Shimmering Candied Orange Peels and a Cast that Glistens

Yes. He's adorable. He's also hard-working and talented. He carries the show in a cast of 22 adults and kids and he's ten years old. When you work with kids, you know that's as good as it gets. In between the frenzy of opening Stuart Little, baking an Italian cookie a day for The Examiner and you know - the Christmas stuff, I took an evening off to concoct some candied orange peels.

But first Stuart - that's the mouse with his mother - having just rescued her engagement ring from the bathtub drain.

In one of my favorite scenes, some cats menace a pigeon. (Conflict in a children's play!) They glowed opening night. The show is a confection, a sweetness and they had all of that plus humor, insight into acceptance and finally - a responsive, grand audience. So I could go back to my kitchen.
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I am planning on making an almond-ricotta pudding and some panettone bread. Both call for candied orange and lemon peels.

My orange peels were thick - I cut the peel off - and sliced them into 1/4 inch pieces. I then boiled them for one minute - four times (you drain the water and start anew) until they were soft.

Some recipes have you cut the peel off with a vegetable peeler but then they are too flimsy to hold up to the sugar syrup.

Add 3 cups of sugar to one cup of water. Stir to dissolve and then heat to boiling.

Add your peels and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. You want the coating to be thick and shimmer on the peels. The peels should start to look translucent. Mine took an hour.
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Put wax paper under a wire rack, drain the sugar syrup and let dry for 6 hours. I let them dry over night.
They will adorn my Italian Cookie Christmas platter, be eaten from their airtight container at whim and be put into Italian Christmas desserts. They glisten also. Just like my cast.

I had a heavy hand when I dipped them into chocolate.

But no one minded. Because they're gone.

I hid a few to use for baking. My tree remains undecorated, my Christmas decor are in boxes - but the shimmery, glistening days are here. Onstage and at home.