What to do..what to do????

I would never complain about something producing too much unless it happens to be something like my nose during a bout with a cold or perhaps the woodstove chugging out too much smoke during a windy day.  I especially would never complain about one of the trees producing too much fruit.  But still!!!  This year, the citrus trees just about outdid themselves.  There was so much fruit on the trees that the limbs hung down so low that the fruit was nigh on the ground.  Some actually sat directly on the mulch under the tree.  This is not all bad as I was able to share fruit with anyone that would take it.  My grapefruit seems to be much like the proverbial zucchini that gardeners are always stuck holding.  No one wants anymore after the first few gifted boxes so you resort to sneaking bags and boxes of the fruit onto the neighbors doorstep before they rise in the morning, when they are at work or during the dead of night whilst they sleep!  No...I have not gone that far.....yet!  Give me time!  There are still bushels of fruit still hanging on the trees!

Michael and I picked tons of Satsumas the other day and even after doling out bags full, a bushel still sat on the kitchen floor.  Just what was I to do with a bushel of Satsumas?  I needed something quick and easy since there is probably still another two bushels yet to be picked.  I pondered..and pondered.  I could make more marmalade but since about thirty pounds of kumquats also occupied space on the kitchen floor, I opted for some different method of preserving the Satsumas.

After playing around "inventing" a recipe, I decided to home-can juice.  I suppose that I cannot really call this orange juice since it is a blend of grapefruit and Satsumas but since it is orange in color...Orange Juice it is!  At first, I peeled the citrus fruit and carefully seeded them.  The peels were placed in the dehydrator for use at a later date.  The pulp was tossed in the blender and "juiced".  I have no electric juicer so the blender would just have to work!  It did well except there were a few large pieces that would not pulverize.  I strained the stuff.  A taste-test was done with Mark and Michael both approving the flavor and texture.  Then..I got lazy!  Since the fruits were all washed extremely well, I searched for an easier method.  When no one was looking, I tossed two whole Satsumas into the blender..peels, seeds..everything!  I hit the highest setting and watched as the blender bounced about the counter top!  It was not highly unlike a kid on a trampoline!  That thing almost hit the floor before I had a chance to nab it!  Hmmm...perhaps I should have started at a lower speed! After straining it, I taste-tested the stuff and WOW!..that was delicious!  So from that point on, the fruit was just plopped whole into the blender and then strained to remove any seeds or large chunks!  Easy-peasy!  Never having canned plain juice before, I only did one batch.  The stuff turned out well so now the problem of billions of Satsumas is solved!  Tomorrow...the remainder will be juiced and canned.  Hopefully, my twenty-five year old blender will not die on me before I get to the grapefruit! Now if I could only find a simpler way to rid the kumquats of their seeds, the marmalade-making process would not be so time consuming! I wonder....?