Today I have sustainable Christmas (tree) decorations for you. I decided to decorate my Christmas tree with cookies and dried orange slices. Yes, you read right, theoretically speaking all these decorations can be eaten. I don’t as I keep them for the following years for decorating. If you are considering decorating your tree with homemade cookies and orange slices, this blog post is for you. You may also make a wreath with the dried orange slices as pictured below. I have mentioned this before, but as a university student, I was too poor to buy expensive Christmas decorations, so I started decorating everything with gingerbread. Gingerbread houses, gingerbread advent wreath, tiny gingerbread houses for the mug, you name it, I was the gingerbread queen. I then slowly started making other cookie ornaments, for example, I used sugar cookies for my tree and I checked for some other ideas. The latest idea was to dry orange slices and put them on the tree. After a little bit of research, I finally arrived at the “recipe” below and I am happy to share it. I usually keep my cookies and the orange slices for the following year. As long as you don’t plan on eating them, you are good to go. Keep them cool and dry in a loose box. This works for me. I hope for you, too!
My Christmas tree had four different types of ornaments, below is the recipe for each.
Dried orange slices (recipe below)
These dried orange slices can be used for Christmas decorations, either the tree, on a wreath or as a nice add-on to a wrapped gift. Cover a baking sheet either with a cotton towel or paper towels. Slice the oranges with a sharp knife into thin slices, use the end pieces differently (you can just eat them). If you have a mandolin, you may use it. Place the slices on prepared baking sheet and salt them. Wait half an hour, then drain as much moisture as you can with another cloth or paper towels. Salting will help to get out more moisture. The cotton cloth you can use to clean e.g. the oven or something else with some soap. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and place the drained orange slices on top. Bake for about 2-3 hours on 100 degrees Celsius. Flip over half way in. Lower temperatures are better for the slices to keep their color. Let dry further overnight. Depending on the conditions you live in, the drying process may take a few more additional days. Once fully dry, hang with thread (usually there will be holes, so no need to pierce) on the tree. If you are in a dry climate, you can keep the orange slices for years for decoration. Store in a cool and dry place.Dried Orange Slices for Christmas Decorations
Ingredients
Instructions
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