I had
really grand plans for my first Christmas in a new house... however, some ended up, shall we say, "simplified" when the reality of life and time and the twins learning how to walk and get into everything happened. This tree is the perfect example. I envisioned a wealth of food ornaments- all made by hand- covering this little tree on my kitchen counter, filling the house with a delicious aroma and warmth and love. I ended up with some dried citrus slices- which actually turned out great- and made the finished product much simpler. I still liked it though. There is something so beautiful and fresh about citrus. This bowl just made me happy looking at it!
I lined a cookie sheet with foil and topped it with a cookie rack.
Then, I sliced the different citrus fruits about 2-3mm thick (sorry for the blatant use of metrics- blame it on my very English husband) and layed them in a single layer on the rack on the tray.
It was placed in the oven on the lowest heat setting for about 6 hours average. Because I experimented with different fruits in different sizes, they all had different drying times. I just checked them periodically starting at about 5 hours for the tiny limes and ending at about 7 hours for the large oranges. I have to say, the lemons turned out the worst as the sugars all caramelized before they were all dry turning them brown- not cute.
Finally, the slices were simply hung with green wire ornament hangers- I'm totally using clear fishing wire next time. Here's the finished tree- hate the topper.
Next year, I am doing this again- but I envision adding some dried star anise embellishments, and some cinnamon stick bundles, and a cranberry garland ooh! and maybe some dried pineapple flowers like Martha makes and.......
I had really grand plans for my first Christmas in a new house... however, some ended up, shall we say, "simplified" when the reality of life and time and the twins learning how to walk and get into everything happened. This tree is the perfect example. I envisioned a wealth of food ornaments- all made by hand- covering this little tree on my kitchen counter, filling the house with a delicious aroma and warmth and love. I ended up with some dried citrus slices- which actually turned out great- and made the finished product much simpler. I still liked it though. There is something so beautiful and fresh about citrus. This bowl just made me happy looking at it!
I lined a cookie sheet with foil and topped it with a cookie rack.
Then, I sliced the different citrus fruits about 2-3mm thick (sorry for the blatant use of metrics- blame it on my very English husband) and layed them in a single layer on the rack on the tray.
It was placed in the oven on the lowest heat setting for about 6 hours average. Because I experimented with different fruits in different sizes, they all had different drying times. I just checked them periodically starting at about 5 hours for the tiny limes and ending at about 7 hours for the large oranges. I have to say, the lemons turned out the worst as the sugars all caramelized before they were all dry turning them brown- not cute.
Finally, the slices were simply hung with green wire ornament hangers- I'm totally using clear fishing wire next time. Here's the finished tree- hate the topper. 
Next year, I am doing this again- but I envision adding some dried star anise embellishments, and some cinnamon stick bundles, and a cranberry garland ooh! and maybe some dried pineapple flowers like Martha makes and.......
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I have always wanted to know how to do this! Thank you so much. Your citrus is beautiful!
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