Oranges! So many oranges! 400 ORANGES!!!

I have, somehow, managed to acquire a huge box of oranges, the kind sold by high school fundraisers. There are So. Many. Of them. In 10 days, I'll be going home for about 3 weeks. It is my goal to make as big a dent in this stockpile of citrus before then. One orange has about 65 calories, some fiber, and all your vitamin C. I don't think it would be possible to eat too many oranges. I guess I'll find out.

First up, my new favorite drink- the Bronx Cocktail
1 1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz both dry and sweet vermouth
1 1/2 oz fresh orange juice
dash orange bitters

Next, some kind of salad. I really love cutting oranges or grapefruit into sections (or "supremes") and I'm going to get a lot of practice. I want to make a salad of orange supremes, mache, sliced radicchio and toasted pecans. I'll make up a dressing of orange juice, sherry vinegar and olive oil.

I've also found an interesting salad on Fine Cooking- thinly sliced red onion, fennel bulb, and orange segments are tossed with olive oil, lemon juice and mint. Or, stacking in pretty little layers could make for a glamorous presentation. Stay tuned.

Next I'll try this recipe where you throw whole slices of oranges, pith and peel and all, into a pot with chicken thighs and broth, where they cook down and thicken the broth.

This weekend, I'm going to make some version of duck a l'orange. I'm pretty excited about it. It's such a classic, and I don't think anything can go wrong with duck.

Another wonderful thing to do with fresh oranges is Orange Chicken, the fried food-court staple with the syrupy coating. When this has just been made, and the coating is still crisp and hot and the sauce has that fresh-squeezed goodness, it's pretty mindblowing.

I just can't think of any desserts....