Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Use Up Extra Oranges







You live up north and bought too many oranges, or you live in an “orange state,” and your trees are throwing oranges at you. Either way, you just have too many oranges, and you hate to see them go to waste. Here are some of the things you can do with those extra oranges.


Instructions


1. Make orange juice out of the oranges. You can buy a hand juicer or an electric juicer. If you have orange trees, you probably want an electric juicer. You can have fresh orange juice every day. Orange juice can also be frozen, so if you don’t drink it fast enough, freeze it.


2. Make candied orange peels with the peels. You can also save the left over syrup to use on pancakes or fresh toast. To make the candied orange peel, you will need the peels from three large oranges, one teaspoon salt, three cups of sugar and some water. Cut the peel on each fruit into quarters. Pull the peel off in quarter sections. Slice the peel into ¼ inch wide strips. Cover the orange peels with the salt and water. Boil for 15 minutes. Pour off the water and add fresh water. Boil for 20 minutes. Change the water again and boil for 20 minutes. Drain. Cover with 2 ½ cups sugar and 1 cup warm water. While stirring constantly, simmer until all the syrup has boiled away. Be careful to not let the peels burn. Spread the peels on wax paper and roll in sugar. Let them dry and store in an airtight container.


3. Make juice pops. Add one part sugar to four parts orange juice and freeze in Popsicle molds or use paper cups. If you use paper cups, when the juice is partially frozen, stick a Popsicle stick in the cups.


4. Use orange segments for garnishes on salads, or make fruit salads with the segments.


5. Make potpourri. Cut of the peels. Simmer the peels, a cinnamon stick and a few cloves for a potpourri. You can also make orange zest by scraping the peels with a zester and using the zest in dry potpourri.


6. Make orange marmalade. For every orange, you will need 1 tablespoon water and ½ cup sugar. Cut the unpeeled orange and put in a blender with the water. Put the mixture in a saucepan with the sugar and boil for 15 minutes.

Tags: orange juice, peels with, candied orange, cups sugar, electric juicer, electric juicer have