The only thing that was even remotely hard about this recipe was peeling all those Cuties (Good thing they’re so easy - and kind of fun - to peel as we all know, even kids can do it!) and lemons (a little more challenging use a knife to get them started). It’s delish on toasted cranberry bread too… I plan to serve this marmalade with scones on Christmas morning, and my husband made an experimental sauce for duck breasts with it last night that was outstanding.

I added a couple lemons so it wouldn’t be too sweet, and, I must say, it’s delicious - and such a beautiful color, too. So when I was deciding what to make this year for holiday hostess gifts, I ditched my original plan of Berry Balsamic Jam (Too summery, right? Most of the berries are pretty pitiful these days.) in favor of something more seasonal like… Cutie Marmalade! Basically this is just orange marmalade using clementines instead of oranges. When my kids come out of school - basically one big Christmas party these days - with sticky fingers and faces from yet another “special treat” (“Mom, we had candy canes and donuts today!”), you can guess what we’re having for snack! Plus the Cuties help keep me out of the toffee, spiced nuts, peppermint bark, cranberry bread, and other recent house invaders. I love that Cuties are (usually) seedless, portable, tasty, and especially that they’re good for you.

Sometimes I wonder how we ever survived the winter, let alone the holiday season, before some very smart person started selling California clementines by the crate.

Little cutie oranges