Bergamots are Done

I have fought the good fight. The bergamots are done.

The two bergamot trees that I picked on the third Saturday in January have yielded:

• Two batches of curd - one with brown sugar, one white;


• Two batches of marmalade - one with wekiwa as the "lemon" juice, one with Kaffir lime;


• One quart of frozen yogurt, containing peel and juice;


• Four frozen cups of bergamot juice;


• Two quarts of infused sugar - one with grated peel, one with strips;


• One frozen bag of ground peel (over a cup);


• Two boxes of fruit that went to Allie in Texas;


• Several golden orbs that went with Tod to his 6-day cookfest last week;


• And last but not least (I will try it tomorrow) one quart of black tea infused with flavor from all of the white bits that are left after I zested the peel and removed the juice.

Whew. I am now sporting a blister on my right hand from using the potato peeler on 18 bergamots today. I am completely out of wide-mouthed jars, and had to grab a large box of 42 plastic containers and lids from Costco earlier this week.

My house smells like a bergamot festival!