Yesterday morning I was perusing the internet and came across a recipe for candied citrus peels. When I saw that I remembered that I wanted to make crystallized ginger and decided that if I didn't do it right then I would forget again.
I jumped on my bike and headed to the market to buy ginger, lemons, and oranges.
When I got home, I used my super high tech spoon method to peel about a pound of ginger. The instructions said to use a sharp knife to cut it into thin slices but I decided to use the cheese slicer that we don't like to use on the cheese because it makes the slices too thick. It worked like a charm!
Since the kitchen was already sticky, I figured I may as well do my citrus peels at the same time and only clean up once! Once again I found the cheese slicer handy to remove the excess pith from the lemon peels. The orange peels were a little less firm so it didn't work quite as well and I used a paring knife instead.
The best part of the whole project? CHEAP! The cost breakdown is this:
Little less than a pound of ginger- €1
2 big navel oranges- €0.60 (if I'd bought more they would've been cheaper but I'd be the only one eating them and a dozen was too many at once)
2 lemons- €0.40
1.5 kg bag of sugar- €1
I didn't use -quite- as much sugar as the recipes called for since I used slightly less of the ginger and citrus peels so the 1.5 kg bag of sugar was -just- enough.
P.S. If you are in my family, maybe you could um, forget that you read this? Cause uh, Christmas is coming up and these are most excellent stocking stuffers.
9 comments:
Mmmmm again looks delicious!!
I tagged you if you are interested :)
http://whiteoaklane.blogspot.com/2008/12/favorite-authors.html
i can't believe we both posted about crystallized ginger today! your homemade ginger is beautiful and most impressive! do you just eat it straight? what else do you do with it? (my recipe is the only thing i've used it for.)
Those look great! Great job! Erika
These candies look yummy. You've been very productive! I made candied orange peel one year and it turned out tasty, but I don't think I ever quite figured out what to do with it all. Giving some away as gifts is a grand idea.
I saw from your profile, by the way, that you're living in Eindhoven. My husband used to travel there quite a lot for business so though I've never been there myself, I feel like I know your city. :) What's your weather like this time of year?
Oh wow, do those look yummy! I've never made these before, I'm going to have to try now. Thank you for sharing - and for stopping by my blog. :)
Wow bummer on the BBQ sauce. It is a staple in our house DS would just wither away without it. That and ketchup go on everything he eats which is a very small list since he is sooo picky!The ginger and orange peels he would starve to death before eating those.
Erika
What a great idea! I've never thought about making my own crystalized ginger, but I should seriously give it a try... I've just been making a festive version of "rocky road" with brazil nuts, broken meringues, dried cranberries and crystalized ginger for Christmas goody bags I've been preparing for my in-laws.
I'm actually surprised by how little variation there is on Dutch Christmas sweets, as they all seem to be flavored made with either marzipan or "spijs".
Dominique in Noordwijk
Thanks for the visit over to my blog. I had to come check out yours! (I must have missed your WFMW int he Mr. Linky). I am going to try this as pregnancy first trimester nauseua is immenent and I have been wanting to get my hands on some gingery stuff. Yeah!
Funnily enough, one of my good friends in Las Vegas is from the Netherlands. Been in the states 10 years now. When are you coming to town?
Sarah
boston_ks@yahoo.com
bostonks.blogspot.com
Wow! I never thought of making my own candied ginger. Now I have to try it. Your photos are wonderful! How do they taste?
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