Chaffin Family Orchards

On the recommendation of AnnMarie of the Cheeseslave blog, I ordered a box of these mandarins last year as a gift for my parents in Upstate NY. They said these were the best mandarins they'd ever had. The 15 pound box was more than the two of them can consume, so they enjoyed sharing the bounty with friends and neighbors, saying they were "spreading around a little CA sunshine cheer". Perfect timing, being holiday time.

So this year I ordered another box for them and this time, a box for my family, too, even though we live in So Cal and have plenty of CA sunshine.

Oh yum! The mandarins arrived in perfect condition in a USPS Priority Mail flat rate box that had protected the oranges well, judging by a few dents at the box corners. A big bowl of oranges is a lovely bright centerpiece on my table, with few small bay branches tucked in for green contrast.

These mandarins are noticeably fresher than the boxes of shellacked mandarins I've bought in the grocery store (store-bought mandarins tend to contain some bruised and molding oranges, not to mentions sometimes a high percentage of dry oranges, but not these). We are nearly through the box of mandarins already, and every one of them has been excellent. We eat them out of hand, tossed in salads, and mixed into smoothies, yogurt, or cottage cheese. My son takes two in his lunch bag to eat at school.

We shared some of our mandarins with my husband's coworkers, and my 12 yo's soccer team practically inhaled the peeled orange halves we provided during the game's half-time snack last weekend.

Looks like we'll be making a box of Chaffin Family Orchard mandarins an annual treat.