Dried Orange Slices

or It Should Have Been Really Simple

A few weeks ago, we bought a big bag of Cara Cara oranges that I think were picked too soon--meaning they were tasteless. I mean the only taste they had was from the floss you used after you ate one. So after three oranges in a row like this, the family decided they weren't going to eat anymore. What were we going to do with the rest of the bag? Let it sit in the fruit drawer until the oranges rotted? Certainly that was going to be the default plan, but I was hoping for something better. Then I remembered lovely dried orange slices I had seen as Christmas ornaments. That's what I'd do, I dry them for decorations.

After a little Googling, I found several instructions on how to dry them, and they were all basically the same. Cut the orange into thin slices. Place them on a lined cookie sheet and dry them in a 200 F oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Easy. My kind of craft.

 However, all didn't go as planned. On my first attempt, the slices were rather uneven, but I thought this shouldn't matter much. I put them in the oven and checked them occasionally. Every time I checked, they were still wet. After 5 hours of this (2x longer that it should have taken) and not much progress, I turned the oven up to 250 F. Some instructions listed this as a drying temperature, so I thought it would be okay. And you know what happend? When I checked them 1/2 hour later. They were burnt.
 
On my next attempt, I made the slices thinner, but they were still rather uneven. This time I never turned the temperature above 200 F and turned the slices occasionally for even drying. After a few hours, I started removing the thinner slices that were almost dry and left the moist ones. All was in line for success. And you know what happened?  They burned again. It seemed to happen quickly between two of my frequent checks.

Now I was getting a little worried. In the many instructions I had read about drying orange slices, no one had indicated that they had had any problems. I could soon see myself in a joke like the one about being such a bad cook they couldn't even boil water. I was going to be such a bad crafter, I couldn't even dry orange slices.

But I tried again. I had Ward slice the orange for me this time and I put the slices in our dehydrator. I dried them for several hours until I had beautiful dried slices. Hooray! Maybe there was hope for me after all because I did it my way. (Cue Elvis.)

Gingerbread Cookies

Wally and Theodore decided to bake gingerbread cookies this weekend to share with their friends and coworkers. They asked Uncle Billy and Aunt Martha for a recipe since they bake a lot of cookies this time of year. The recipe they sent was a really good one. It adds orange zest and lemon juice along with a nice balance of ginger and other spices.  I think it's the hint of citrus flavor you taste when you eat the cookies that makes them stand out above others I have tried.

The recipe is from the Food Network's Alex Guarnaschelli. Wally and Theo didn't make the orange icing part of it (too much fuss for them icing or decorating cookies), but I can imagine that this would be a very tasty addition. If you are interested in trying them, here's the link: gingerbread cookies.

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But Wait, There's more:

I mentioned that Wally and Theo didn't want to fuss with icing or decorating their cookies. Well, I didn't even want to cut out the batch I made. I just rolled out the dough and put the entire rolled sheet of dough on the pan and baked it. And you know what, my pan tasted just as good as the ones they cut out and baked. Have I mentioned that I don't like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking or baking?

Mr. Rogers

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.”  Fred Rogers

Thankful Sunday--December 16, 2012

I am thankful for my children.

Wally and Theo, the early years

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

There are no words to express the shock and sorrow I feel about the tragedy in Connecticut. My thoughts and prayers go out to all involved. In the meantime, I will march forward, the only way I know how. Writing about simple every day things.

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Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

or How to Make an Easy and Silly Christmas Ornament

When Wally and Theo were little, they made these Rudolph ornaments at a friend's house. We still have several of them many years later. They were easy to make and had just the right difficulty level for two little boys who would rather be running than sitting still for very long to make anything.

They started with a wrapped candy cane and glued two googly eyes and a red pompon on the end of it. They then wrapped a pipe cleaner around the top and twisted it for antlers. Voila! A Rudolph ready to hang on the tree.