i got to try the marmalade. i think i boiled it too long because it was more hard jelly than soft jelly. however after you break the surface, the jelly itself is sort of lumpy. if i ever do this recipe again, i will definitely stop boiling once it reaches jelly temperature. as for the taste, i actually prefer the strips of rind more than the jelly itself. the jelly doesn't have that much flavor other than sweet, but the all flavor is concentrated in the orange peels, and you can really taste the orange. and yes the rinds are bitter, but that's actually what i like about it, reminds me of chinese orange peel confections. it's actually so bitter it makes my mouth numb, but it still tastes good because of the overall sweetness. the bitter orange taste also lingers in your mouth well afterwards. there is no tartness though, which is surprising. in terms of the jellies i've made, my favorite is still quince jelly, with its tart sweetness. if i can come across some quince apples in the fall at haymarket, i'll definitely buy some to make jelly out of them.
around lunchtime we had a really busy stretch of non-stop bento after bento, whether it's walk-ins, phone orders, or online. i didn't mind though, bentos are the easiest things to make, i wouldn't mind if we just sold bentos. my aunt came around lunchtime as well. i gave her a pint jar of orange marmalade. she tasted it, surprised it was bitter.
after that we had a lull in the early afternoon. my mother made some rice noodles for lunch. only then did i show her the bagel sandwiches. she said my father and her would have it for breakfast. i didn't tell her one of the bagels was actually mine (not a big deal, i have more bagels and smoked ham at home).
i finally left the cafe a bit before 4pm. i went over to my sister's place first to check out what kind of barrels she had, since tomorrow morning we're going down to the cambridge library to pick up some free earth day compost (20 gallons per household). i then biked to my parents' place to borrow the honda utility vehicle, since it's the only car that can carry everything. i plan on returning to the cafe tomorrow morning to pick up my sister and to grab a handtruck from the basement.
my 2 rolls of 2x50ft chicken wires arrived in belmont, i put them in the garage. we also have 3 2x25ft rolls and another 2x50ft roll, some of which i'll be returning since the ones i bought online are much cheaper. there's a flatbed handtruck at my parents' place but when i tried to inflate one of the tires with the air compressor, it wouldn't stop leaking, so i can't use it. while i was there i also watered the raised beds as well as the window planters. i'm excited for the rainstorm coming on sunday, our first real rain of the spring season, enough to fill our rain barrels, and enough rain so i can stop watering the lawn for a few days at least.
i got back home by 4:45pm. it took me a long time to park because i had to parallel park into a spot, and i struggled to fit into the space, long enough that i broke into a sweat. fortunately there were no cars coming down the street, so i didn't have to face any additional pressure.
i went out briefly to return a new yorker magazine that was sent to my address by mistake. walking down the street, i noticed the cherry and pear and peach trees that should already be blooming this time of the year, but all those trees had already leafed out. the trees i now see blooming are actually crabapples, and those usually bloom the latest, well after all the other trees have finished flowering. i blame last summer's drought, but probably more significant was the unnaturally warm winter we had, with above average temperatures for several months, and hardly any snow. i also noticed this in belmont, where the cherry blossoms don't seem to have any flower buds this year.
around 7pm i did some grow closet maintenance. a few newly planted hyacinth beans had sprouted. i dug into the soil of those that didn't sprout, to see if they'd germinate. of those i checked, 4 seeds had rotted, so i replanted them for the 3rd time. cherry and cloudy tomatoes have germinated, but only 2 of the 4 independence day tomatoes have sprouted, so i replanted some more seeds. chinese eggplants have sprouted, some in pairs. i couldn't bear to thin them out so i removed the extra seedlings and repotted them for 3 additional chinese eggplants. the goat horn peppers have sprouted. none of the habaneros though, so i replanted all the seeds; thinking back to last year, i think i didn't have any habaneros either, so i think the seeds are bad. i planted 6 screw hot peppers. not sure about their viability, but i planted two seeds per pot, if they all germinate, i didn't up the seedlings. i raised the strip lights on the top shelf, as the beans (blue and long) are starting to grow above the lights now.
every day this week i've thought about having luxury korean ramen for dinner, and every day this week i've eaten something else. tonight was no except, as i was too lazy to even make instant noodles, and instead threw a frozen lasagna in the oven. i ate while watching game 3 between the celtics and hawks. atlanta was overdue for a win, and boston played well, but atlanta played even better. trae young single-handedly won that game, 32 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds. tonight was the same hawks team that beat the heat in the play-in tournament. i still think boston will eventually win this series, but at least now the hawks can say they managed to beat the celtics, and won't end with a sweep.