Orange Crush

1. REM Orange Crush - soundtrack of my youth 
2. A different kind of Orange Crush. Swooning over 10kg mixed box of delicious citrus sent straight after picking, from the grower to us. Purchased from Fresh Citrus Direct. Amazingly sweet navels, tasty pink Cara Cara oranges, unwaxed lemons, perfect mandarines and tangy tangellos and grapefruit. A box of sunshine, lasted us 2 weeks and we've just ordered the next one, 15kg this time. 
3. Navel Orange
4. Cara Cara Pink Orange, my favourite in the box
5. Caramelised oranges on pancakes
6. Orange and onion salad - slice thinly and serve with a vinaigrette
7. Peels - saved because they looked to good to throw away.
8. Vinegar and orange cleaning solution
9. Happy little ones
10. Monkey boy
11. slices of peel that have been cooked in water for 2 minutes - three times to remove bitterness
12. Drying candied orange peel - in the oven and then overnight on the rangehood. recipe here
13. Made 2 jars of candied peel, a delicious treat and great hit of Vitamin C
14. Next time I would save some in the orange syrup to add to a cake - maybe for Christmas cakes
15. Drying peel by the fire to act as fire-lighters, the oil really glows. Got the idea from this great blog http://www.littleecofootprints.com/2013/07/oranges_how_to_use_orange_peel.html
16. 25 uses for citrus peel - who knew? Next on my list - lemon tart, lemon butter, and marmalade.
17. How you dance to the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons - such a disturbing ending

Oranges and lemons,
Say the bells of St. Clement's.

You owe me five farthings,
Say the bells of St. Martin's.

When will you pay me?
Say the bells of Old Bailey.

When I grow rich,
Say the bells of Shoreditch.

When will that be?
Say the bells of Stepney.

I do not know,
Says the great bell of Bow.

Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!

I wish I'd planted more citrus when we first came here, there is nothing like freshly picked oranges in winter, even if it is a little cold for them to do their best. I have a Kaffir lime, cumquat, tahitian lime, a finger lime and two small lemon trees, they're remarkably tough, although look a little sad this time of year. I think a Cara Cara Orange would be a tasty addition.

For more on why you shouldn't throw out your orange peel visit http://www.littleecofootprints.com/2013/07/oranges_how_to_use_orange_peel.html