SC - candied peel question

[Gerekr at aol.com]

I've had an enthusiasm to try candying (orange) peel for a while (have 
collected several versions of the process from list and net sites, thank 
you kindly), but I don't (!) eat oranges, let alone large volumes of 
them.  So, any ideas on a practical way to accumulate peel, short of 
buying a box and keeping only the peel?  THAT $ound$ not too great a 
$trategy.

However, at Christmas, I LOVE fresh mandarins, and have gone through two 
5# boxes this year, throwing the peels into a freezer zip-bag.  They seem 
to freeze very quickly, probably because they're so thin?, no drying or 
discoloration, so I think I may be on to something.

Anyone know how well this "accumulate in the freezer" actually pays off?  
Tricks for optimum de-frost??  Do you defrost them at all or just dump 
them in the syrup still frozen?  

Since mandarin skins are so much thinner than orange peel, any tricks 
there?   How do you get the white pith off something as thin as mandarin 
peel -- VERY carefully, or is there something easier?  i.e. can you 
scrape pith with a spoon edge while peels are still frozen?   etc., etc.  

Hmm, I seem to be coming up with some possible solutions, don't I.  But 
would anyone out there know whether they work??

Thanks in advance,
Chimene