Recipe of the Day: Cider Beetles

They are very cute and great as a gift. Tie with a festive ribbon and attached to a bottle of apple juice along with the directions. These can be made inexpensively if you purchase your spices in bulk by weight.
Ingredients
6 oranges
2 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
12 (1 1/2 inch) cinnamon sticks
12 small whole nutmegs
24 large whole allspice
96 whole cloves
Instructions
Adult Portion: Slices oranges in half and scoop out pulp without breaking the orange rind. Reserve pulp for another use or discard. Place orange halves cut side up (like a bowl) on a wire rack on a baking sheet. Bake at 250F for 2 hours until dry and hard.
Let Cool.
Pack brown sugar firmly into each orange half, mounding slightly. Arrange spices in the brown sugar to resemble beetles: use a cinnamon stick as the body, a nutmeg as the head, 2 allspice for the eyes (on each side of the head), and 6-8 cloves for the legs/feet. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator (I keep mine sealed in plastic and in the cupboard).
Directions for use: Unwrap the beetle and drop into 1 1/2 quarts apple juice or cider. Simmer 30 minutes. Strain whole spices and orange rind from cider to serve. May add 1/2 cup of Brandy, and heat well. Store leftover cider in the refrigerator.