Sweet TIme (South Dakota Magazine) wrote:Just after the Christmas Eve dinner, chaplains and volunteers will hand out small paper sacks to 3,000 state prisoners in Sioux Falls, Springfield and Yankton. Inside are two Christmas cards nestled among five pieces of hard candy, one cup of peanuts in the shell, a candy cane and two squares of homemade fudge.

Families are not allowed to send food or gifts into the prison. They can give money, but many inmates receive nothing. The cards and candy are the only things that will mark their holiday.

Leonard Blue Thunder has been incarcerated since 1989. “To some in the free world maybe it’s not much, but for me and my friends it’s a very big treat that we wait for the whole year,” he said. “It’s like at home during Christmas, Grandma used to make fudge for us.”

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

I love raisin swirl breads toasted, spread with butter and a little sugar sprinkled on top.

A new variation: Cranberry swirl bread by Thomas Muffin people only for the holidays. I found it at Big Lots last week. I looked for it at Jewel last night without success. REally good, if you like cranberries and raisin swirl breads.

Regards,

rickster wrote:I think you can freeze lots of cookies. I would stay away from filled cookies since you don't know how the filling would hold up to freeze/thaw. But you can do butter cookies, biscotti, ccokies with nuts. I've successfully done freeze/thaw on florentines from a book by Carol Walter that specifies for every recipe whether it can be frozen or not, and most of them can.

Cathy2 wrote:
Candied Orange Peel (adapted from book unknown presently)

6 seedless oranges (I use Navel oranges, grapefruit, lemon, lime and tangerine)
2 quarts warm water
2 tablespoons salt
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup water
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin softened in 2 tablespoons water
Granulated sugar for rolling

Cut the oranges in half and juice, you do not need the juice. Personally, we collect oranges from breakfast over a few days. My family coopeartively quarters the oranges cutting throught the stem-bud axis. I find I get the maximum amount of peel this way.

Combine warm water and salt in a large bowl or large pot, add orange peel, weight down with a plate to brine overnight.

Drain peel. Now fill a pot with fresh water and peel, bring to a boil, then dump the water. Repeat this once. The third time, fill with fresh water, bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes or until tender. Remove from the stove and drain.

Using a teaspoon, scrape the interiior surface of the rinds to remove soft pulp, leaving the white spongy coating. Slice peel into 1/8- to 1/4-inch strips. Making them as long and uniform as possible.

Combin sugar, honey and 1 cup water in a large heavy pot. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring, then add the strips of peel. Cook over low heat until transparent and most of the syrup has been absorbed. It will take about 40 minutes, though you need to watch carefully toward the end to avoid scorching.

Remove from heat and add the softened gelatin. Stir until dissolved. Pour peel into a colander to drain off excess syrup.

For the next process, it can be very messy if use both hands for the same task. I prefer to dedicate one hand to lifting peel from the colander and the other to roll in the sugar and arrange on a wax paper covered tray. While the instructions suggest doing one piece of peel at a time, this can take a very long time. Instead, I will take a small handful of peel into a bowl filled with sugar. I will roll the group together, which begin to separate as the sugar clings to the peel. I then lay them one by one on the trays.

The peel will take about a day to dry slightly and stiffen. Store in tightly covered container. Peel will keep well for weeks.

Makes about 1-3/4 pounds.

Note: four medium-sized grapefruit may be substituted for oranges.

***

Once we are past the holidays, the family gets bored with peel. Eventually someone leaves the container open for an extended period of time. The peel dries like pine needles getting stiffer and sharper. It is then good enough to stick in your tea.

If someone recognizes where this recipe came from, then please advise. I have a feeling I may know, but I will have to check my local library.

Regards,