All Work And No Play Make Jack Candy Kumquats

Reader, are you in for a whacky couple of weeks.Welcome to finals season. This is where I, The Amateur Gourmet, go a little nutty (as if I weren't nutty enough already) with crazy schedules, weird cravings, and inexplicable forays into the kitchen. Many law students smoke as they suffer their way through finals; I bake.Or in this case, I candy. Kumquats. Tonight I candied kumquats.Lauren said: "What are you making?""Not making," I said. "Candying. Kumquats. I'm candying kumquats."Here's how that works:You get a bunch of kumquats and you slice them (according to the recipe I pulled up at foodtv.com):Weird how they look like tomatoes and yet they're nothing like tomatoes.Moving on: you boil some sugar and water:Add the kumquats:Simmer and drain 'em:And that's it. What do they taste like? Soggy, sugary kumquats. Like candied kumquats. I candied kumquats.