Wash tomatoes. Cut into sections and remove the stem end, core, seeds, and the watery/gelatinous sack around the seeds. Dice, or cut the tomato pieces into small chunks. Place in large bowl and add the sugar. Let stand for three hours to draw the juice from the tomatoes and allow the sugar to dissolve. Stir two to three times.

Wash the lemons and orange well. Zest the lemons and oranges. Remove any seeds and cut lemons and orange into small pieces.

Transfer tomato–sugar mixture and the liquid to a medium-sized stock pot. Add the chopped lemons and orange and the zest, along with the crushed pineapple. Add the piece of cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil over medium high temperature, stirring to prevent scorching. Immediately lower the temperature and cook, uncovered, at a slow gentle boil until mixture reads 220°F, sustained, on a candy thermometer*. Stir mixture regularly to prevent scorching. Be patient, this can take upwards of 2 hours. Remove the cinnamon stick after about an hour. When marmalade has reached its temperature, remove from heat and stir in the maraschino cherries, if using.

Meanwhile, fill the canner about one-third to one-half full of water. Cover and bring to a boil to have it ready for the filled jars.

When the marmalade is cooked, use a jar lifter to remove the hot jars from the water. Using a canning funnel, pour marmalade into sterilized jars, leaving about ¼” headroom in each jar. Wipe the jar rims with a clean cloth. Seal jars with heated lids and fingertip-tightened ring bands.

Place jars in hot water bath wire basket, ensuring jars do not touch each other or fall over. Carefully lower basket into canner of hot water. Ensure the water level is at least 1” above the tops of jars, adding more boiling water as necessary. Cover with canner lid. Increase the heat to return the water to a rolling boil then decrease the heat to just keep the water at a rolling boil but not boiling over. Process half-pint jars in the hot water bath for 10 minutes, adjusting time for altitude. Start timing the processing from the point where a full rolling boil is reached after basket of jars has been added to the canner. At the end of the processing time, turn off heat and remove canner lid. Using a jar lifter, carefully remove the jars, one at a time, and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Listen for the “pop” or “ping” sound as the bottles seal over the next few minutes or hours. The lids of properly sealed jars will curve downward.  Let jars rest, undisturbed, on wire rack for 12 hours. Store in cool, dark place. Refrigerate marmalade once opened.

Yield: Apx. 6 half-pint bottles

*If you don’t have a candy thermometer, place 2-3 freezer-safe saucers in freezer. To test for doneness, place a small amount of marmalade on chilled saucer and swirl saucer around. Let marmalade sit, untouched, for about a minute, then gently push your finger through the marmalade. If the marmalade holds its shape (i.e., does not immediately run back together after the finger has been removed from the marmalade), it is set and ready to bottle. If not, continue to cook mixture, repeating the “chill” test about every 3 minutes or so (always removing the pot from the heat while conducting the chill test) until the marmalade passes the “chill” test. Do not overcook as it will result in a very thick marmalade, dark in color.