This Moment

Playing along with Amanda today... in her words: 

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Holiday Reading

Around these parts, when we're not running through increasingly browning grass, bathing in sun seemingly borrowed from a distant spring, or working on a top-secret project of a seasonal nature, we're usually paused in a huddle around one of these current favorites, shared here for your reading (or gifting!) pleasure with our hearty recommendation, in no particular order...

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Christmas in Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren and Ilon Wikland
Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo
The Christmas Tree Book by Joe Kaufman
The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren
The Mitten by Jan Brett

...and the one Mama can't put down at the moment: Williams-Sonoma's Holiday Entertaining.

Forgive the old photo, I haven't had a chance to capture this moment in the current season...
they sure have changed a lot since August, no?

We are a family of bookworms, to be sure, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Right Now

Right now, I'm...

...trying to get my head in the Christmas game... the Advent house (a gift from Aunt KK) made it's appearance this weekend, and the front door wreath is getting a freshening-up, but that's as far as I've gone at this point....
...shaking my head at the resourcefulness of our little man as he has thwarted my attempt at putting the Advent house somewhere safe, and has ransacked the lower doors... already.
...watching the kiddos enjoy to the fullest the leaves falling all around them, both in our yard and in others'.
...cracking up at our Henny, and how he practically yells 'Teeeeeeeeese!' every time a camera- or something simply looking like a camera- comes out.
...wondering how to best use two basically overripe persimmons that came in our co-op basket this go-around (they said freeze them and eat them like ice cream... hmmmm...).
...easing in to the holiday spirit with my still-favorite seasonal album, If On A Winter's Night by Sting... perhaps I'll be ready for the more hardcore stuff by this weekend (hello, Vince Guaraldi and Mannheim!).
...enjoying the last of the leftover-leftovers from our share of the Thanksgiving turkey (bye-bye turkey pot pie and stuffing-stuffed mushrooms, 'til next year).
...still a little wobbly in the knees from our 4.2 mile round-trip bike ride with kiddos in tow and picnic gear, uphill both ways, I swear. Good times, though.
...loving the 'Elving' in full swing around these parts, and the excitement that comes from looking forward to giving these treasures.

Happy Monday!

A Walk in the Woods

I get it. It's December 1st. It's supposed to be chilly, gray, and enjoyed from inside sweaters and fuzzy socks while surrounded by sparkly ornaments and consuming steaming hot beverages. It would be easy to pout about the lack of these conditions, for sure. But if I give in to the urge to cross my arms and lament how things are 'supposed' to be right now, before I know it it will be June and 108 and I'll be longing for these 77-degree late autumn days.

Our Christmas tree will go up soon enough. We'll huddle around our fireplace again, I'm sure of it... and maybe, just maybe, I'll get to wear all of my sweaters at least once before packing them away.

For now, though, all I need is an afternoon walk in the woods, and a few whispers to myself of, "This is beautiful. This is now. This is just right."

Holiday Link Love

Just wanted to pop in here for a quick hello amid the hustle and bustle that is the Yule Tide!

Feeling the spirit yet? Saturated with cheer? Swamped? Overextended, overwhelmed, overworked?

Don't bah-humbug just yet... at least not until you check out these fab holiday links that may actually help you pull it together and pull it all off! The're much-loved around here, anyway!

Last-minute gift ideas:
Free downloadable stories for kids- download a few stories, burn onto a CD, voila!
Blank books, puzzles, etc. for the crafty gifter or receiver
DIY monogram mugs tutorial + dollar store mugs = awesome
General homemade gift ideas if you're not inspired yet
Don't forget this post, too (forgive any redundant links, I'm tellin' ya, I really love some of these)!

Loving this free printable banner and this homemade garland- take a sec to make one with the kiddos and catch your breath! Also, who can't use more free fonts? Try these to bring some cheer to your Christmas letter!

Wrapping yet? Try these links for a little inspiration:
Free, printable, simple holiday tags
Interesting wrapping inspiration

And, of course, for the Type A's out there (or the Type A wannabes), my all-time favorite organizational holiday resource.

And by the way- have you stopped by Geninne's place to get your December wallpaper? 'Cause you should. Merry Christmas prepping. Post edit: it seems like Geninne hasn't put up a free December wallpaper, though she usually has one available right away... I stop by and check every once-in-a-while, but alas, I have led you astray on this one! So maybe no free December wallpaper. Awww.
Post edit edit: Geninne has a free December wallpaper up now, go check it out! Yay!

This Moment

Playing along with Amanda today... in her words: 

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Candied Orange Peels

Candied orange peels. For the longest time, for me, those words conjured up images of sparkly, dry, over-the-top sweet "grandma" candy used for decorations and never eaten. If a recipe called for some, I'd leave them out. If asked if I liked them, I'd say no, even though I'd never tried them. What's worse- when left with a few orange peels after juicing or what have you, I'd just toss them.

The horror.

Then one day, I turned over a new leaf. I awakened to how much I waste in my kitchen, and I vowed to change.

Dry bread/crusts? Make bread crumbs.
Veggie scraps? Meat bones? Make stock.
Citrus peels? Make candy.
Oh, and by the way, you can dip them in chocolate.
Yeah.

So I set out to find the perfect method or recipe for making this ancient treat. Guess what? There's a million. Seriously. I checked out what the mainstream sites had to say (like Food Network), I found some articles and a blog or two, and I even cracked out my Good Housekeeping Cook Book. You know what? Not a single recipe or method agreed with another. Ha.

Can you guess what I did? Oh yes- I improvised. I combined a little of this, a little of that, the cooking time of one, the drying time of another, and I must say... they turned out pretty gooooooood.

Here's what I did:

First, I washed, halved, and juiced 7 small oranges. Then I peeled the pulp away from the skins.

I then cut thin strips from the skins, flattening them out as I moved across the peel.

The strips were dropped into a non-reactive pot half-full of water... Audrey helped.
They were then boiled for 15 minutes, the water was changed, they were boiled again for 15 minutes, the water was changed, and they were boiled once more for 15 minutes. This is supposed to mellow the bitter of the remaining pith attached to the peels.

After boiling the peels three times, I drained them and left them sitting in the colander in the sink while I made a simple syrup in the same non-reactive pot (important, since the peels will retain some of their acidity through this process). There is seriously no standard measurement for the syrup recipe or the sugar-water-orange ratio, so I used 2 cups water and 1 cup plain white sugar per 3 oranges. I had 7 oranges, so I used 5 cups of water and 2 1/2 cups of sugar.

It's hard to wait for something so tantalizingly fragrant and sweet that requires so many steps, no? But all good things to those who wait... moving on...

So after the simple syrup was ready to go (meaning the sugar is dissolved in the water and it's hot), I added the boiled peels. Here's a montage of the peels candy-ing- it took mine about an hour and a half.

The goal is translucent, soft peels that still hold together, but are easily squished with pressure from your spoon. See how you can kinda see the edge of the spoon through that peel in the last photo? I think that's just about right.

After reaching a translucentey stage, I spooned the peels out of the syrup- now very thick- and laid them in a single layer on some wax paper to dry...

...where they remained until almost completely dry, to be dipped in dark chocolate. However, the more classic way of finishing them would be to roll them in sugar until sparkly and no longer sticky, and to do that you'd only leave them sitting until cool but not completely dry (you want some tack so the sugar will stick).

For mine to realize their chocolatey fate, they had to dry for about 24 hours, and even then they were still a bit sticky, so I tossed them in a little powdered sugar before dipping (probably not necessary, but I'm winging it here).

I read that these babies will keep for anywhere from 3 weeks to several months, and that you can easily freeze them (though the chocolate-covered versions run the risk of blooming). I'm not sure mine will last that long, but good to know...

So there you have it! Candied Orange Peels (dipped in chocolate). A perfect kickoff to holiday making.

Wait! You didn't dump the syrup after fishing out all those lovely peels, did you? That stuff is liquid gold, baby! Thin it down a little with some water, strain it, and voila! Orange simple syrup for all your holiday cocktails! Not a drinker? Add it to some ginger ale on ice, or brush it between the layers of your next cake... seriously, no more waste, remember?

Bon appetite.