I remember reading that you shouldn't put citrus peels in the compost pile. The oil preserves them and it takes years for them to decompose.

Ron

If you're going to bake something, the zest is great for flavoring. Can use it in other things while cooking too. Rice, even meats, casseroles could all benefit from some of the flavor. The rest of the peel? Not sure. Any critters around the area that would eat them?

I sometime lay them out to dry and put in a baggie with cloves and cinnamon sticks.
I use mostly in the winter and will put a pot on the wood stove.
If not winter, then just put a small kettle on the stove.

That's what I'll do! Zest them and freeze the zest.
Geesh, completely forgot about doing that. Now what can I put them in so the little bag of zest doesn't get lost in the shuffle in the freezer...... lol

Ron, I've read that citrus takes a long time to break down because of the oils in it. Worms won't eat it.

But I keep all my scraps in the large plastic container that mesclun mix comes in. When it's full, I process it all into fine bits, mix it up and put into bags to freeze.

Every few days I take a few bags out of the freezer, thaw and drain well and feed to the guys. The food is gone in 2 or 3 days. Sometimes it smells nice and citrusy when I open the lid to see how the lads are doing :-)

You could always bake some nice orange cookies from the zest. Now what could you do with them? Hmmm. Perhaps mail them overnight to someone??? (Subtle enough fer ya??)

My father used to make candied orange peel. He said it was easy, and it was so, so yummy!

You can make Candied Orange Peel.

Google for recipes.

Sue

I just throw mine out. Sorry.

I throw mine in the compost pile.....they seem to decompose fast if in smaller pieces.
I use pieces of lemon peel to keep the neighbor cats from using my flower beds for a toilet.

To keep track of that bag of lemon zest in the freezer, just use freezer tape and tape it to the inside of the door.

I bake my orange peels slowly in the oven till they are dried but not burnt. Then put them in my coffee grinder to grind up. I use the ground orange peel in a raisin bread recipe I have. Whenever it calls for orange peel in a recipe its great to have some on hand. You can always make the candied orange peels, or even marmalade.

I remembered to save the zest yesterday which is a start!

Sorry, Cynic, were you hinting at something in your message?
I read it a couple of times....not sure what you were getting at. Subtle enough...hmmm. Maybe too subtle. Ahahahhhaaaaa!!

Make orange marmalade.

Orange Chicken....cooked with some green onions and broccoli and served with rice.

I put them down the garbage disposal - freshens and also cleans the blades of all the black mold that accumulates there.