Growing up, my mother would get boxes of mandarin oranges at Christmas time. How well I remember eating orange after orange while watching Christmas movies and reading books (my favorite hobby). It was a very special treat and probably gave me a lot of vitamin C during cold and flu season!
Oranges are one of those foods that speak Christmas to me. As does desserts like orange curd…more on that in a second.
One of Real Food Media’s sponsors, Chaffin Family Orchards offered to send me a box of their mandarins and I said “Yes, please!” All those memories rushed back as I sampled these delicious sweet and tart oranges. And these are way better than my childhood ones because they are cultivated to organic standards (though not certified), the peels haven’t been treated in the least, and they came from old trees which means flavorful and sweet oranges.
After enjoying these for a day or two and loving how good they were, I asked Chris of Chaffin Family Orchards if he would like to do a giveaway of these beautiful oranges. I was thrilled that he agreed. One lucky reader will get a beautiful large box of mandarin oranges, worth 40 dollars retail. For the rest of you, I would definitely consider buying a box this Christmas season (shipping is free). They ship until December the 14th.
To Enter the contest, keep reading. But first let me give you a lovely recipe for mandarins, orange curd. It’s sweet and creamy and really quite simple to make. The mandarins were a great choice for the curd since they are really flavorful with just a slight tartness to it. I filled little tart shells with the curd and topped with fresh mandarin oranges (delicious!). You can also use it as a cake filling, top fresh fruit with it, serve it on top of chocolate pudding (doesn’t that sound divine?), or just eat it off the spoon (seriously good).
Sweet Orange Curd
This is a more frugal version of curd, because, like the Joy of Cooking’s version, I use whole eggs instead of just the egg yolks. However, you could substitute 6 egg yolks for the whole eggs for a super rich curd.3 large eggs
1/4 cup of honey
Grated zest of one orange (1 1/2 tablespoons)
1/2 cup of fresh orange juice juice
6 tablespoons virgin coconut oil, ghee, or butter.1-In a medium stainless steel or enamel saucepan, whisk together the first three ingredients until light colored.
2-Add the the coconut oil, ghee or butter, breaking it into small clumps as you drop it into the pot for even melting. Then add the orange juice.
3-Cook, whisking, over medium heat until the coconut oil is melted. Continue to cook until the mixture thickens and you start to see a few bubbles popping at the surface, and remove immediately from the heat, still whisking to prevent the eggs from getting overcooked.
4-Scrape into a fine sieve set over a bowl. Strain the curd by gently stirring through the sieve.
5-Refrigerate for several hours to thicken. Will keep about one week in the refrigerator.
Contest Rules
This contest will end on December the first at 11:59 PM PST. The winner will be chosen via random.org, and will be announced on December the 2nd. You must live within the United States to enter this contest.
Like all of the giveaways done with my sponsors I will be receiving a small compensation for hosting this giveaway.
Thanks so much Chaffin Family Orchards for a great Holiday Giveaway!
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I would love to see the pomegranates offered online. We wait all year for them to come into season–what a treat.
I also would love it if you would post the recipe for the little tart shells you served with your orange curd. Thanks for sharing such pretty ideas!
I’d love the jams! thanks for the giveaway!
Mmm… Oranges for me, please! I love fresh oranges in the winter.
I’d love the Ruby Red Grapefruit and the cherries! Thank you for this opportunity!
Hannah S.
One Southern Girl
I’d like to try the olive oil, peaches, apricots and pomegranates, Mmmmmm, yummy!
Goat meat! Bring it on…. I totally wish it was easier to source.
Yummy. Love all their products.
Everything looks good, but the mandarins are my favorite.
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