Hi there, friends!
Can you believe it? Christmas is just a few days away! The years seem to pass by faster and faster. Are you all ready for the holiday? I am pretty much on track. However, there are always little tasks that I wish I had completed sooner, but I am confident, with the help of my kids, that they will all get done.
The biggest task remaining is setting up and decorating the Christmas tree. 🎄 We were puppy-sitting for the past couple of days and I figured that a Lab puppy along with our three dogs and cat running around the living room might not be a healthy environment for a nicely decorated Christmas tree. 🙂 So, I decided to wait until the end of this week after the kids are out of school to decorate the tree. I have even decided to hand the decorating baton over entirely to the kids! This hand off is a huge step for me…a lifelong perfectionist. I am so excited to see their masterpiece!
Now, onto my real topic for this post…ORANGES! 🍊🍊🍊One of the best things about the holiday season is the abundance of oranges. Where we live, they are everywhere! Those that have orange trees are just looking for others to share them with, and if you are unable to snag a bunch from a friend or neighbor, you can get them very inexpensively at the supermarket right now.
But, what to do with all those oranges? Of course, you can peel and eat or juice them, but there are endless additional options that an abundance of oranges has to offer. I would like to share a few ideas…
- You could make a yummy dessert, such as my Orange-Walnut Upside-Down Cake.
- Remember not to throw your peels away! You can use them for Homemade Fall Simmering Potpurri.
- Your abundance of oranges and their peels can be used to make a tasty, tangy orange marmalade with this recipe, littlethings.com/crock-pot-marmalade-recipe.
- Finally, you can slice them thin and oven dry them for potpourri or decoration. Here’s how…
Oven Dried Orange Slices
Ingredients:
- Oranges (other citrus fruits would work great as well, such as, limes, lemons, or grapefruit)
Directions:
- Heat oven to 200 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Slice oranges as thin as possible. This allows for quicker drying.
- Place slices on prepared baking sheet in a single layer.
- Bake until completely dry, turning slices occasionally. I noticed that mine took most of the day to dry, but keep an eye on them as ovens vary.
- Allow slices to cool and leave uncovered overnight to make sure they are completely dry.
- Use as desired.
* While this is a very simple project, it does take quite sometime for the orange slices to dry. However, the aroma given off during baking is amazing!
I used some of my dried slices to decorate the lids for my Orange Marmalade that will be given as Christmas gifts.
Enjoy!
❤️ Karen
KarensOrdinaryLife 