I don't want to take too long to say, quickly, thanks to the dude from Orange County who bought my marmalade to use for his special marmalade burgers and who shared the general idea behind the recipe. (Random marmalade customer: if you're reading this please send me your name so I can thank you and re-name the sliders in your honor!) He bought the marmalade at Tuesday market in Santa Barbara and by Friday, feeling completely uninspired by our fridge offerings, I found the ground beef sitting sadly in the meat drawer and made a commitment to elevate my mood, through sliders. I bought the bacon and goat cheese and arugula at Trader Joe's and improvised the rest from what we already had. Voila! Dinner with a smile. My husband and I inhaled them, although my daughter (weirdly) claimed they were too spicy. Perhaps the garlic in the mayo sauce? Who cares. She ate the burger plain and the fruit and veggie "rainbow" I arranged for her (again leftover in the fridge) and we all munched happily. This should happen more often.
     Last, I need to offer a massive thanks to my husband, too, for making dinner 99 percent of the evenings. His everyday enthusiasm allows me to indulge these Friday-night quirky moments of inspiration for meals and to focus all my chef energies into jam and marmalade. What a rock star.

     Tick, tock. I'm waiting for the hours to pass until mid-March when the Dalemain Marmalade Award winners are made public. I don't want to jinx anything by announcing the flavors I've entered, but I just wanted to send a little universal head's up to the vast sea of marmalade-obsessed toast heads that I've thrown my orange-crusted marmalade cauldron into the ring. For those of you unaware of this amazing English marmalade contest and festival, read about it here.
    I shipped out a box with six Mason jars of marmalade at the downtown post office the first week of February and I've been dying to know the results ever since. What do you do when you are trying to make time pass? I obsess over the lack of rain storms and the drought. I read ever news site over and over. I conjure new flavor ideas from food mags. Tick, tock!
    One idea? Go for a food-focused stroll in Santa Barbara. My favorite stops? Some of the places that stock Red Hen, of course. First: I cruise over to the Flagstone Pantry in the Public Market. A scrawl on their public chalkboard (see photo above) and a chat with Flagstone's owner, Kristen, always cheers me up. Then, gossip with the two Amys at Isabella's Gourmet. Next, parenting commiseration with Carmen and Dom at Bookends. Pretty soon hours have passed and the inevitable work has not gotten done, but still, but still. Time is no longer the enemy.
    Sigh.
    The ultimate antidote to waiting? Cooking, of course. Tonight, I convinced my husband to try BA's Best Fried Chicken Sandwiches for dinner. He was game and he marinated the boneless, skinless chicken tenders just before picking my weekly Valencia orange, Meyer lemon, kumquat and Bearrs lime haul from the ranch. I walked the dog with the kiddo and got home first to heat up the peanut oil, make the garlic-lemon mayo and whip up the buttermilk and flour dredge. The only alteration I'd make to the original recipe? Add my Spicy OJ marmalade to the bottom half of the sandwich bun for extra oomph. Yum. I'd post photos of the sandwich but we ate them too fast to even think of it.
     The best part? At least 60 minutes with no thought of marmalade or contest entries. Perfect! And amazingly delicious. What could be better for a cool winter evening than a hot fried and spicy orange chicken sandwich. Perhaps a double-gold medal? We'll just have to wait and see.