We are really loving the decorating with dried fruit trend this holiday season. It has such an organic and earthy feel: giving color, texture and warmth to tablescapes, wreaths, garlands and more. You can use the fruit whole or sliced, as place cards, napkin rings or in centerpieces. They look beautiful and homey with other natural elements such as jute twine, rattan and wood accents.

Before we jump into the tutorial on how to get this beautiful look at home, for a fraction of the cost of buying it from Williams Sonoma or Anthropologie, lets look at some traditions behind citrus and the holiday season.

The Traditions and Symbolism of Citrus Fruits for the Holidays.

Around the world, traditions involving oranges and other citrus fruit have existed for centuries and even have symbolic meaning in some cultures.

Mandarin oranges, and tangerines are traditional Chinese New Year gifts and symbolize abundance, prosperity and good fortune.

In Eastern European celebrations boxes of oranges are special treats and also used as decorations.

The tradition of putting oranges in Christmas stockings became popular in England during the 19th century when oranges were rare to the country and considered exotic. The tradition may stem from the third century legend of St. Nicholas, who was said to be the son of a wealthy merchant who lived near a man with three daughters. The story goes that the daughters could not marry because their father couldn’t afford a dowry for them. St. Nicholas tossed three gold coins down their chimney and they landed in the girls stockings that were hanging by the fire to dry. The oranges came to represent the gold coins and are symbolic of generosity, giving, and prosperity.

In the United States giving oranges for Christmas became a popular tradition during the The Great Depression of the 1930’s. During this time many families couldn’t afford to purchase Christmas gifts, so for a child to wake up Christmas morning to find an orange in their stocking was quite a treat! Especially for those who lived in the colder regions of the country where the fruit was not readily available.

Let’s get Started!

The first thing you will need to do is gather your supplies. you will need:

Cutting board
Sharp knife
Paper towels
Baking sheet
Parchment paper
Fruit - I like to use oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, tangerines, and pomegranates (using different varieties of the same fruit will give you different colors. For example blood oranges will be a darker orange than a navel orange. Pink grapefruit gives a pretty bright pink color.)
If you own a food dehydrator you will not need the baking sheet or parchment paper)

For the oven drying method you will need to preheat your oven to 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

Next you will slice the fruit, with the navel being on each end, into 1/4 inch slices.

Once you have your fruit sliced you will need to gently dry each slice with a paper towel. Place the slice between the towel and gently press to absorb excess juices. This will help it to dry faster.

Next place the slices on your baking sheet that you lined with parchment paper.

Place your baking sheet with your fruit slices into the preheated oven. Bake for approximately 2-4 hours or until the fruit is completely dry. Turn the pieces over each hour. Baking time will vary depending on your climate, the juiciness of the fruit and the thickness of the slices. I recommend checking it every half hour. You want them to dry but not burn.

* some color change is normal in the drying process.

Food Dehydrator Method:

Place your fruit slices on the dehydrator racks and set your dehydrator on the fruit setting. On my machine it is 130 degrees. If you have the stacking tray style machine, as pictured, it is helpful to rotate the position of the trays every couple of hours. It can take 12-24 hours for the fruit to completely dehydrate. It’s ok to turn the machine off if you need to go out or go to bed for the night and restart it when you are available again.