Okay, my vintage lovin' peeps! All the names went into my favorite hat and out came the following name:
*Sarah W*
Congratulations Sarah! Your goodies are all packed up for you from our Christmas Memory Giveaway.
Thank you again, to all that participated, especially during a busy holiday season!
Today, I will post a recipe from my favorite childhood Christmas memory...and a few more Christmas-y pics...so stay tuned.
Although, I hope my sis and I started a new tradition this year; we had a great time last week getting together for a day of baking and candy making; even though we spent more hours cutting, peeling, chopping and getting ingredients prepared, than actually MAKING anything...but we had a great time.
My favorite thing we made (thus far) is the Candied Orange peel...I can't stop sampling it! AND it looks fabulous in my antique canning jars :) (of course!)
It's quite easy to make and is sooo much better than that 'candied' stuff you get in a plastic container in the produce section of the grocery market. Yuck.
Here are a few pics to show it off!
It really sparkled like gems in one of my vaseline glass sherbets.
The card is from one of our Mom's original paintings she did in 2004 of an Antique feather tree. While I don't have a feather tree or a pile of goose feathers around to make one, I do have gardens FULL of every Rosemary likely known...
Rosemary sprigs tucked into my Antique wooden beehive bobbins make sweet 'feather trees'.
To keep the sprigs from wilting/drying too quickly, you will need to put them immediately after cutting into a glass of water for at least 15 minutes; soak a cotton ball in water and wrap it around the bottom stem of the sprig, followed by a small piece of plastic wrap...wrap tightly and then fit the bottom into the holes of your bobbin (carefully not to break the stem!).
Candied Orange Peel
6 Bright Oranges (blemish free)
2 cups of white sugar (I use organic cane sugar)
1/4 cup of corn syrup
1 cup of water
Superfine baking sugar for dredging
Deeply score Oranges in half, turn and score the opposite direction (like a cross)
Pull off the peel and reserve orange segments for another recipe (*Orange cranberry loaf)
Next, use a paring knife to pull off as much as the white pith as you can
Slice triangles of peel into thin strips
Fill a saucepan with cold water and add peel; bringing to a boil for 2 minutes. Drain and repeat...but once brought to a boil, bring to a low simmer for about 10 minutes. Drain and let it cool on a cutting board until you can handle it; at this time the boiling/simmering will have puffed up quite a bit more of the pith. People usually skip this part, but then they wonder why when they complete the recipe, they are left with bitter candied peel.
Again with your paring knife, cut as much of the pith as you can.
Now in the saucepan, you want to add your sugar, corn syrup and water; whisk until everything is dissolved completely and add your orange peel; bring it to a boil and then down to a low simmer and leave it. I cook mine for at least an hour; you are looking for the strips to have a glossy translucence appearance.
Once in a while, I take my wooden spoon and gently fold over the peel, you want to avoid 'stirring' it.
When the peel is translucent, you want to take it off the heat and with a fork start pulling the strips out of the pan and lay them on a wire rack to cool slightly (only takes a min or two and you'll want to put a piece of wax paper under your wire rack.
Pour a good amount of the superfine baking sugar onto a plate or platter; you will dredge and cover the strips with the sugar and put them on a clean cooling rack (not the same one you are using). You want them really nice and coated. Continue to dry the peel over night (I like to dry mine for two nights).
*Keep candied strips in a glass container, alternating the sugar in between layers to keep them dry and prevent them from clumping together. Keep in a dry area, away from heat/moisture.
*Put candied strips as is, out for guests or tuck into cookie packages for your neighbors.
*Chop strips up and use in your favorite fruit cake recipes.
*Cut into tiny diamonds and use to embellish your Orange truffles!
Don't throw away that syrup in the saucepan! As you nearly made some wonderful homemade hard candy!
We found that the orange flavor was not strong enough, so add a 1/4 tsp of Orange extract stir and put the heat back up to high; clipping your candy thermometer to the side of your saucepan. Bring to a boil and watch for your thermometer to reach 290 (soft crack stage).
You need to be finding a glass pan to grease well...when your candy thermometer reaches this level, you can add a few chopped pieces of the candied orange peel, some chopped candied ginger or a 1/4 tsp of caradamom...stir only to get everything covered and pour it directly into your greased pan.
*Drop a piece of peel into a glass of Champagne or Sparkling wine!
Don't throw away that syrup in the saucepan! As you nearly made some wonderful homemade hard candy!
We found that the orange flavor was not strong enough, so add a 1/4 tsp of Orange extract stir and put the heat back up to high; clipping your candy thermometer to the side of your saucepan. Bring to a boil and watch for your thermometer to reach 290 (soft crack stage).
You need to be finding a glass pan to grease well (this is when it is handy to have a kitchen buddy...or an octopus)
just before your candy thermometer reaches this level, you can add a few chopped pieces of the candied orange peel, some chopped candied ginger or a 1/4 tsp of caradamom...stir only to get everything covered and pour it directly into your greased pan.
Let it cool for a few minutes and then score deep with a sharp knife. (Your cookbooks might tell you to wait 10 minutes before scoring, trust me, it only takes a few minutes to completely harden...then you'll be bringing out the hammer from the junk drawer to break it into pieces!)
Once it is completely cooled, it should be easy to break the pieces up to the size you scored. You can wrap each piece in wax paper or layer them in a vintage candy or canning jar with wax paper in between the layers.
Hope you get a chance to make some candied peel, you will love it!
Happy Monday and hugs to everyone!