The Fruit that Grew Up

Finally off the little tree and into my kitchen, our long-awaited Citron Hand (sometimes known as a Buddha's Hand) was ready to use.  I have to say it was a bit disappointing though.  Perhaps, being the first fruit of the tree, and slightly stunted, was not very aromatic, just sitting on the counter.  The information I had dug up suggested that it would perfume an entire room.  Not this baby.  Oh well, the rind was good, and I used it in a few dishes, culminating in jars of Pineapple Marmalade.

I put the jar on the left more in the light, so you get a better idea of the color.  Basically, the recipe is just pineapples, chopped fine, the citron, minced - about 1/4 cupful, lemon juice and sugar.  Boiled it up til thick enough.  The citron hand is delicious in there.  Tangy and flavorful.  And the nice thing is, you can use all the rind, as the white pith is not bitter.

You may, or may not remember when I raved on and on about my new tree, with its one little baby fruit.  There were other starts, but they fell off rather quickly.  This one grew up to be a big (well a little size challenged) boy.  Just like a good mother, I took pictures along the way.  The tree (still a sapling) has been plagued by mites or aphids all year, but a treatment of neem oil seems to have taken care of it.