Orange Curd with Shortbread Dipping Sticks

I have decided to promote a tangy orange recipe today.  It is cold and gray in Michigan and I can't wait until March for citrus (because that is when every issue of every magazine we love seems to trumpet oranges, lemons and limes), I want it now!  

Somehow the idea of Orange Curd with Shortbread Dipping Sticks came to my mind.  I could actually see it in my mind and thought it would look beautiful and taste refreshing. I was right. It's rich and bright and fun.  It definitely livens up the umpteenth cup of tea we've all had by February.  This photo above of my success looks pretty close to my imagination. Yum.

Orange Curd

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup orange juice
pinch of salt

For fun, I added a splash of Vahine's Orange Blossom Essence. 
I had purchased a beautiful blue bottle of it in Paris and couldn't resist. Magnifique!

I am keeping the Orange Curd in the refrigerator in my Pillivuyt jam pot (featuring blueberries) that I bought on my first trip to a brick and mortar Dean & Deluca store.  That is my kind of souvenir.  It's the same with the Vahine essence. Items all over my kitchen remind me of my travels.

I made my Shortbread Sticks with Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa shortbread recipe.  I used a knife to cut the dough into rows of clothes pin-size sticks and baked them on parchment lined cookie sheets for 15-20 minutes (watch them so that they don't brown too quickly.)

Allow them to cool and then dip away!

Fancy Orange Toasts

I've perfected another new recipe for tea time!  Fancy orange toasts.  I was introduced to a similar item at a bakery, but found their version is more like biscotti, crisp and dry.  I wanted to experiment with a buttery orange toast that was chewy, like a cookie just out of the oven.

Fancy Orange Toasts

1 loaf of Pepperidge Farm Very Thin white bread
2 sticks of salted butter, softened
1 cup of sugar
Zest of one fresh orange
Juice of one fresh orange (I used a navel orange)
a splash of vanilla

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.  Mix butter, sugar, orange zest, orange juice and vanilla together into a paste.  Trim the crusts from a slice of bread.  Cut the crustless piece of bread into 3 bars.  Spread a not-so-thin layer of orange butter on each bar of bread, covering the top of the bread completely.  Repeat slice after slice until the orange butter runs out.  (I believe that preparing each slice individually, instead of cutting the crusts off the entire loaf at once, helps maintain the bread freshness and results in a chewy but firm toast.)  I filled two cookie sheets with orange toasts.  Bake at 250 degrees for 35 minutes.  Cool and store in air tight container.  Serve with tea or coffee.  

Honeybell Oranges

Oh, honey (bell)!  I am steeped in citrus and it is wonderful.  My favorite orange (the juicy "Honeybell") is in season and I have been slurping my way through a small bag. Yum! 

I have always loved Orange Pie (my grandmother's secret recipe), a tall cool Orange Julius and fresh oranges eaten section by section with a spoon. 

I am not sure of the direct beauty benefits of Vitamin C (brighter eyes? shinier hair?), but I do know that my smile is a mile wide.

Citrus Sectioner

Citrus Sectioner...I know, say that 3 times fast!

But that is exactly what I wanted to show you today. I usually watch with awe as the contestants on "Top Chef" supreme an orange with lightening speed.

To "supreme" a piece of citrus, you slice and trim to create perfectly clean sections of fruit. It looks tricky and time-consuming, so I have left that to the professionals. Until I stumbled upon this...

Starfrit's "Citrus Express Cutter." What you see here is my first attempt and I think my little orange sections look great! I would love to add oranges to fresh fruit salad and compotes and now I can.

You will be jealous to know that I happened to find this on clearance at the discount home store, Homegoods. But I still think it is reasonable at the original price.

So if you are hosting a brunch anytime soon, this may be your next "must have" kitchen tool. Let the holiday planning begin!