End of Winter. Oranges in abundance.

We pay a visit to our childhood farm and the oranges were in abundance.  My bother was kind enough to pass bags of oranges on. The smell of an orange blossom and the smell of the oil from the orange peel is so unique.   

The Afrikaans' poet DJ Opperman wrote the following poem about such memories, related to certain aromas.

  

"My nooi is in 'n naartjie, my ouma in kaneel.  

Daar's iemand ... iemand in anys. 

Daar's 'n vrou in elke geur."

Looking for a translation of this little poem I fount the following on the web:

"My girl is in a tangerine, 

my grandmother in cinnamon. 

There's someone, someone in aniseed. 

There's a woman in every flavour."

Thanks to Boeretroos for sharing   

 The earth underneath the trees is covered with little white flowers.  
When I find this mud pie of on the Blog of   Hostess of The Humble Bungalow I could not resist to share it with you.  

And then there is Vincent van Gogh.  The colour orange is forever part of his art.  

Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890) was probably the most famous Post-Impressionist painter of all times.  never enjoying a great level of success or recognition during his life, his posthumous stature has grown enormously, and he has arguably influences almost every artist since. . 

His words describing the color orange:  
"There is no blue without yellow and without orange."  
Van Gogh produced innumerable still lifes.  of this one he wrote to his brother, Theo in January 1889:  "I have just finished a new canvas which almost has what one might call a certain chic about it, a wicker basket with lemons and oranges, a cypress branch and a pair of blue gloves.  You have already seen some of these baskets of fruit of mine."  

Unfortunately I  cannot paint but I can cook.  The oranges were grated, soak overnight and then cut into quarters.  
It was time for the big pot to come of the shelve and ........  

The oranges is in the big pot and the process has started.  

I am sharing the recipe with you.  
*   Firstly grate the skin very thinly to remove the hard part as this will prevent the fruit to absorb the sugar syrup.
*   Secondly soak the whole oranges overnight in water.  Enough to cover the fruit. 
Then the process of cooking begin. 
*   Cut the oranges in wedges.  
*    Depending on the size you would like it to be. 
*    Remove the pips from the oranges. 
*    Add the oranges to a big enough pot with boiling water and cook it til the peel is soft enough for a match stick to go through easily. 
*    Prepare the syrup as follows:  
500g (1 pound) of sugar for every 500g (1 pound) of fruit and 3 cups of water for every 500g (1 pound) sugar.  
Put the pot with you syrup ingredients on the stove and stir till the sugar has melted. 
Once boiling add the fruit - small amounts at a time to prevent the syrup from stop boiling - in the boiling syrup.
It is important that the fruit will boil quickly in the syrup else the fruit will turn very dark.  Do not cover the pot. 
The boiling process must continue till the syrup is the consistency of honey.   
The fruit will be shiny and full of syrup. 
Bottle and enjoy!.  .

Bottles of oranges on my kitchen top 

More bottles . . . . . 

A little display.
The blue beads belonged to my granny.  She passed on when I was 10 years old and through the years I have always had these little beads with me. 

O and then comes The Graphics Fairy with a excellent design for a label.  

To show off 

They will do as little Christmas gifts for our guests

A gift . . .  a silver teapot . . . .  garden bear  . . .  and an antique typewriter. 
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Why is orange jam called marmalade?
From the Portuguese/Spanish, apparently, although I had to wait a long time for the answer.
Yes on the ingredient list  it says:  "Permitted addictive agent' which explains why I can't stop eating it, and on later posts I have added:  Warning:  produced in establishment that use nuts"
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Thanks for stopping.

Till next time