sweet: candied orange peel

This recipe is from my 1960s edition of the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book. Candied orange peel is a pain in the ass to find if you live in the BR, and I'm sure that if one did find it, they would also find it to be prohibitively expensive. The recipe is easy and requires little hands-on time, aside from the cooking peels in sugar part. It's tried and true, although I cut the recipe down by a third since I only had two oranges. Also recommended - don't use the cast iron skillet that you usually use for fried noodles and such, because it will give your orange peel a little bit of a something else flavor.  

Here is the recipe in it's entirety - further comments below:

Ingredients:

3 oranges

1 tbsp salt

4 cups water

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

Cut peel of each orange in sixths: loosen from pulp with bowl of  spoon. (Save orange sections for breakfast.) Add salt to 4 cups water; add peel. Weight with a plate to keep peel under water; let stand overnight.

Drain; wash thoroughly. Cover with cold water; heat to boiling. Drain. Repeat three times. This helps remove bitter taste.

With kitchen scissors, cut peel in strips. In saucepan, combine 2 cups peel, sugar, and 1/2 cup water. heat and stir till sugar dissolves. Cook slowly till peel is translucent. Drain; roll in granulated sugar. Dry on rack. 

the end.

First off, that spoon part is not a lie. This kind of thing is the reason people still have a need for Hints from Heloise. Other things? My peel still seems a bit bitter, so be sure you bring it to a full boil each of those three times. Then, prepare to stand over the stove for a while stirring. I'd say I let the peel simmer in the syrup for at least half an hour. 

And you get an orange flavored syrup out of it too!