Calamondin marmalade anyone?

So, still in Central Florida, and this morning, we went to McCracken Farms (mccrackenfarms.com), a small, family farm in Sebring. Riding in a golf cart through the groves, we inhaled the gorgeous scent of orange blossoms and fruit and saw pink-and-yellow wild yarrow along the paths. When we stopped, our guide cut open a Honeybell orange and a tangerine for us to taste before we picked. (Actually, he picked more than we did, as we were too busy taking photos). As a Northerner, I've always wanted to pick oranges straight off the tree, and so my loving husband documented the experience for me:

On the ride back, I spotted trees with tiny, round oranges, which our guide said were Calamondins, a cross between a mandarin orange and a kumquat--"a very sour orange," he said. We tasted them, and they were very sour indeed. "Perfect for marmalade, though, so I brought some home.

Since I'm on vacation, I decided to go for easy and tasty--not pretty and Marmalade Awards-ready (dalemainmarmaladeawards.co.uk) I threw them in large pot filled with water and boiled them for nearly an hour--until the skins were soft, and they were nearing collapse. 

Then, because there was no food processor in the house where we are staying, I put the Calamondins, in into the blender and to try and chop them roughly. (Remember, I'm not going for beauty, but taste and ease.) It didn't work, so I ended up smooshing them in my hands, breaking up the skins and taking out the seeds.

Next, I boiled them up for 15 minutes. Which turned out to be too long. Alas, my gorgeous Calamondin marmalade turned into marmalade toffee. 

Delicious, (that perfect combination of sour and sweet) but useless, unless you think marmalade candy is a good idea.

I will have to try this again. If anyone out there has made marmalade from these tasty little oranges, can you please let me know?

Aftto collapse.