In Season Now: Satsuma Oranges

Mandarin oranges are natures sweet gift to us in the winter and Satsumas, the sweetest of all mandarin oranges, peak November - December.  I've been buying these up at Whole Foods Market for snacks and now that Christmas is approaching I'm planning to use them in baking and cooking.  Satsumas are super sweet, tender, seedless, peel easily and have easy-to-seperate segments. And as an added bonus they're gorgeous! These little beauties look great atop a centerpiece or peaking out a stocking.

Store at room temperature and use within five days.  Make sure to buy them with a stem and leaf still attached. Here are a collection of recipes for Satsuma Oranges.  Enjoy!


Salmon with Satsuma Orange Butter Sauce and Chives - click for recipe
by Emeril Lagasse

Satsuma Orange and Dried Cranberry  Chutney
by Food and Wine

• 2 pounds satsuma oranges, skin on, thinly sliced (may also use clementines or juice orangeds)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

In a medium saucepan mis the satsumas with the sugar and lemon juice.  Simmer over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 45 minutes.  Stir in cranberries and remove from the heat.  Let cool to room temperature about 1 hour. 

Roasted Pork Loin with Poached Satsumas / Plums - click for recipe

by Bon Appetit 

Candied Satsuma Peels

by Cooking Light

• 12 satsuma oranges
• 2 1/2 cups sugar, divided
• 3/4 cup water

1. Peel oranges; scrape white pith from rind. Reserve orange sections for another use. Cut rind into 1/4-inch strips.

2. Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar and 3/4 cup water in a medium saucepan over medium heat; cook 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves, stirring constantly. Stir in rind; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat; cool completely. Strain rind mixture through a sieve into a bowl. Discard liquid. Pat rind dry with paper towels. Place remaining 1 cup sugar and rind in a medium bowl, tossing well to coat.

Arugula, Satsuma, and Fennel Salad - click for recipe

Satsuma Cocktails

OPTION 1

• 1 satsuma orange, peeled and sectioned.  Freeze at 30 minutes.
• 1/2 cup dry gin
• 1/2 cup fresh satsuma orange juice (about 2 oranges)
• 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier

 Place crushed ice in a martini shaker. Add gin, juice, and Grand Marnier to shaker; shake well. Strain 1/2 cup gin mixture into each of 2 martini glasses. Add 4 frozen satsuma sections to each glass. Garnish with rind, if desired.

OPTION 2

• 2 ounces Beafeater gin
• 1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
• 1 1/2 ounces fresh Satsuma juice
• 1/2 ounce simply syrup

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with lots of ice. Shake until it so cold it burns your hands. Pour into a tall glass with ice

Incredibly Easy Homemade Turtles

I really wanted to make turtles for a party recently but every recipe I found was either far too complicated, took far too long, or just didn't make sense to me.  One told me to make make the caramel, place spoonfuls on a cookie sheet and then place nuts in the shape of a snowflake and all I could think was, "won't the caramel harden by the time I get the nuts in place?"  There had to be an easier way!  So i started testing and here is my recipe for the easiest (seriously, no one can mess this up) and tastiest homemade turtles.

Chocolate Caramel Turtles


Ingredients

• 1 pkg halved pecans
• 1 11oz pkg caramel bits
• 12.5 oz bag milk chocolate
• 1t vanilla
• 14oz can condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease muffin tins.

Put 3 - 5 pecans in each muffin cup depending on size.  Sprinkle caramel bits over pecans. Put at least 3 in each cup but if you like caramel put many more (I used 5 or more).  Bake until caramel is melted, about 10 minutes.  This will also toast the pecans a bit. Once the caramel is melted put the muffin tin on a cooking rack.  This is the hard part -- walk away.  Do not move the candy until the tin has completely cooled.  

Once cooled remove the candy from the muffin cups using a butter knife and set on wax paper.

Bring some water to a boil in a heavy sauce pan.  Place a heat-safe bowl over the water.  Put chocolate, milk and vanilla in bowl and stir constantly. Once the chocolate is completely melted and smooth turn off heat.  Leaving the bowl over the hot water spoon chocolate on top of candy pieces.  You leave the bowl of chocolate over the hot water to keep it from thickening and hardening but you turn the heat off so it won't burn.  

That's it, unless you want to add a bit more flavor.  I added sea salt on top of the turtles to get that really salty, really sweet treat. 

Let chocolate completely cool at least 2 hours, then store in fridge.  The only hard thing about this recipe is having the patience to let the candy cool. 

You can get creative with this recipe.  Make turtles spicy by adding cayen or use a flavored salt, like the Spicy Seasoned Sea Salt from Penzys. Yum, yum, yum!

Want another super easy, tasty treat?  Try Martha Stewart's Winter Bark.  I make it every year and it's always a big hit.

My Christmas Decor This Year

My homemade wreath.  I'm not great at tying bows so I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.

Happy December and Happy Holidays!  I just finished decorating for Christmas and wanted to share some photos from my home with you.  I hope your home is feeling warm and cozy and ready for the holidays as well.  XO

My favorite new addition to our Christmas decor.
These letters are  made out of small leaves.

Normally my tree is decorated with Christopher Radko glass ornaments and a few woodsy wooden ornaments.  But with a toddler running around this year I didn't want to risk breaking any of the Radkos so I opted for a red and white tree, decked with new shatter proof ornaments bought in mass from Costco and Hobby Lobby.

Our red and white tree.

I used overscaled and average sized ornaments.
We added ribbon leftover from last year's gift wrapping and a few red birds.
The shatterproof candy canes were easy for my daughter to hang on the tree.
They were put on the bottom branches so she had something that was okay to touch.

I couldn't resist putting a couple critters hiding in the tree.
Can you see them?

I didn't completely abandon the traditional red and green.
This dough bowl is filled with reindeer moss and small red apples for the kitchen island.
An iron and wood lantern is filled with red and green glass balls for a side table.

I always try to mask our TV above the fireplace.
Using small pine trees and glittery silver reindeer no one notices the TV.

This is the Candyland themed tree we did for my daughter's room.
She's still too small to hang the delicate ornaments on the tree but she loved putting the hot pink glass balls on the tree skirt.  They are also shatterproof so she can play with them.

A gingerbread lady tops the tree, and her little gingerbread gal pal hangs around below.
We used oversized gum drops, cupcakes, lollipops, and candycanes to deck the tree.

The Elf on the Shelf book and doll is a great game to get kids excited for Christmas.
Every day you hide the Elf in a different spot and the little ones search for him.

Country Living Christmas Decor

I start getting anxious this time of year.  I'm excited for Thanksgiving Day with family and all the great food, but what has me giddy is the weekend after Thanksgiving.   That's when we pick out our Christmas tree and begin decorating the house.

Quite possibly my favorite unique Christmas display is from House of Smiths.  It's clean, fresh and beautiful with the use of mostly white and just a few blues, greens and silvers.  I will be borrowing from this photo for my own home this year.

If you need more inspiration I've found CountryLiving.com has a great archive of Christmas Decor ideas. Scroll through this extensive display of ideas or if you want the shorter version, here are some of my favorites.

This would be great on the hearth of a fireplace or at the entrance of a home.
 I might add a ribbon at the top or berries in between the pinecones for a touch of color.

I think the wreath was intended to be the focus here but I actually love the dough bowl.
I have quite a few dough bowls and this gives me an idea to fill them with most and top them with bright red apples.

Look closely and you'll see small pine trees in the tea cups. 

If the place where you wrap gifts can be seen by family and friends that stop by,
display ribbons and other wrapping items in glass containers.  It looks like part of the decor
yet is still functional use for you.

 The white bird houses surrounded with varying shades
of green makes this feel happy and peaceful.

Simply beautiful. The use of silver with a bit of gold makes a white room warm and elegant.
Wrap the gifts that go under your tree in coordinating paper and ribbon so they add to your display, instead of distract.

I have a lot of beautiful glass ornaments but I feel like they get lost in my tree.
This year I'll find ways to display them, like on an antique drying rack like this one,
or a metal tree stand.

This arrangement matches my love for country decor perfectly.

Cheers to a beautiful holiday season.

A Christmas Tree for the Birds

My sister had this great idea of doing a Christmas tree for the birds (and fun for the kids).  This would be a great Thanksgiving weekend activity to do with the family.  Give the kids a set of binoculars as an early Christmas gift and let them bird watch from your windows.  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas the kiddos can check the tree to see how many treats are left and restock it.  This provides a great opportunity to talk to kids about giving and doing for others, even the little bitty birds.

Treats for the Birds.

Make your own from the list below or order some pretty bird-friends ornaments like those above from Nature Favors.

• Bird seed, that's a given.  You can put it in bird feeders of varying sizes you hang on the tree
• String stale unsalted popcorn with cranberries and raisins for garland
• Kids can string cheerios and fruit loops for easy garland
• Tie a string around a pine cone and smear the cone with peanut butter. Drop it in a paper bag full of bird seed and shake the bag around to cover the cone with seed.
• Tie a string around an apple stem and cut slices out of the apple. Fill the spaces with peanut butter and toss the apple in a paper bag full of bird see
• Hang stale bagels from your local bagel store and hang from the tree with red yarn
• String peanuts in the shell and hang them from the tree, in the way icicles would hang.  

Fun for Kids Christmas Trees

My post on The Foundary this week will be about finding inspiration for your home's Christmas Tree.  While the centerpiece of your home at the holidays may be a beautifully trimmed tree, another tree in your house could be something more for the little kids.



A Candyland Christmas Tree
Inspired by the classic children's board game, a brightly decorated tree is so sweet for the really young ones.

Choose a smaller tree to decorate in the children's room or playroom.  Ditch the pine and go for something fun, like hot pink or bright white.

The tree can be trimmed with faux candy ornaments like these from Department 56.

Make a few of your own candy inspired ornaments like these with gum drops.

Instructions here.

Top the tree with a giant lollipop or a glitzy cone and streamers like this one.

Include real candy on your tree using ice cream cones or paper cones from bright glitter paper.

And you'll end up with a fun Candyland tree for your little sweets.

Like the idea of a candy-themed tree but don't want to decorate an second tree?  Consider doing a small gum drop tree like this one from Solutions.com.