Did it work?

I think it worked, anyway. The jars are still warm, but the residue of marmalade in the big kettle is jelling nicely. But wow, the work! I spent at least four hours making this stuff to fill two one-quart jars. By the time I was finished, my right hand had developed finger cramps; the ring finger, then the index finger just became rigid and refused to bend. The reason, I think, is that I used that hand to grasp the tiny cooked orange rinds while the left hand dug out the pulp and tough membranes that remained after the skins were boiled.

At first I used spoons to remove the pulp, but they didn’t work too well since they didn’t have a sharp enough edge to dig in as needed. So I used my thumbnails, alternating from hand to hand. That worked very well. I now have the cleanest thumbnails in this whole valley. If I make another batch of marmalade, I am going to try and figure out how to use my toenails—they need cleaning too.