Tag: Oranges

Gramma’s Orange Spice Bars

Posted on by Mary
Moist and bursting with orange, these bars won over everyone who tasted them!

My Gramma has done it again: delivered a recipe with oranges that sounded so incredibly good that I made it immediately and now cannot stop snacking. I came across it during my annual January purge. This year, my studio, which is jammed with multiple writing resources, became the lucky recipient of the clean-out. While rearranging and dusting off my cooking and gardening books, I discovered two plastic recipe file boxes, shoved to the back of the shelf and temporarily hidden. Even though chaos abounded, I took some time to look through each box and every recipe, some from my mom but most from my Gramma. I love how she recorded her recipes by neatly typing them on index cards or thin onionskin paper. This gem for Orange Spice Bars nudged at my sweet tooth. Now that my two orange trees are bursting with fruit, I am ready to make them a center stage of many dishes.

The magic box of recipes and memories.
My beautiful orange trees bring me so much joy.

The recipe comes together easily and takes me back in time. As I creamed the butter and sugar and folded in the walnuts, I felt my Gramma’s presence in the kitchen with me, donned in her well-worn and faded yellow apron, sipping coffee and nodding her head in approval. Gramma, thanks for documenting so many wonderful, tasty recipes. I promise to make more of them!

Bet you can’t eat just one!
Mary Knight

Gramma's Orange Spice Bars

4.50 from 2 votes
These moist bars, with the combination of orange and spices, go well with tea or coffee or as an afternoon snack.
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Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings: 50
Course: Bar Cookie
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • For the Bars
  • 2/3 cup unsalted butter (11 tablespoons)
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 2 eggs at room temperature
  • 1-2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel the recipe calls for 1 but I used 2
  • 3 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • For the Orange Glaze
  • 1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
  • 2-3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel
  • 2 tablespoons shredded or flaked coconut

Method
 

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Grease a 10X15 jelly roll pan or line with parchment (I used a 10X15 lasagne pan)
  3. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
  4. Add eggs, one by one. Mix well.
  5. Add orange peel and orange juice. Mix well.
  6. Sift flour with soda, spices, and salt.
  7. Add to sugar mixture and mix just until combined.
  8. Stir in chopped walnuts.
  9. Turn dough into the pan and smooth it evenly across.
  10. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown and firm to the touch.
  11. Cool completely.
  12. Make the glaze:
  13. Mix together the powdered sugar, orange juice, and orange zest to form a smooth, thin glaze. Add more juice if you prefer a thinner glaze.
  14. Spread the glaze evenly over the bars. I did not use all the glaze, but if you want a sweeter bar, by all means, go for it.
  15. Sprinkle with the coconut.
  16. Cut into triangles, as my Gramma did, or cut into squares, your preference.
  17. These keep well for days covered or in an airtight container.
  18. Note: Don’t skip the orange glaze. It really adds that extra bit of flavor.
  19. Feel free to omit the coconut if desired

If the family were a fruit, it would be an orange, a circle of sections, held together but separable – each segment distinct.

Letty Cottin Pogrebin

Ciao for now,

Orange Blossom Special

Posted on by Mary

The life in my backyard is so breathtakingly alive right now. I am especially drawn to my two 60-year-old orange trees who greet me everyday with bursts of intensely perfumed orange blossoms that permeate my backyard. So heady is this fragrance, I find myself making excuses to stay home, just to linger in my garden. This heavenly smell is reminiscent of springtime in my home town of Riverside, California, where, in my earlier days, the orange trees possibly outnumbered the residents!

Not to neglect the brilliant oranges that are a part of this scene, they too deserve attention. It’s as if they are asking, “ So, what will you create with us today?” As much as I love eating them ripe off the tree, I came up with this easy recipe which also uses the prolific Swiss chard making a strong appearance in my garden right now. The flavors interact perfectly – some tang, some crunch, some sweetness. It’s colorful and delicious. I love it as a side dish or make it a main by tossing in some cannellini beans for vegetarian or sweet chicken sausage slices for a meatier meal.

Orange Blossom Special

Print Recipe
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 5-6 cupfuls of sliced Swiss chard stems removed and cut into pieces separately
  • 1 large shallot sliced into rings
  • 2 large fresh oranges, cut into 1” cubes
  • 3 or more Tablespoons roughly chopped pistachios
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt & pepper

Method
 

  1. Saute the chard stems in 1 Tablespoon olive oil until tender, about 10 minutes. Salt to taste.
  2. In a small pan, saute the shallot in 1 Tablespoon olive oil until deep brown and almost crispy.
  3. Add the sliced chard to the chard stems and cook on medium heat, tossing frequently until just beginning to wilt. Do not overcook or it will lose its beautiful green color. Salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Toss in the shallots and oranges.
  5. Sprinkle in the pistachios.
  6. This is especially good when drizzled with Orange or Mandarin Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Add a splash of Fig Balsamic Vinegar to take it over the edge.

Voila! Tasty and nutritious!

“Did you ever sleep in a field of orange-trees in bloom? The air which one inhales deliciously is a quintessence of perfumes. This powerful and sweet smell, as savoury as a sweetmeat, seems to penetrate one, to impregnate, to intoxicate, to induce languor, to bring about a dreamy and somnolent torpor. It is like opium prepared by fairy hands and not by chemists.”
― Guy de Maupassant, 88 Short Stories

My feelings exactly! Take deep breaths and drink in the beauty of Spring!

P.S. I named this story Orange Blossom Special after the bluegrass song that stole my heart when I lived in Southern Illinois. Here is a fun rendition of the “Fiddle Player’s National Anthem.”

Ciao for now,
Mary