Citrus Maximus (Or Bread and Citruses)

When I got up this morning, having left the orange marmalade simmering all night, it definitely looked at the "gel" stage, so I filled up my 2 dozen small jars and the 6 small plastic-wrap-lined dishes for what I hoped would the large rounds. Jumping ahead a bit: while it set up nicely in terms of a spread, it still wasn't at the stage of a solid, stiff jelly when cooled. So this evening I scraped the contents of the dishes back into a pot and applied further heat. At this point it's more of a scientific experiment than a serious project. I suspect I don't have the right chemical balance to get a stiff jelly from this mixture.

In contrast with last year's peel-only marmalade, this batch is a dark brown. Despite using the crock-pot for a gentle heat, I think it's carmelized somewhat and in addition to the desired bitter-orange flavor, there's a little bitter-burnt taste. It's entirely possible that the entire batch is going to get chalked up to "nope, that way doesn't work." Next time I think I'll go back to a peel-only recipe just for the esthetics. But simmering the oranges until mushy and then adding the sugar does give me more control over the final texture.

The peel that I prepared for candying has probably soaked through enough changes, but if I do a serious taste test (the "bread and citruses") and decide to toss the marmalade batch, I might try again with the second set of peel. (Thing is: I think I've still got plenty of candied orange peel from last year's batch, but I've been going through marmalade as gifts at a fair clip.)

Alpennia: I may have solved a logistical problem for book 3

So there's this timing issue. I have this little plot-event that happens between Antuniet and Jeanne after the end of The Mystic Marriage. And that plot-event then spawns a plot-event between Antuniet and Barbara. And the consequences of that interaction will carry over as a minor thread through all subsequent books (probably well past the point when I move on from Alpennia). But the timing was problematic. The thingie between Antuniet and Jeanne seemed a bit precipitous to have happen the summer immediately after The Mystic Marriage, but the resulting thingie between Antuniet and Barbara becomes more and more implausible the later I push it after that, so that first summer is it.  But the main events in book 3 (Mother of Souls) would work better starting the narrative off around the summer after that, or at least not until half a year or more after this other plot-event thingie. I'd have to rearrange some things or maybe push a key relationship into book 4 or ...

And then it occurred to me that this summer plot-event thingie would actually work very nicely as a stand-alone short story. Just like I did for the prequel story Three Nights at the Opera (which I will soon be talking to my publisher about, now that Daughter of Mystery is out). And that solves most of my logistical issues. The Mystic Marriage concludes in late winter of 1823. The little plot-thingie will take place over the summer of 1823. Then the initial events of Mother of Souls can start up in the spring of 1824 and carry over into the following year so that in the fall of 1825, Margerit's cousin Iuli is just the right age for her part in the drama without rushing things or pushing her part off into book 4 (tentatively: Mistress of Shadows). That means I can push Mistress of Shadows a couple years later, which makes it a perfect setting for … but that would be telling.

And it's a useful thing to have a few related short stories kicking around to keep the ravening hordes of fans (still hypothetical at this point) satisfied between novels.