3rd Annual Fiskateers ORANGE Blog Hop

Welcome to the 3rd annual Fiskateers ORANGE Blog Hop!  This weekend we are celebrating Fiskars' signature color, ORANGE.  Almost everyone is familiar with Fiskars' famous orange-handled scissors, but Fiskars makes so many other wonderful products for crafting, sewing, gardening, and more.  Each stop along our Hop will feature different Fiskars' products with a big helping of ORANGE.

Cindy #4113   www.cindyderosier.com   *YOU ARE HERE*

Groovy Deb #2644   www.ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com

Jennifer Ashley #6361   www.asecretvintage.blogspot.com

Debby #2852   www.debbysdares.blogspot.com

Sue in CT #6150   www.sueinct.blogspot.com

Jean #8889   www.ez3dpopups.blogspot.com

Emily K #7021   http://emily.kincke.com

Divinity #6688   www.scrap-n-patch.blogspot.com

Kellystar #6446   www.kellystarsallthingscrafty.blogspot.com

Maya #351   www.mayadahan.blogspot.com

Michelle #7586   www.scrapbookingsos.blogspot.com

Donna #6036   www.scissorsstampsandscrapbooks.blogspot.com

Pamela #8040   www.cottagebelow.com

Shannon #6394   www.scraplady324.blogspot.com

BerylM #6388   www.berylmorgan.com

Marianne #6701   www.number1aunt.blogspot.com

Judy #5798   www.bepresentbereal.blogspot.com

When I thought about what to make for an ORANGE Blog Hop, my thoughts immediately went to, well, oranges!  

We have a very prolific orange tree in our backyard.  At any given time, there are ripe oranges hanging there ready to be eaten.  Consequently, I've tried a lot of recipes over the years using our beautiful oranges, including orange sorbet, orange sherbet, and cupcakes baked in an orange.

By far, the strangest recipe I've tried was for an orange bread made with a whole orange... including the peel.  It actually turned out to be really tasty!  It was so good that I decided to see if there were other recipes out there using a whole orange, including the peel.  After a quick search, I found several different cookie recipes.  I read through them, made some notes, and set out to make my own version.    

I grabbed an orange from the tree.  One quirk about our tree... the oranges range in size from small to gigantic for no apparent reason.  This orange was huge!  I couldn't fit my hands around it.  Check it out next to the baking powder container.

 

I cut the orange into chunks and put those in the blender.  

 

After a quick whirr, I had this: 

 

I measured out 1 1/2 cups of the blended liquid to use in my cookies and set the rest aside to make a glaze.  

Orange Cookies

                    1 whole orange, including peel             3 c. flour

                    1 c. shortening                                     1 tsp. baking soda

                    1 1/2 c. sugar                                      1 T. baking powder

                    1/2 c. milk                                          1/2 t. salt

                    2 tsp. vanilla extract                            1/2 c. powdered sugar

Begin by washing the orange.  Cut it into chunks, removing any seeds.  Do not remove the peel!  Put the orange chunks into a blender and process until smooth.  Measure out 1 1/2 c. orange puree and set aside. 

Combine shortening and sugar.  Mix until light.  Stir in milk, vanilla and orange puree.  Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Let dough sit while the oven preheats to 400° F.  Drop onto cookie sheets and bake for 7-8 minutes.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Mix powdered sugar with a small amount of reserved orange puree to make a glaze.  Drizzle over the cookies.

 

I put some of the cookies on a plate to take to a potluck.  I set the rest aside and headed to the craftroom.  I got out 1/4 inch ribbon, some Fiskars stamps, a stamp block and black ink.  

 

I stamped the word friend across the length of the ribbon.

 

I tied the ribbon around the bag.  Then I made a quick tag with a Fiskars' thank you stamp, then added an orange flower and brad.  All ready to give to a special friend!

I hope this got you in an ORANGE mood!  Now hop along to the next stop, If It's Groovy!