crantastic!

I love cranberries. I fear they are unreasonably maligned by the cranberry-haters of the world but since I have no evidence of actual cranberry maligning at hand, all I can say is they are delicious. Delicious, I tell you!

Here’s a cranberry recipe that I made to bring to dinner over at the lovely Powellhurst abode. I recommend trying it if you want something cranberrylicious, but are feeling slightly (only slightly) more ambitious than opening a can of cranberry jelly. It’s easy but seems fancy and tastes GREAT, which are all the hallmarks of a keeper recipe if you ask me. (it’s from Cooking Light 2006)

Cranberry, Cherry, and Walnut Chutney
Aside from making a stellar accompaniment to roast turkey, this chutney is great for gift giving: pack into a ribbon-tied jelly jar. It also goes well with roast chicken, pork tenderloin, or ham. [note from Jen: it also goes really well with just a SPOON.]

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup port or other sweet red wine
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
1 (12 oz) package fresh cranberries
2/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

combine first 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Add cherries, and cook 1 minute. Stir in cranberries; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until cranberries pop. Remove from heat. Stir in walnuts, grated rind, and extract. Garnish with orange rind strips, if desired. Cover and chill. Yield: 16 servings (serving size 1/4 cup)

DELICIOUS! I also made a pie crust today which I’ve never done before. It looked hideous but tasted good, so that’s okay. Pie crust is interesting -- so few ingredients, but so many ways to screw it up! I am intrigued and will probably pie-crust my way into a larger pants size as I continue to experiment.



It was cold and clear here today. This picture was from around 10AM -- the shadows seem all out of whack to me, but that’s probably just because when the days are short like this they are also usually overcast. What you can’t really see in this photo is that there was a full-on costumed soccer game (adults and kids) happening to the left which had not only Santa as a ref, but a guy in a grass skirt and a viking helmet. Everyone seemed to be having a good time which certainly radiated outward to other people in the park who were not playing soccer dressed as a taco. (I think it was a taco -- some of these costumes were difficult to suss out.)

I am currently thankful for so many things it would take me hours to try and list them all and I need to go to bed, so for now I'll say I’m thankful that there’s so much to be thankful for! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday/Thursday.