This Is Just to Say…

(With apologies to William Carlos Williams)

I have candied
the tangerines
that were in
the pantry

and which
you were probably
saving
for later

Forgive me
they were not keeping
and later
never comes

—

Come January, I am inevitably left with a few (usually perishable) refugees of December’s mad rush.  And one of these seems almost always to be a box of little citrus.  Often it’s clementines, but this year it was tangerines.  Either way, I seem utterly unable to resist their tiny, bright-orange-citrusy cuteness.

This is the first time I’ve tried candying them; it definitely won’t be the last.

I’ve covered the process and recipe pretty thoroughly here—just substitute five tangerines for the two grapefruit or three oranges.  Simmer and drain three times, as you would for oranges, and handle the skins with care—they are somewhat more delicate than their larger cousins.