, you'd have 3 1/4 cups of sugar. 
3. Put the sugar and mixture back into the pot, and add the red wine vinegar and rosemary. On a medium-high heat, bring to a slow simmer and let it cook for 20-25 minutes. Test to see if the marmalade has gelled by dropping some of the liquid onto a cold (as in, it's-been-in-the-freezer cold) plate, and push your finger through it. If it has little wrinkles, or if it seems to be the regular consistency for marmalade, then take the pot off the heat and ladle into sterilised jars. Keep in the fridge.

(Note: if you're unsure about how to sterilise jars, here's a link that explains it pretty well)