in season: orange you glad I didn't say banana?

Do you remember in Little Women how they cherished having an orange as a present on Christmas morning?  Okay, maybe all of you don’t remember that.  But back in the day oranges used to be treasured and valued as gifts.  These days we tend to take our fruit for granted, being able to get it so easily year round.  But there’s always one thing that marks the arrival of the holiday season above all else, and that’s the appearance of mandarin oranges at the grocery store.

To be completely honest, they’re the only oranges that I’ll voluntarily eat.  Regular ones are just such a pain to peel.  But mandarin oranges are just ready to burst out of their skin with sweetness and give you a holiday pucker.  

Like other citrus fruits the mandarin is rich in Vitamin C.  Of all the vitamins, C tends to be the rockstar of the group.  That could be because it tends to get the most play in the fruit & vegetable world.  And thankfully so or else our sailors would still be dying of scurvy.  Vitamin C protects against cataracts, fights infection, aids in iron absorption, keeps your arteries young, prevents osteoporosis & strengthens the immune system.  And as if that weren’t enough, vitamin C helps to burn fat more effectively! 

So run, don’t walk, to the store to get yourself a box of mandarins.  I prefer the Japanese ones personally, or the really cute mini Honey mandarins if you can find them.  Either way, give yourself the gift of vitamins and treat yourself to an orange this season.