A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

The Simple Orange and Christmas

Don't these orange slices look pretty just tumbling out of the clear glass jar? I love clear glass in my kitchen. I used to have all my dried beans, flour, sugar, coffee, etc in clear glass jars on my shelves. So simple.
I was reading the paper yesterday and was just finishing the food section (my favorite) when I saw an article ...Dried Oranges. It brought to mind a craft that I did years ago. You slice the oranges thinly and blot them with paper towels, layer them between sheets of toweling, then put them in the microwave on high for two minutes.

Remove them from the microwave and then layer them on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake for about an hour or so in a 300 degree oven.



Then, when cooled, you can use them to decorate packages or hang with twine and raffia in your windows...they are almost translucent when dried. I plan to ...well I will save that for another post...My plan involves a loaf of bread, little pine branches,red berries, raffia, and then the orange slices.
There is a scent of oranges wafting through the air in my house right now. A natural air freshener. Sometimes I put cinnamon sticks, orange peels, cloves, and water on the stove and bring to a simmer. The whole house smells so nice. Hope you have a wonderful day today.
Balisha



6 comments:

Margie's Musings said...

How nice that sounds! You have such good ideas!

Barbee' said...

Mmmmm, I think I smell it all the way down here to Kentucky! Funny what the mind and imagination will do! They are pretty, too. You are sooo clever!

Lona said...

What a terrific idea. Now you know I may have to try that one ;-)

Noelle Johnson said...

Hi Balisha,

I love your idea of using clear glass containers. That way, the contents add to the beauty of the kitchen, as well as making people hungry :0).

Thank you for teaching us how to dry oranges.

Amber Star said...

If I have time I'm doing that orange thing! They are beautiful!

I keep sugar, flour, and pasta in clear glass containers. I really like them, too. Our spaghetti lives in a pretty pink clear container.

garden girl said...

Great idea Balisha! I LOVE the scent of oranges, and have been gathering ideas for natural Christmas decor. I'm definitely adding this one to the list!