What everything is, right?

I did a 2 part marathon of baking and hors d’oeuvres in anticipation of the holiday feast. Sunday was baking day and produced orange blossom madeleines (top right and left), gingerbread (not shown), candied Meyer lemons (top center) that are good with so many things like gingerbread, goat cheese, fish, chicken and more. I also made some fruit and nut filled chocolates (middle right), and tried out this recipe for persimmon bread that features persimmon pulp, nuts and dried fruits. 

Here’s how you “candy” the lemons.

   
 
Rinse lemons and cut the ends off..slice in 1/4 inch slices   

Place slices in heavy pot with simple syrup made from equal parts sugar and water boiled together. I used two cups of each. 

 
 Boil the slices in the syrup for 20 minutes and then move to a rack to dry
 Then I tackled the persimmon bread, I thought it would be something different with a seasonal ingredient.

   
    
 I just love the color of persimmons and the batter comes out to a light peach color also. There are dried fruits galore in this recipe and I replace the walnuts with pistachios.

Come back on Friday to see the rest of the feast!