Such a Nice Day. . .

What is a girl supposed to do when she sees tulips at the home improvement store in the middle of the Winter, and has a beautiful empty planter handy on the front porch? I ask you?

I made the Clementine Marmalade. . . .and. . . it's delicious!
I say that in case you know that this was a trial for me, I don't usually care for marmalade, but gave it a whirl, anyway. I'll have to make scones sometime soon, so I can properly enjoy this golden gooey-ness.

My brothers will be pleased that I made bottles of Pickled Papaya. My Family will remember Cecelia Manley. She was a lovely, sweet girl, who befriended us when we lived on Guam. She taught all of us a great deal about the Guamanian lifestyle. She also taught me to make Pickled Papaya. I wonder if she remembers us as fondly as we do her. . .



Mmmmm . . . Papaya yumminess. Thank you, Cecelia.
I had such a nice day. I didn't necessarily accomplish the things that were on my list for the day, but there weren't any pressing issues, and I had such a nice day.

I see that a couple of you have looked for the recipe for Pickled Papaya. I owe it to you to include it, don't you think? Here, goes!

Pickled Papaya Recipe

(as I recall )

For this batch, four quarts, I used, approximately:

3 cups White Distilled Vinegar

5-6 pounds ripe Papaya (2 large)

1 jar (12 oz. ?) Banana Peppers, including liquid

1 medium White Onion

2 Tablespoons whole Black Pepper Corns

3/4-1 cup white Sugar

1-2 teaspoons of salt, according to taste

Notes and Preparation:

Sterilize jars and lids.

This is not processed in a hot water bath. It is a cold process and must be kept refrigerated.

Peel papayas.

Scoop out seeds, and discard them.

Slice Papaya into long thin slices. They will need to be short enough to be covered with liquid in the jars.

Thinly slice the onion.

In a medium saucepan, over medium flame, combine vinegar, pickling juice from the jar of banana peppers, sugar and pepper corns. Heat just to simmering, making certain that the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.

Distribute the banana peppers evenly among the jars (this should be about 4 or 5 per quart jar).

Alternate filling the jars with the papaya and onion slices. (I mean add a few onion slices, then a few papaya slices, then a few onion, an so on . . .)

After the jars are filled with the fresh produce, carefully pour the vinegar mixture until it covers all of the fresh ingredients. If you run a little short, you may add more vinegar; or if it just a tiny bit short, a little water to finish topping off. Important Note: I like to make certain that the liquid has cooled. Be aware of the potential for breaking the jars if you pour hot liquid over cold fruit in cold jars.

Seal jars with lids and rings, and refrigerate.

More Notes:

There will already be pretty well developed flavor in a day or two.

I can't tell you how long it will keep in the refrigerator, but you are used to being aware of these things, right?

I had wanted to try the recipe with Apple Cider Vinegar, but when I got home from the grocer, the seal on my new bottle was broken, and I'm just paranoid about those things, so I opted to use the white vinegar that I had on hand, as I recall the original recipe called for that, anyway. But I still think cider vinegar would be delicious! I will have to give it a whirl some time.

If you think you would like your pickled papaya a little hotter, you could try jalapenos instead of banana peppers. Oooh, that sounds positively yummy!

This is the recipe as it was taught to me, many, many years ago.

Have fun experimenting!

I found the Clementine Marmalade recipe on Recipezaar. They stated that it originally came from the book Preserving Nature's Bounty, by Francis Bissell. AND, it was delicious!