I’m a pretty big fan of lemonade. Last year I finally nailed down a recipe for a delightful home-squeezed version, and I find lots of excuses to make it when it’s hot outside and all I want in this world is a glass of sweet, tart, cold, perfect summer beverage. Mmmmmmm.

I also love orange juice. After my recent trip to San Diego, I brought home five precious pounds of oranges and could think of no better use for them than to squeeze them into juice. So I did and it was perfect and glorious and I had no regrets except that I don’t have a citrus grove in my Colorado apartment complex. I would almost give up my life in Colorado to live in a place with orange trees. Almost.

Have you ever worked with blood oranges before They are just so… provocative. Their skin is thin and blushes slightly, but upon slicing one open, you are met with simply stunning color. They vary: some are flushed with just a bit of red, like an orange with a sunburn, some are bright pink, and some are so deeply purple you can hardly believe they are same species of fruit. On their own, these oranges make the most MAGNIFICENT juice. If you have a happen to have a blood orange tree, please tell me that you make lots of blood orange juice. Also please send me your address so that I can move in with you.

I digress.

Anyway, when I found myself with an abundance of both lemons and blood oranges, I wondered what would happen if I mixed their juices together. The result Pink lemonade orange juice!

The combination of the rich, velvety blood orange juice and the clean, tart lemonade is completely delightful. Suitable for ANY time of day and any day of the year.

Seriously, does anyone have a blood orange tree and a spare bedroom?

Blood Orange Lemonade
Adapted from Simply Recipes

1/2 c granulated sugar
3/4 c water
zest of one lemon
zest of one blood orange
1/2 c lemon juice (juice 3 lemons)
1/2 c blood orange juice (juice of 4-5 blood oranges)
2 c water (to dilute)

Combine sugar and 3/4 c water in a small pot. Scrub all fruits until clean, then pat dry. Zest one lemon and one blood orange and add the zest to the sugar and water. Stir the pot, then heat over medium-high heat until the sugar is dissolved and mixture just begins to simmer. Remove from heat and set aside.

While the simple syrup cools, zest the remaining fruits if you’re planning to freeze the zest (they are much easier to zest before juicing). Juice the fruits and strain to remove all the seeds and if you wish, the pulp.

Combine lemon juice, blood orange juice, and simple syrup in a pitcher. Add 2 cups water to dilute. If you prefer your lemonade even thinner, add up to a cup more.

Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, then serve over ice.

Are we far enough into January that I can talk about dessert?

I’d really like to. I know, a lot of you who are still in that “never eating dessert again” phase of January. I can tell we’re still in the window of active New Years resolutions: the gym is still full of people (I just need one elliptical, folks) and social media is crowded with photos of green smoothies and raw vegetables.

But when you’re ready to return to the light, I urge you to make these little bars.

Rather like lemon bars in their consistency, these bars feature a crisp shortbread crust topped with a luscious, citrus-y custard. But instead of lemon juice, these bars are brought to life by the vibrant, impossibly pink juice of blood oranges. 

Blood oranges reach their peak in the dead of winter on this continent and, in my opinion, are the most welcome food to see in January. Bright orange peels that blush red encase the most amazing colors of pulp, ranging from a pale pink to deep purple. They’re just the prettiest.

You’ll be tempted to drink the juice straight. And at another time, you should definitely do that because it’s frightfully good. But for now, go ahead and just mix it in with the custard and bake it. It won’t stay bright pink, but the finished product is still a delightfully bright shade of orange.

With a sprinkle of powdered sugar, you’ll have a dessert that brightens up your winter. It’s totally worth an extra hour at the gym. Happy New Year, everyone!

Blood Orange Bars
Adapted from Yossy Arefi

Makes 16 two-inch bars

For the Crust
1/2 c unsalted butter, melted
1/4 c granulated sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 c all-purpose flour

For the Topping
3/4 c granulated sugar
3 T all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 eggs
zest of two blood oranges (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1/2-3/4 c blood orange juice
powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8″x8″ square baking dish with parchment or foil with a lip hanging over the edge and set aside.

Thoroughly combine the melted butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small bowl. Add the flour and mix just until combined. Press the mixture into the bottom of the lined baking dish. Bake for about 25 minutes until the crust is golden-brown. While the crust bakes, prepare the topping.

Thoroughly wash and dry the blood oranges. Zest two blood orange and set aside for the recipe. If you like orange zest in other things, zest the remaining blood oranges and freeze the zest in a zippered baggie for future use. Juice the oranges and strain into a measuring cup or small bowl.

In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, and salt. Whisk in the eggs, followed by the orange zest and orange juice.

When the crust is done, turn the oven down to 300°F. Slide out the oven rack with the crust, pour the topping straight onto the hot crust, and slide the rack back into the oven. Bake until the topping is set and does not jiggle in the center, 30-40 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool on a rack until the bars have cooled completely.

Once the bars are completely cool, lift them from the pan using the parchment or foil edges and place on a cutting board. Cut the bars to the desired size. Dust with powdered sugar immediately before serving.

The bars can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week in the refrigerator. Add more powdered sugar as needed for serving the leftovers.

The timing could not have been better. Three and a half days of sunshine, ocean breeze, and t-shirt weather was a welcome break from the chilly winter in Ohio.

When I travel, I love visiting local farmers markets, especially if my destination boasts a lengthy growing season. Because I limit my “exotic” produce purchases in Ohio to very special occasions, I jump at the chance to buy them when they’re grown just a few miles away. In southern California, I was after two things: citrus and avocados. And I came back with plenty of both! Definitely worth packing lightly so I could stuff my carry-on with produce on the flight home.

But how to use my precious cargo I kicked it off when a bright, fresh, totally California salad.

This salad starts with a bed of spinach and mixed greens and ends with a drizzle of blood orange vinaigrette. But the components in the middle provide a delightful mix of textures, flavors, and colors, the most striking of which is the blood orange.

The mottled scarlet flesh of this orange is not just pretty to look at. It’s sweet and enormously juice, which makes it an ideal candidate for doubling both as a salad topping and as a dressing ingredient.

Combined with a wee amount of shallots, black pepper, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil, the blood orange juice produces a lovely dressing that would delight on many salads, not just this one.

Other than mixing the dressing, this salad is as simple as can be and really doesn’t require much explanation. Just toss everything on the greens and ta-da! It’s a beauty!

If you’re looking for a salad that you’ll actually WANT to eat, this is definitely on that list. Creamy avocado, bright citrus, crunchy sunflower seeds, and zesty feta play nicely together. It’s filling and satisfying, features I look for when making salad that serves as a meal.

We still have a good 4-6 weeks of decidedly non-t-shirt weather in Ohio, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t sit back and enjoy a summery salad and pretend we’re somewhere warmer, bluer, and California-y-er.

*sigh*

Blood Orange & Avocado Salad
Adapted from Joy the Baker

Note: This recipe makes enough for one as a main course or 2-3 as a side salad. There will be more dressing than you need for one salad, but it will last for 4-5 days, so you can use it for round two or three later in the week. Also, if you have the chance to make the dressing in advance, it gets even better overnight.

3 blood oranges (1 1/2 for the salad, 1 1/2 for the dressing)
1 T olive oil
1 T balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
2 T minced shallots
a couple cranks of freshly ground black pepper
2 large handfuls of spinach or mixed greens
1/2 a small avocado
1/4 c feta cheese crumbles
1 1/2 T salted sunflower seed kernels

Slice two of the blood oranges in half. Juice three of the halves and strain juice into a small bowl. Slice away the peel of the remaining half and the remaining whole orange, then carefully slice into disks. Set the oranges aside.

To complete the dressing, add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, shallots, and black pepper to the blood orange juice and whisk vigorously until combined. Adjust to taste and set aside.

Add spinach to a plate and sprinkle place oranges on top of the spinach. Sprinkle with feta and sunflower seeds. Slice the avocado and peel back the skin, adding the avocado strips to the salad. Shake or whisk dressing once more and drizzle over salad to taste. Serve immediately and dream of California produce.

I’ve always strongly associated oranges with summer. Their summery orange glow, bright flavors, and balmy geographic origins have all contributed to this perception. And yet I also remember that my dad always brought home the best grapefruits, even in thoroughly NOT balmy Colorado, in January and February. Occasionally, we’d receive boxes of citrus as Christmas gifts, and I even recall the local chapter of FFA selling them to neighbors as a fundraiser in the weeks preceding the holidays.

Citrus is cultivated year-round in many of the southern-most states of our continent, but it really shines in the winter. Not surprisingly, when I was driving back to North Carolina from a late-November trip to Florida with the fam, I simply couldn’t resist stopping at a roadside stand for a bag of this fruit so far outside my normal local fare.

I probably could have just eaten or juiced each and every one of these golden orbs, but I’ve been curious for some time about marmalades. I don’t remember growing up with marmalade in the house, though my mom confirms that she loved it when she was a child. Our spreadables tended to be homemade from the berries and stone fruits my grandma and grandpa grew in their garden, so perhaps that accounts for the marmalade vacuum of my youth. I’ve heard from some that marmalade is an acquired taste, that it’s a bitter product not suited for those who prefer sweet jams. I wanted to give it a shot, but wasn’t sure how I would feel about a bitter final product. I ran across this recipe, a blend of oranges and cranberries, and thought that it might be just the transitional product between sweet and bitter I was looking for.

This marmalade is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. The bulk is made up of equal parts cranberry and oranges, along with a lemon tossed in for a little extra brightness. The oranges and lemons contribute not only their juicy flesh but also their colorful, flavorful rinds.

The rinds contribute a touch of bitterness to this otherwise sweet jam, but it’s also the primary vehicle for the brilliant citrus flavor that punches through the cranberry.

This marmalade is a great way to use up any glut of cranberries you may have left over from the holidays, as well as any citrus you may have received as a gift. It’s delicious when used as a spread, but I’m also confident it would make a great stir-in for a poultry marinade or even as a topping for ice cream.

To those of you who live in climates where citrus grows freely and rampantly: I am incredibly jealous. How do you make the most of your fruit?

Cranberry Orange Marmalade
Adapted from Small Batch Preserving

Makes about 5 pints (10 cups)

5 medium oranges, thoroughly washed and dried (I used Red Navels)
1 lemon, thoroughly washed and dried
6 cups water
4 cups fresh or frozen whole cranberries, washed and picked through
8 cups granulated sugar

Use a vegetable peeler to remove the thin, colorful outer rinds from the oranges and the lemons. Chop the rind into a fine confetti and combine with the water in a large stainless steel pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover, reduce heat to medium, and boil for about 20 minutes.

While the rind is boiling, peel away the remaining white rind from the citrus and discard. Separate the oranges and lemon into segments and remove seeds from each segment. Discard the seeds. Place all of the citrus segments in a food processor and pulse until thoroughly chopped. Add citrus to the pot. Add cranberries to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped, then add the cranberries to the pot as well.  Turn the heat back up to high and bring pot back to a boil. Cover pot and continue boiling for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While this is boiling, prepare a boiling water bath and sterilize the jars and lids you plan to use.

Add the sugar to the pot. Stirring steadily, boil rapidly for about 20 minutes or until marmalade forms a gel. To test for a gel, spoon a bit of marmalade onto a small plate and place in the freezer for a minute or two. If a skin forms over the puddle of marmalade, it is ready.

Remove from heat and ladle into warm, sterilized jars, leaving about ½” head space. Lid the jars and screw on the rings until just past fingertight. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.