Oranges in Blossom Syrup

I have a presentation in French class tomorrow morning. My group is doing a 35 minute presentation about Morocco in French. Since I'll be talking about music, fashion and food, I offered to do a Moroccan recipe. Another girl in my group will be making an orangey cake, so I opted to make these oranges in blossom syrup to add to our sweet Moroccan breakfast.
I got the recipe from this gorgeous book that I bought a while back. It's called "Made in Morocco" by Julie Le Clerc, who I have since realized is a prolific food writer. The book not only has great recipes, but facts about different towns and regions and the foods and spices that each region is famous for. I increased the recipe slightly for my presentation and for future use since I have a large family!
I got the cute spoon in the picture a month ago at a cute shop in Berkeley, called Maison d'Etre.
Orange flower water often tastes very strong and perfume-y, but this delicate syrup only heightens the floral notes in the oranges.

Oranges in Blossom Syrup
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbs orange flower water
1 1/2 cups cold water
6 oranges, peeled and sliced

Place the sugar, honey, water, cinnamon and blossom water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Simmer gently until reduced by half.
Place the orange slices in a bowl and pour over the hot syrup. Set aside to cool and infuse the oranges with flavor.

Elderflower Italian Soda

There was a pro-choice rally at school today, which was pretty exciting! I held up a sign between classes. It was SO hot out. When I left school, I remembered that I had heard on the radio that Traverso's was going out of business. My grandma used to take me there when I was little. I remember that it was kind of dark, with lots of salamis hanging from the ceiling, big barrels of pickles and a meat counter. The family owned business has been in the county for 90 years! So, I decided to run by and see if they were still there so I could buy some elderflower syrup that I spied there a few months ago.
I fell in love with elderflower soda in England, where I tasted it at....a Starbucks actually. There, they served it in small bottles that in no way quenched your thirst for the addictive beverage. I tried it in cans as well, but the bottled beverage tasted better.
I told my mom when she visited that she had to have some because "It tastes like magic", which I think may have left her slightly concerned!
Anyway, I bought the syrup and some San Pellegrino at Traverso's which was happily still open. They had all kinds of cool imported things. I fell in love with a gorgeous ceramic jar of Italian wild cherries in syrup but was discouraged by the pricepoint. After buying my beverage fixings, I told the owner to keep the change and that my grandmother used to bring me there at which he handed me a tiny box of almond nougat candy along with his appreciation.
I couldn't stop grinning at this. There's something about being given a treat that is incomparable to any other feeling. It's not the same as when someone is handing out free candy and you think "ooh, this is my lucky day". When someone really wants to give me a delicious gift, it just makes me feel warm and fuzzy.
I got a little crazy with my camera, hope you enjoy the pictures. I sure had fun taking pictures of all the bubbles!

To make this drink, I poured a measure of syrup into the sparkling water, but it sank to the bottom, so if you try this yourself, be sure to stir it up before drinking!

I found a great recipe for elderflower syrup here.