Hoopskirts

It's January and that means decreased levels of sunlight, lots of cold, and an upswing in illness across the board.  Christmas decorations are down and put away, leaving surroundings duller and grayer.  It's also peak time for citrus (this assumes you remember when fruits and vegetables were sold seasonally in the grocery stores). We have been eating a lot of oranges this winter.  I have been collecting the peels in a water-filled plastic zip top bag in our refrigerator,  When the bag reaches the desired level, it is time to make candied orange peel.  There is no hard or fast level - it totally depends upon how large a batch you want to make at a time and if you have the time free for candying. Historic Recipe Let's start with the historic recipe (A Cyclopaedia of Six Thousand Practical Receipts, Arnold James Cooley, New York, 1856) How to Make It! To actually make these, I used some modern techniques. Place the orange peels in a heavy-bottomed sa...

Continuing with my harvest of rhubarb, I tackled a new type of preserve Rhubarb Orange Marmalade.  Yes, you heard me right. The Challenge Historical Food Fortnighly Challege 12. In A Jam...or Jelly, or Pickle  (June 3 - June 16)  In a world before refrigeration, preserving food was an important task. For this challenge, make your favorite preserved food - bonus points if it’s seasonal! I have discovered how much I enjoy period jams and jellies made without pectin gelling agents.  They are so easy to make and so delicious!  Strawberries would be the logical seasonal fruit in early June in northern Illinois, but I still have a surplus of the last strawberry jam I made.  Since my rhubarb was still hardy, I thought I should take advantage of its abundance.  And, I have loved rhubarb since my childhood. The Recipe Rhubarb is not the normal stuff of jams and jellies, modern or period.  As I researched, I did start finding recipes for a c...