Dried citrus has been used for centuries as a decoration during the holidays (see my recent post!) and for libations too. I remember when I was at the fanciest, most elegant bar I?ve ever been to in Prague a few summers ago and I watched the bartenders make the coolest cocktails with the most interesting garnishes, and I recall many of them were thinly sliced dried fruit. (More about that experience here.)
I always found it so fascinating that citrus thrives in winter, like it?s a rebel fruit that says ?no I won?t be at my peak in summer or fall like all of you other fruits, I?m gonna thrive and bloom in winter.?
We?re lucky in this modern age we can find citrus year round at the grocery stores. Citrus is nature?s way of saying in our northern hemisphere ?yeah I know it?s dreary outside, but please enjoy these bright colors and flavors to get you through till spring and here, have some Vitamin C too.? Awww, thanks so much winter (fist bump). I decided to try my hand at candied oranges and I wanted to add spices to them so it felt like I was tasting the flavors of the season. My spiced candied orange slices took two full days to dry. That?s the part I found frustrating because I promised my teenagers I would make them ?nature?s candy!? and then they had to wait for it, and you know how teenagers are when it comes to being patient. They kept saying, ?Hey Mom, when are they going to be ready? and I could only reply ?Soon? I think.? These candied orange slices had to sit on my ...