Candied Orange Peels ....... Childhood Memories of a hairy tale !!

When it comes to experimenting with my hair I am a little conservative. So as I walked down the aisle of one of departmental stores displaying an array of brands and variety ..... I knew what exactly I had to choose.

Those days were different when my grandmother had all the patience in the world to warm oil and add some herbs to it and rub it in my hair and give it a hundred strokes. But at that age I really didn't appreciate all that hard work of hers. I wanted to look like one of those girls in the television ads or glossy magazine cover who flaunted silky shiny neatly braided hair ..... not oily sticky hair !! She would soak "Reetha and Amla" overnight and apply it to my hair until one day when it ran into my eyes and created havoc !!

And that saw the end of using home made hair wash. The next era belonged to my mother. Yah she was a crowning glory in the true sense, jet black hair braided neatly ..... It won't be wrong if I call her the "Desi Rapunzel. It's true that my dad had a thing for her long beautiful hair ....Being a working woman she neither had the time nor the inclination for following my grandmother's path. She rather choose the convenient path of walking across the street to the opposite grocery store and buying a bottle of shampoo.That's how I graduated from the home made "Reetha Solution" to a "shampoo".

But getting my hands on the bottle of shampoo was not any easy. The bottle would remain in her custody. Those were the days !! Sundays was the ritual "hair-wash" day, when she would squeeze a little amount of it on my tiny palms. Occasionally I would get into a squabble with her demanding more shampoo .... I would grumble and tell her ' When I grow big and start earning, I will buy my own shampoo and will wash my hair as much as I want'. I would love the froth running down my hair and the lingering smell of it. Many a times I would stand in front of the mirror gazing at my hair, parting it and styling it in different ways. I would rub the ends of my braided hair on my cheeks .... yes I was obsessed if you may say so.

But this time I instead of picking one bottle of my favorite brand "Dove" I picked three , each for the three generations of beautiful hair. I thought it was time to shower some love for my mom and grand mom who have changed with the times but have become victims of split ends, hair breakage and hair fall. Sometimes it doesn't need much to show how much you love !!

This post is especially for Dove’s “Beautiful Ends to your Beautiful Braids!”contest on Indiblogger. 

And Childhood tales are incomplete without those orange candies. So here is a simple recipe of homemade orange candy peels ........

Ingredients
Orange Peels /Naval Oranges - 4
Cane Sugar - 2 cups
Water - 1 Cup

Method of Preparation

1. Take the peel of four naval oranges and cut them into thin strips. Remove the white skin carefully.
2. In a saucepan add some water and get it to a boil. Now reduce the heat and add the orange peels to it and blanch till they turn translucent. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat and put it into an ice bath. Drain the peels and keep it on a kitchen towel.
3. In another vessel stir 1.5 cups of water and sugar and heat. Add the orange peels and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes.
4. Remove and drain excess water. Roll the peels on the remaining sugar. Leave it to dry for about half a day. When dry, store in airtight container.