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juice of the lemons and gingers. Meanwhile break or chop the seeds, put them in a pan with the water, and boil gently for 30 minutes; strain, and add 2½ cups of the liquid to the squash mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Put into an enameled or stainless steel kettle, and over medium heat, bring to a slow boil, stirring constantly. (Here you can finish it in a 325 F/163 C oven, or let it putter along with a heat-reducing pad under the kettle.) Cook and stir until the squash is clear and will set—45 to 60 minutes. Ladle immediately into clean hot jars, leaving ½ inch of headroom for pints, ¼ inch for ½-pints. Cap with two-piece screwband lids; process in a Boiling–Water Bath for 5 minutes for pints or ½-pints. Remove; cool upright and naturally.

Green Tomato Marmalade

2 pints

2 quarts sliced, small, green tomatoes

½ teaspoon salt

4 lemons, peeled (save the rind)

4 cups sugar

Combine tomatoes and salt in a stainless steel kettle; chop lemon rind fine and add. Cover with water and boil 10 minutes. Drain well. Slice the peeled lemons very thin, discarding seeds but reserving all juice. Add lemon slices and juice and the sugar to the tomato mixture. Stir over moderate heat until sugar melts. Bring to boiling, reduce heat, and simmer until thick—about 45 minutes. Stir frequently. Pack in hot jars, leaving ½ inch of headroom for pints, ¼ inch for ½-pints. Cap with two-piece screwband lids. Process 5 minutes in a B–W Bath. Cool upright.

This classic from long ago is especially good served with meat.

Classic Orange Marmalade

Five to six ½-pint jars

The Scots make highly prized marmalades, among them this one from Mildred Wallace, which is characterized by a darker color and slightly bitter flavor compared with the most popular supermarket brands in the United States. The precooking prevents the peel from becoming tough when it is boiled with the sugar.

2 pounds Seville oranges (or other bitter variety left whole)

2 large lemons, whole

8 cups water (about)

8 cups (4 pounds) sugar

Wash the oranges and lemons well, digging out any stem “buttons,” without cutting into the flesh. Put the clean, washed, whole oranges and lemons in a large kettle with enough water to cover them; put the lid on the kettle and bring to a boil, then simmer until a fork will easily pierce the fruit—about 1½ hours. Remove the fruit to cool, saving the liquid; when they are cool, cut them in half the long way, then cut the halves in very thin slices (your knife must be sharp!), and take out and save the seeds. Return the seeds to the juice in the kettle and boil for about 10 minutes (this contributes to the bitter flavor). Strain the juice and return it to the kettle. Add the fruit slices and heat to boiling. Add the sugar, stirring until it dissolves, and continue cooking at a fast boil—stirring only enough to prevent scorching—until it starts to thicken and its temperature reaches 9 F (1 degree more than for jelly) above the boiling point of water in your kitchen. Remove from heat, skim off any foam, pour at once into hot sterilized ½-pint jars with two-piece screwband lids, leaving ½ inch of headroom. Cap; process in a Boiling–Water Bath (212 F/100 C) for 5 minutes. Cool upright.

Spicy Carrot Marmalade for Game

Four to five ½-pint jars

4½ cups coarsely ground raw carrots

3¼ cups sugar

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

2 lemons

Trim and scrape carrots. Shred them on a box grater and then chop the shreds in small pieces; or slice the carrots and then pulse-process in batches until they appear coarsely ground. (You can also run them through the coarse knife of a food grinder.) Put the carrots in a heavy enameled or stainless steel kettle; add the sugar, spices, and salt. Warm or roll on a hard surface two lemons (to make them easier to juice), but do not cut: the next step is to grate off the thin yellow skin of the rind, taking care not to get any of the bitter white portion. Add ¾ teaspoon of the grated zest to the ingredients in the kettle.