♥ This is the time of year I start to crave some serious juicy vitamin C.

Whether its digging into a precious crate of organic, honey tangerines (a gift from a friend in Florida) or finding some delicious Sweet White or Ruby Red grapefruit from my favorite produce department,  I love to incorporate winter citrus into both my winter salad preparation as well as into many of my main course dishes.  I definitely try to use all the different parts of my citrus fruit, so buying organic citrus is especially important if you are zesting your peel or cooking with the citrus peel. Even if you are just eating the inside parts of the fruit, if you do not know the growers farming practices, it is safer to buy certified organic citrus for your family.

Today I remembered that my first taste of freshly squeezed, Florida citrus came as a child while traveling to Sanibel Island in Florida each year with my family. Road trips for  our large family were not easy, but my “can do” hippie lawyer Father and my super creative and patient hip Momma cleverly retro-fitted an old hearse (with shag carpeting, bright daisy throw pillows and daisy curtains to match) into the perfect family vehicle quite able to transport 9 people, a little schnauzer, and a 1960′s trailer home to Florida.

To announce our entry into Florida, Dad would open the glass window between the front seat and back and bellow like Oliver Hardy “who wants fresh juice?” followed by his not so smooth transition of the hearse and trailer from the highway to the turn lane and into the parking lot of the famous “welcome to Florida” tourist station.  The tin roofed building had a sign with a gigantic navel orange bobbing up and down on it boasting free, all you can drink, freshly-squeezed Florida orange juice.  Momma would pull out the ritz crackers and peanut butter, and we would all sit at the sunwashed picnic tables with stripey umbrellas luxuriating in our first lunch in Florida and taking our fill of free juice without getting scolded.

The island was always a fantastic adventure of shelling the, then plentiful, Sanibel beaches in the early mornings before sun-up with Dad.  Days on the long, beautiful, white, sandy beaches with Momma and my brothers and sisters were wonderful.  We had picnics of crackers with crabmeat salad and then always a dessert the sweetest, white grapefruits purchased at a citrus stand on old Periwinkle Road. In the recipe below, I make good use of the rest of my Christmas tangerines, but as the citrus season progresses, I will add recipes using as many citrus fruits as I can! Enjoy!