Sweet Oranges

I went to Daly City to see the newborn family members at my sister's home. They were all so cute and I wanted to adopt one but alas, all of them have already been named and spoken for! When I got home, I just could not take them out of my mind. I squeezed some Valencia oranges to drink and forgot all about the babies, and so I thought. I found myself carving the rest of oranges like these.

Can you tell which one is Beau? They are all so sweet like the oranges.

El Membrillo

In Spain it's typically called Dulce de Membrillo. If you travel to the country you can't miss it because it is usually displayed in pastry shop windows everywhere.  They just love it there. It is eaten at breakfast time with bread and also used to garnish other pastries like the famous Panelettes from Catalunia. It is best enjoyed when paired with Manchego cheese for dessert. I was fascinated by how it was made in homes when I lived there for a while. The process was quite simple but required a lot of patience. There were only two ingredients; quince and sugar. Lemon or orange juice was added for tartness according to ones taste. The  Membrillo I got from the shops I found a little too sweet for me. Now, I made one for you I'm sure you will like.

Choose the yellowest quince you can find. They are usually the sweetest and more fragrant. Wash them thoroughly to remove wax on the fruit.

Boil them in water until soft. This might take 30 minutes. Dump all of the boiling water to get rid of any more wax residue. Skin and core the fruit and puree the pulp with the sugar. I measured the puree in cups and it yielded 6. So I added 3 cups of sugar. Add half a cup more if you want it sweeter.

For tartness I put a quarter of a cup of calamundin orange juice. A calamundin orange has a combined taste of lemon and orange. I found them at a farmer's market but you can use lemon if you wish.

I used a cast iron pot to stir puree on medium heat for almost 30 minutes. The membrillo gets its natural color when heated and the sugars start to caramelize. Spoon a little of the paste into a plate to test if it coagulates instantly. Then it is ready to put into molds. I saved the skin and core of the quince to make jelly but that would be for another recipe.

Cinderella Was A Vegan

This is how the story goes. The prince found the slipper, drank from it and ate it too. And so they lived healthily ever after. No, I found an oddly shaped carrot at the Farmer's Market and I thought of carving this for you.

Vegetarian Turkey

I carved this bird but it won't be served on your dinner plate. It will take center stage to grace the buffet table this holiday.

kitchen Artifact

I got this idea from a Trompe L'oeil artist and I immediately went to the loft and painted this. This was my first time to use a chopping board as my canvas and a spoon posing for me. I liked it a lot and hanged it in the kitchen as soon as the painting dried up. I just hope nobody tries to pick up the spoon to use it.

The Reluctant Grouper

There were so many abandoned pumpkins of the gourd family last month after unspeakable monstrosities done to them. So I decided to adopt one and give it a new leach on life as a fish. Alas, it did after all meet an untimely demise being out of water. I thought I'd show it to you in a preserved state.

Honey Dew Pod

My friends were just enthralled when I served this sugarless dessert. Each one had a pod of honey dew on their plate. The peas were about an inch in diameter and the shell nine. I used a green daikon to carve the casing.