happy valentine’s day — bittersweet! ::::
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, that gussied up romantic holiday celebrating the loves in our lives. Love is like a grapefruit, bitterness tempered with sweet. There are sticky days when our proverbial hands never seem clean and dry. There are times when we savor the desire, a sweetness intertwined with a papery disappointment on our tongues. Sometimes we need a little sugary crunch to get us through. The tunnel vision of reds and pinks for this holiday make us forget that reality. The satisfying long-term, that cozy padding fortifying our souls, that is real. And it’s here.
These candied grapefruit peels are one embodiment of love, a picture of bitter and sweet, sticky and crusty, a beautiful vision in light, a bit of tart in your teacup.
Celebrate your loved ones. Be real, the real you seeing the real them.
Meditation on a Grapefruit – By Craig Arnold
Source: Poetry (October 2009) – found online
One year ago: date-apricot balls with coconut and cacao nibs and taiwanese stewed sesame ginger chicken
Two years ago: happy valentine’s day 2013
Three years ago: madeleines
Four years ago: golden beet latkes with smoked paprika sour cream
From the prolific Bon Appetit
- 2 large organic grapefruits
- 1 cup of sugar, plus more for dredging and storing
- water
- Cut peel from grapefruits into about 1 cm strips leaving a bit of the white pith attached (scrape some of it off, but don't worry about being really clean about it).
- Place in a small saucepan; add cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, then drain. Do this two more times. (It helps decrease the bitterness of the final candy.)
- Bring peel, 1 cup sugar, and ½ cup water to a boil in same saucepan.
- Reduce heat and simmer until peel is translucent, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Drain and transfer peel to a wire rack and allow to dry, 2 to 4 hours. Toss in more sugar and store in airtight container for weeks in a blanket of sugar. The sugar may moisten over time; no worries, just use it for sweetening tea or coffee after the candied peels are gone.
- I like eating these as an adjunct with something sweet or tannic. A peel is nice in a cup of tea, or a nice gift if dipped in tempered chocolate.
