Candied Orange Peels – Grandma Style!

Could Candied Orange Peels be my birthright?

A sweet journey through grandma’s kitchen

If you grew up with the joy of visiting your grandmother, you likely know the golden rule: at Grandma’s house, you get to eat all the forbidden snacks. My grandmother was no exception. Sure, she would pretend to honor my mother’s strict nutrition guidelines, but we both knew the truth—anything went when Mom wasn’t looking.

“Ice cream has milk and eggs,” she’d reason. “Aren’t you allowed to eat those?”

Of course, not everything in her kitchen was a treasure trove of delights. Some items were… questionable. Her ketchup, for instance, bore no resemblance to the familiar brand at home. And her pantry housed gelatin ominously labeled plain. Plain! What fresh culinary hell was this? Don’t even get me started on her scrambled eggs—they were so bad they made me question whether she had a secret vendetta against breakfast.

But then, there were the wonders. Wonder Bread, for instance. Enough said.

The first thing I’d do upon arrival was take stock of two staples: the butter cookies she stored in the freezer (because, as it turns out, frozen cookies are divine) and the See’s chocolates in her living room cabinet. Grandma loved the dark chocolates, but knowing my young taste buds preferred milk chocolate, she always bought the mixed box.

One day, tragedy struck—no milk chocolates were left. My nine-year-old self faced a choice: try a dark chocolate or live in despair. Bravely, I took a bite. And you know what? I liked it! Who knew? It was a pivotal moment, a small yet significant lesson in expanding my horizons.

The Bitter Truth About Candy

Grandma wasn’t done pushing my culinary boundaries. One summer day, my friend Mark and I burst into her house, sweaty from play, and begged for candy. I was eager to show off the sweet perks of Grandma’s house—chocolates on demand!

But to my horror, she was out of chocolates. Instead, she offered us her homemade candied grapefruit peel.

Now, I’d seen her make this so-called “candy” before. She’d boil piles of discarded grapefruit peels, turning what looked like garbage into jars of bittersweet treats she’d gift to her lady friends. It seemed… eccentric, to say the least. But now, she was presenting this as a stand-in for actual candy? The betrayal.

Out of politeness (and maybe some peer pressure from Mark), I took a bite. Sweet, bitter, citrusy—it was… okay. But still. It was peel. PEEL. In my nine-year-old mind, this wasn’t candy; it was trash masquerading as a treat.

A Grown-Up Perspective on Candied Orange Peels

Tastes change and one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Fast forward a few decades, and I found myself staring at a pile of blood orange peels after juicing them for sorbet. Those peels, sitting on my counter, sparked a memory of Grandma and her grapefruit rind experiments. Maybe it was nostalgia, or maybe I was channeling her resourcefulness, but I decided to give it a try.

After blanching the peels three times to mellow out the bitterness (Grandma probably stopped at one or two, ever the daredevil), I coated them in sugar. The result? Smooth, sweet, and citrusy—a far cry from the jelly candies I used to scoff at.

Turns out, Grandma was onto something. Just like she was right about coffee ice cream, she was right about this, too. Tastes change, and what once seemed like garbage can turn into treasure—if you’re willing to take the leap.

Recipe: Candied Orange Peels

If you’re feeling adventurous, try making candied orange peels yourself. Who knows? You might just discover, like I did, that some of Grandma’s quirks were pure genius.