Oven-Dried Orange Slices

Did you know winter is typically considered citrus season? Whether you're drying citrus at home for crafts or cocktails (or mocktails!), I highly recommend taking the time to preserve oranges, lemons and more. It's super simple — just make sure you're at home for a few hours because you'll have to leave 'em in the oven for a bit.



Supplies
- Citrus (I dried oranges, but you could use lemons, lime or even grapefruit)
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper or baking rack
- Sharp knife

Oven-Dried Citrus
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Slice your citrus into thin rounds, about a quarter inch wide. You can use any sort of sharp knife, but I used a serrated knife to ensure the citrus didn't squish as I was cutting it.
3. You can either line your baking sheet with parchment paper or place a baking rack on top of the sheet to make sure the citrus doesn't stick to the sheet.
4. Cook in the oven for about 3 hours, or until dry to the touch.

That's it! Easy as pie — err.. easy as an orange?

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SLT Bookclub: February

Here's a thing you might not know about me: I graduated from college with a B.A. in English and a B.S. in psychology. While I was a double major, I more often identified with the English degree — which is probably why I work as a writer now and not a psychologist. 😉



That being said, I chose my second book for the year both in awe and curiosity for how widespread Rupi Kaur's work has become. To my knowledge, Kaur is the only modern day poet (maybe the only poet ever) to sell out arenas, and she currently has 2.2 million followers on Instagram. Her work focuses on themes of love, relationships and feminism, but she also dives deeper to talk about abuse and racism. The New York Times has named Kaur and her peers the most popular poets in the world, but her work has been met with criticism, too.

Nayyirah Waheed, another Insta-poet, accused Kaur of producing work that was a little too similar to Waheed's salt, published in 2013, after Kaur named Waheed one of her inspirations. Kaur's work has been tweeted, pinned and turned into memes on Twitter. All of that being said, Kaur has made a name for herself in the lit world (and the real world) that's surpassed Instagram fame... so now I'm checking out the hype.

You can see my selection from last month's book club here. Have you read the sun and her flowers or Kaur's first book of poems, milk and honey? Let me know what you think!

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6 More Weeks of Winter

Let's get this straight. A fluffy animal "saw his shadow", as his caretaker translated, and now we all have to suffer through 6 MORE WEEKS OF WINTER?? Cool.



In case you haven't gathered, this post is about groundhog day. Because I think it's hilarious, and pretty ridiculous. So, the O.G. groundhog has a name — Punxsutawney Phil. You probably already know this, but if he sees his shadow it means six more weeks of winter, and if he doesn't it means we get an early spring. This unlikely tradition has been going for 132 years, by the devotion of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. They claim there has only been one groundhog this whole time who "drinks a punch" and has eternal life. The average lifespan for a groundhog is 6-8 years tho, so... you do the math.

Drama ensues when a competing groundhog starts making his own predictions. Yep, now there's Phil and Milltown Mel. Mel lives in New Jersey, and when the first Mel died in 2015 he was replaced with a new groundhog by the same name — I appreciate Milltown's transparency. Kinda reminds me of my childhood goldfish: Pocahontas, John Smith, Pocahontas 2 and John Smith 2.

This year, Mel predicted an early spring, but Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. Honestly, Mel sounds like a cooler guy. New on the scene, he's only had this groundhog job for 10 years. I wonder if Phil is feeling threatened? I mean, he's the Al Roker of groundhogs now, but that could all change if he keeps predicting long winters. On that note, USA Today reported that Punxsutawney Phil has called for more winter more than 100 years out of the 132 this thing has been going. So.. I think I'm going to cast my vote for Milltown Mel and get a spray tan. P.S. Here's a video of a groundhog biting a mayor in Wisconsin (I guess they have one too)?



OK, onto normal blogger things: I'm obsessed with this coat... and I guess I'll still be wearing it for a few weeks. This is the first year I've bought a down jacket, and I'm not sure why I waited so long! I wore it throughout our whole honeymoon in Iceland (brrr ❄️), and it's super nice that it's lightweight and warm. And fits in a cute little bag. So I highly recommend those squishy down coats — tested and approved.

Outfit details: Hat (from The Market last year, here's a similar one), Coat, Pants are ancient from J.Crew, Shoes

That's all. What do you think about groundhog day? Hopefully Phil's wrong and we get an early spring!

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