Baked Citrus Holiday Ornaments

Like most people I know that decorate for the season, I leave my holiday decorations up through New Years, so I contend that it's not too late to post this:



My husband and I were on a pretty tight budget for gift-giving and decorating this year, so we ended up doing a lot of handmade/homemade stuff. I found this recipe for Homemade Citrus Ornaments on the Whole Foods Market website, and decided to try them out.

Without copying everything verbatim from the Whole Foods site, you cut your citrus fruit into thin slices and bake them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for 2-3 hours, turning them every half hour or so until they're dried out (but not burned).

I was pleased by how simple and uncomplicated they were (and how warm my kitchen was with the oven running for several hours). A little spare picture hanging wire and ribbon turned these fruit slices into festive ornaments and gifts for my family. And we ground up the ends and spare fruit bits in the garbage disposal to disperse their sweet smell throughout the kitchen.