Lebkuchen, step one: Candied orange peel

Candied orange peel
good by itself,
dipped in chocolate.
or flavoring lbekuchen

Can't help myself -- I've just got to bake lebkuchen, a traditional German cookie, for Christmas. Yesterday I took the first step -- candied orange peel. I used a slightly different recipe from the one I posted a couple years ago. Right off, I can't really tell the difference, except this one is a little easier. Most of this will go in the cookies, and any peel left over will get dipped in melted Belgian chocolate. Truly, that is as delicious as the lebkuchen. But Christmas will not happen without lebkuchen.

Candied orange peel

2 large oranges (I used navel oranges, and I used three, since they weren't that big.)
4 C. sugar, divided
3 C. water

Cut 1/4 inch from the top and bottom of the oranges. Cut the peel down to the flesh in half, then in half again. Remove the peel, pith and all.  You will have four pieces per orange. Cut each into quarter-inch-wide strips. Cook the peel in boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain it, then rinse it and drain it again.

Bring 3 cups of sugar and 3 cups of water to a boil and cook it until the sugar dissolves. This won't take long. Put the peel in and boil it again. Reduce the heat and let it simmer until the peel is soft; 45 minutes worked fine for me.

Drain the peel. Put a cup of sugar onto a rimmed baking sheet. (I use the large crystals that you can find in the baking department of fancier grocery stores. It adds crunch. This time I didn't have quite enough, so I mixed it with regular sugar.) Toss the peel in the sugar. The peel will be limp, but don't worry.

Transfer the peel to a sheet of foil. Make sure it is not bunched up. Each strip of peel should have a little air around it. Let it stand until dry. This could take two days, depending.

Eating dandelions

Grandma Frey used to eat dandelion greens. I can't remember if she picked them from the yard or bought them at the store. She would fry a little bacon, then add vinegar and sugar and pour it over to make a salad that only she would eat. Now I'm eating dandelion greens, and maybe it's thanks to Grandma that I love their bitter bite. They're $4 a bunch at Fresh Market -- all for me, because Clark said "No thanks" after the first try. I like them sautéed in olive oil and topped with Gorgonzola and croutons; or fried and then tipped out of the pan so I can fry an egg to go with it; or as a salad with garlicky dressing. Or just munched as a rabbit would like. Or Grandma.

Grandma Krumm's Vanilla Strips

Grandma made these every Christmas, but you could make them for New Year's Eve. As I remember, hers weren't this good. They were kind of flat. Must be my Kitchen Aid. Could be our Serenity Farm eggs ... I do remember an awful-smelling henhouse out back, so Grandma had natural eggs too. But that was a long time ago. This is half of Grandma (Josephine Krumm)'s recipe. It's German.

Vanilla Strips

4 egg whites at room temperature
1 lb. confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 C. toasted walnuts, ground fine (I use the Muehli mill that is a gift from Dale, but a food processor should work too. Or just chop them like crazy.)
3/4 C. fine, sifted bread crumbs (I had some in the freezer, made from leftover stale bread.)

Start beating the egg whites. Gradually add sugar, while beating them for about 15 minutes. (The old recipe says this, but Grandma's mixer was different. I've done it in less time. This year, though, I followed the directions, dribbling sugar in slowly.) It should be fluffy and stiff and almost intolerably sweet.

Divide the mixture into two equal parts (says Grandma -- I do 1/3 to 2/3.) Add crumbs and nuts to the small part and vanilla to the other. Roll out the crumb/nut mixture on a floured board to about 1/8." Cut in trips 1" x 2." Put them on a cookie sheet covered in parchment. They don't spread, so you can put them pretty close together. Cover with the vanilla mixture. I just use a spoon, but you could use one of those press things for a professional look. Bake at 325° about 7 minutes, or until just lightly brown.

Note: This year I ended up beating another couple of whites with more vanilla and sugar.  I must have been extra generous with the topping; I needed more. Also, I forgot the bread crumbs, but added more nuts. It was delicious, maybe a little crisper than usual.  It made three nicely crowded cookie sheets.