Cranberries Roasting on an Open Fire

On this Thanksgiving Day in the United States, I think back to my childhood, and the battle of the cranberry sauce.

It's a nice thing to think about as we recover from about eight inches of snow.

In those days, there were two ways to make cranberry sauce.  In my growing up years (the 1950's and 60's) cranberry sauce came from a can.

When my Mom was alive, Thanksgiving featured jelled cranberry sauce, with no berries.  After my Mom died, my Dad started taking me to my Aunt Ethel's house for Thanksgiving dinner.  It was one of my favorite times of the years, as I loved my Aunt Ethel, my Uncle Lou (both passed years ago), my Uncle Lou's two bachelor brothers (one of whom is still alive and well in his 90's), and my two cousins, who became surrogate sisters to me, an only child.

Aunt Ethel roasted a turkey, with stuffing, made sweet potato cassarole topped with marshmallows, and served - whole berry cranberry sauce. 

Ugh!  (Sorry, Aunt Ethel - it wasn't you.  Believe me.)

And then, when I married, I found my husband's family served a cranberry orange dish. I didn't like it, either.  I missed my Mom's canned jellied sauce (well, I missed Ocean Spray canned jellied sauce, but never mind that.)  Since my mother in law sometimes reads my blog, I hope she'll forgive me for mentioning that, too.

But, as I grew older, my tastes changed, and I discovered something else.  Fresh cranberries.  And I actually started to prefer the whole berry sauce, with a touch of citrus.

Cranberry sauce, dear blog readers, is so easy to make if you like the whole berry kind.  It only takes minutes, a non-cook like me can whip it right up, and there are few reasons not to make your own.  Those of us on Weight Watchers have to take it easy with cranberry sauce - it is normally loaded with sugar, and I'd rather save the calories for something else - like stuffing.

This is how I made it for today.

1 bag (12 oz) fresh cranberries, rinsed. If any stems in bag, remove.
1 cup sugar (I used a stevia/sugar blend put out by Domino - all natural, and you only use 1/2 cup. But then again, I have to watch my weight.)
1 cup water
small amount freshly grated lime rind

Method
In saucepan, mix cranberries, water.

Bring to light boil, cover, stir occasionally, until most of the cranberries have popped

Add the sugar or sugar/stevia, mix, lightly boil some more until the other berries have mostly popped. Then, add the lime zest, and finish boiling.  Cool, refrigerate, and serve.

Then, sit back and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving parade in New York City as your turkey roasts.

I love the classic floats.  Like Harold the Firemen.

And Harold the Police Officer.  (These, incidentally, are not the originals from the 1940s!)

A Goldfish

And the Wimpy Kid.

There was even a Mt. Rushmore float.

Oh yes, about those roasting cranberries.  I have a blogging friend (I've never met her, but I know she is my blogging friend) out in Nebraska. And yesterday, she shared a couple of cranberry dishes with her readers.

Cranberry pie.

And - easy peasy cranberry sauce made in the oven!  Yes, you can roast your cranberries on an open fire! Next year I might just make a variation of her sauce (without orange juice, which I have issues with - I'll figure something else out, though. Just think, you don't have to stand there and stir.

Are you celebrating Thanksgiving today?  Or did you already, back in October, like our Canadian neighbors?  How do/did you celebrate?

Happy Thanksgiving to all my blog friends.  I am thankful you have stopped by today.  I have to try to catch up on NaNoWriMo (seriously behind), but I have not forgotten you, and I will catch up with comments in a few days.

Cranberry Apple Orange Sauce

Today, I am going to feature one of my infrequent efforts at cooking.  As my regular readers know, my spouse (who loves to cook) does 99% of the cooking at our house.

But, particularly at holiday time, I feel I have to share in some of the burden.

For Thanksgiving, that means I make the cranberry sauce and any desserts.

We are only going to be a group of four this Thanksgiving, so I decided to concentrate on a new cranberry sauce.  I love cranberry sauce, but it is not the most Weight Watchers friendly because you need so much sweetener.

I saw this recipe on a blog.  I made cranberry relish one year, and it tasted so bitter to me.  But the answer was obvious - don't use the orange rind (one of the author's suggestions for a variation).

But then, spouse told me "not sure I want to eat raw cranberries".

So we decided on a compromise.  Cook the cranberries until they pop, like I was making whole berry cranberry sauce.  Use chopped raw apples.  Use the canned oranges we had bought the day before.

Ingredients
7 ounces of frozen cranberries (because that's what we had left over from last year).
1/3 cup stevia/sugar blend
1/3 cup water
1/2 can mandarin oranges in light syrup (because we were shopping at Aldi, and they didn't have any other kind).  Coarsely chop the oranges.
1/2 Cortland apple and one Gala apple (that's what we had), no skins, cored, chopped coarsely by my spouse, who couldn't help helping.

Method
Combine water and stevia/sugar blend, bring to boil.
Add cranberries, bring back to boil, then lower heat.  Tasted, decided needed a bit more sweetness, added some of the light syrup from the oranges.
I cooked for about seven minutes, as most all the cranberries had popped by then.

I added the apples and let them sit in the hot cranberry sauce.  After it had mostly cooled, spouse added the chopped oranges.  Decided still not sweet enough, so added about a tablespoon of honey.

Success! (Hopefully).

The recipe is supposed to freeze, and I will freeze the leftovers, if they are any.

Do you make your own cranberry sauce?

Local Cranberry Sauce

Do you like cranberry sauce with your Thanksgiving turkey, or "just because"?

I love cranberry sauce.  And therein lies a story:

When I was a little girl, the only cranberry sauce I ever ate was the jelled kind you get in the can.  That's what my mother served.  Later, when I had Thanksgiving at an aunt's house, that's what she served. But as I grew older, my tastes changed.

I graduated, first, to whole berry sauce, and then to making my own.   It's so easy, even someone who hates to cook (me) can do it.

This year, though, added a new element to cranberry sauce. I live in the Southern Tier of New York.  One of our farm stands (now closed for the season) was selling "Local" cranberries. We questioned them further.  They weren't exactly local but they did come from New Jersey.  We bought a box, which contained nearly a pound.

One major brand, Ocean Spray (which is a grower's cooperative) gets berries from (according to Wikipedia):  Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, Florida, Canada, and Chile).

My spouse thought they looked a little different - more oval - than the cranberries you get in the supermarket bag.

I used a variation of a recipe I've used before.  I am using a "bag" as that is what most people purchase.  I weighed mine.

1 bag (12 oz) fresh cranberries, rinsed. If any stems in bag, remove.
1 cup sugar (I used a stevia/raw sugar baking blend called Whole Earth) you only use 1/2 cup. But then again, I have to watch my weight. Cranberries are quite tart and need a lot of sweetening.
1 cup water
small amount lime juice (normally use lime rind but we didn't have any).

Method
In saucepan, mix cranberries, water. (I accidentally put the sugar mixture in at the beginning, which is why the water looks brown.)

Bring to light boil, cover, stir occasionally, until most of the cranberries have popped

Add the sugar or sugar/stevia, mix, lightly boil some more until the other berries have mostly popped. Then, add the lime juice or zest, and finish boiling.  Cool, refrigerate, and serve.

If this doesn't interest you, you may want to try some Cranberry Apple Orange Sauce.

I liked these berries.  They seemed to cook down a little quicker and had a nice, bright taste.

Wishing my American readers an early Happy Thanksgiving next Thursday, when I will have my normal Thursday Tree Love post.  

Please follow the guidelines for a safe Thanksgiving.

Fall Fancies - Post 2200

Yes, this is the two thousand two hundredth post on my blog.  I am grateful for the opportunity to celebrate this milestone.  I could not have done it without my readers, so, if you are reading this, thank you!

Tomorrow, it is Thanksgiving in the United States.  One of our traditions is to eat a bird called the turkey.  The turkey I am about to describe may or may not be the bird my foreign readers call "turkey" but bear with me.

Meleagris gallopavo, or the domestic turkey, originated in North America and has been domesticated into a number of varieties. When I was growing up in the 1950's and 1960's, it was eaten primarily at Thanksgiving. 

But the wild turkeys, more and more, hang around suburban backyards.  My mother in law, when she lived in a New York City suburb, would commonly see them in her back yard.

Today, I feature pictures taken by my guest photographer while visiting a relative in Massachusetts.  In keeping with Thanksgiving, I am so grateful for this woman being in my life.  The amount of support and friendship she has given me is more than I have given her back, and she isn't a bad photographer, either.  No, wait.  She's good.  She's really good!

Her relative feeds these turkeys, and if they are not fed by noontime they will rap on her patio window.  The domestic versions are usually all white (although there are colored domestic versions).  Isn't that glossy bronze color majestic?

Years ago, when we lived in rural Arkansas, my spouse and I raised Bronze turkeys, which look very much like their wild cousins.  The taste - Turkey ++++.

Here, a turkey peers through the window of a storm door.  "Hey, dinnertime" the turkey says.

And finally, they are about to be fed.

Tomorrow, their domestic cousins will feed us.

And if turkey isn't enough, how about some cranberry sauce?  Here I feature my recipe for cranberry sauce - so easy to make.

Without it, turkey just isn't complete.

If you celebrate the American Thanksgiving Day, what are some of your favorite foods?

This is day 25 of NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month.

The Very Different Thanksgiving?

For the first time in my life, Thanksgiving is a holiday to dread.

In our country Thanksgiving takes place the fourth Thursday of November.  By then, where we live, the weather might well include sub freezing temperatures, frigid winds, and snow.

It wasn't like that in my teen years.  I got to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins in Brooklyn, almost a two hour ride consisting of a bus, a subway and then another bus (or a long walk) to get to their house.  My Aunt always cooked the same meal - turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce (from a can), sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping, and roasted chestnuts after.  My Uncle's two brothers would also come and always bring a box of chocolates.

My Dad would go home, as he always had to work the next day, and I would stay overnight with my two cousins in their small apartment.  The next morning, we would look for the box of chocolates (which were always sort of hidden) and dig in.

But in 2020....this may be Thanksgiving dinner for a lot of us.  Curbside pickup for...one.  Or two.

And people like me are the lucky ones because we can afford food.  There are millions who will be depending on food banks or community Thanksgiving dinners (reimagined due to COVID) for their Thanksgiving due to job loss and/or other factors.

How are Americans approaching Thanksgiving?

1.  Deciding to not have any family over - too risky.I'll call it a "small Thanksgiving". Celebrate with those who live with you only.   I'm in that camp.  We never had a large Thanksgiving and last year it was only my spouse, my grown son, and my spouse's developmentally disabled younger brother.  Fast forward to 2020 - my autistic brother in law survived COVID-19 after a three week hospitalization in April and more time in a skilled nursing facility formed by the agency that provides housing for him.  For various reasons, we decided we just couldn't do it safely.

My autistic brother in law wanted to be with us.  But, in another conversation, he said "I don't want to get sick again."

So it will be just my spouse and me this year.  Thankful that we have each other, my spouse will roast a turkey.  I've already made the cranberry sauce.  We'll make various phone calls and perhaps a FaceTime.

Complicating things are those families whose college attending children are returning home.  Please insist they get tested if their college isn't testing. They should quarantine when they get to your home if at all possible, say public health officials.   Follow the safety rules outlined by health officials.

2.  Trying to figure out some way to do it safely and still gather.  Traveling by car, if possible.  Quarantining when they arrive. Limiting number of family members (in states that will be allowing these gatherings by the time Thanksgiving comes).  Trying to use hand sanitizer, paper plates, spaced out tables one family a table, masks if not actually eating, eating outdoors if the weather allows (or if they have patio heaters.)  Some families are going to ask that everyone gets tested beforehand. 

3.  Denying that COVID exists.  Thanksgiving as usual.  Flying or driving to see family,  gather around the table, and what happens, happens because "it's a hoax" or "99.9% of people who get it survive".  Let's hope they are all still around at Christmas.  And let's hope they don't kill the absolutely exhausted health care workers who will be charged with taking care of them when they do get sick.

It's going to be a lonely Thanksgiving for a lot of people.  My cousins in the New York City area always used to eat out each year in the same restaurant.  This year they are going to visit by Zoom - "maybe". 

I think of my late mother in law's next door neighbor.  We've been friends for 50 years, so hard to believe.  She grew up a couple of miles, and over 20 years, from where I grew up.  She's 89 years old.

In her last text she said "I'm doing well but am so down.  Don't go anywhere...everyone is more or less in lockdown."

And after Thanksgiving, what happens in a week or two afterwards?  I think that's what we dread more than anything. I've already seen charts of what happened in Canada after their October Thanksgiving.

So...please.

Please do the right thing.

Stay safe. Have that different, small Thanksgiving.  Our country's health care workers will thank you.

Come to the Ithaca Apple Tree #ThursdayTreeLove

Today is Thanksgiving where I live, in the United States.

The turkey will be in the oven soon.  The cranberry sauce, the pumpkin pie and the apple crisp are done.  Soon, the air of my house will be fragrant with cooking scents.

It's all because of trees.  I am so grateful today for the trees that provide food, shelter, firewood and more for us humans.

Our fall season has mostly ended, and there's no snow on the ground right now, so I thought I would give my readers a different treat.

An apple tree.

This one is located in Ithaca, New York, about an hour from where I live in upstate New York in the Northeastern United States.  I took this picture in October.  Our area is an apple growing area, and we are fortunate enough to have many varieties to choose from.  I don't know which variety this one is, except it obviously ripens in October.

Here's a closeup of the apples.

It may surprise you to learn that apples come in various colors - besides the common (in this country) red ones, there are green ones (green when ripe, I mean) and even ones with brown skin (called russets).

I am grateful for the bounty of the season, and I am grateful for Parul and her #ThursdayTreeLove, and all of my blogging friends from all over the world who participate in the various blog hopes I participate in - Music Moves Me, Skywatch Friday, and several Wordless Wednesdays.

I am also grateful for those in several Facebook groups I belong to for music, nostalgia, crochet, and more.

Love trees?  Why not click on the link to Parul's post and visit and comment on these bloggers of tree love?  The next Tree Love post will be the 2nd Thursday in December.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my dear readers.

Almost a White Thanksgiving

Unusual Thanksgiving.

We normally travel to my mother in law, 150 miles away.  This year we stayed home because we knew our son was going to have to work.  Turns out though, due to his schedule, he decided to come tomorrow.  So we recent empty nesters were suddenly home for Thanksgiving, the two of us. 

The forecast was for light snow turning to freezing rain and sleet, so we were happy we didn't have to travel.  Instead, we decided to do things early before the weather got started.

In no particular order, we looked at Black Friday ads, walked 3 miles, shopped at K-Mart for my Angel Tree giftee, bought a new printer online after a lot of comparison shopping, and now to cross my fingers that it is a good one.  And guess what?  We got the snow, but it was in the upper thirties and so we never got the other stuff and the snow never stuck.  Big sigh of relief.

  I played some FarmVille.  I made whole berry cranberry sauce with a hint of lime zest. (yummy).  We had a relatively late dinner.  Dear spouse managed to dump all the gravy drippings down the sink (don't ask how) but managed to salvage a small amount from the pan.  Our next door neighbor gave us an old bottle of wine (in his 80's, he is under cardiologist orders not to drink any more) from his young wine-making days.  We had that and some sparkling grape juice, as our beverages.

We are still unsure exactly what we are going to be doing tomorrow for Black Friday.  I did a lot of comparison shopping on the various Black Friday websites, but I still don't even know what I want to get anyone as gifts.

I think I am just.....tired.  But very thankful, for a lot of things.  Thankful that I have a roof over my head, a spouse that I want to spend time with, a full freezer, a spouse who cooks, a warm house smelling of holiday, and a son who will be having dinner with us tomorrow.  The Purity eggnog from Ithaca we bought last Sunday is waiting for him, along with magic cookie bars I baked yesterday.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Leaves Snow and Thanksgiving #ThursdayTreeLove

Today is the fourth Thursday of November.  This means two things:  Parul at Happiness and Food hosts "ThursdayTreeLove" and, here in the United States, it is Thanksgiving.

In the United States, Thanksgiving takes place the fourth Thursday of November.  By then, where we live, the weather might well include sub freezing temperatures, frigid winds, and snow. 

Sure enough, on Wednesday, it snowed. A dusting for us, a little more for outlying areas.  But then it got above freezing, and, after work, I got out with my spouse.

We went to a local park and I took this picture.  This sight amazes me - a bare tree, and trees with their leaves still on.  On November 23.  With snow on the ground.  And green grass.

Call it "Leaves, Snow and Thanksgiving".  What a combination.

It wasn't like that in my teen years, when I lived in New York City.  Or even when I moved to the Southern Tier of New York over 30 years ago.  By now, all the trees would have been bare, back in the 1980's, and there would have been a few inches of snow on the ground.

Climate change has done a lot of things since then.

But let me share a Thanksgiving memory with you, while I am at it.

As a teen, I went with my father (by then, my mother was deceased). I got to visit my aunt (a younger sister of my Dad), uncle and cousins in Brooklyn, almost a two hour ride consisting of a bus, a subway and then another bus (or a long walk) to get to their house.  My Aunt always cooked the same meal - turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce (from a can), sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping, and roasted chestnuts after.  My Uncle's two brothers would also come and always bring a box of chocolates.

One of those brothers is still alive, too.  I believe he is 104 now.

Many of the people I've shared Thanksgivings with are deceased now.  The aunt, the uncle, my father, one of the brothers.  More recently, my mother in law.  But others I cherish remain.

I will be seeing some of them later today.  We are all fully vaccinated so hopefully, it will be a joyous day, and no sickness will result.  In these times, we of a "certain age" worry about both COVID-19 and the flu.  It's already shaping up to be a bad flu season.  As for COVID-19, our incidences are going up day by day.

But we still have a lot to be thankful for.

If you are in the United States, I wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving.

Stay safe!

Being Thankful

Last Saturday's farmers market in upstate New York.

The bounty of the season, something I can be so thankful for (several recipe links below).

Stirring the wet ingredients

Combining all the ingredients.

The making of an apple cake (recipe here).

Cranberry Sauce (recipe here) - this year, I added one grated apple, and I liked it.

Before baking - note, I am no pie expert

Pumpkin Pie made with condensed milk (I used a store bought unbaked pie crust, and this time, I even waited until it was at room temperature to unroll - as I didn't do last year, and I learned the hard way never to try to unroll a cold unbaked pie crust ever again).

I am thankful for being able to have Thanksgiving at home, that we have the money to buy the feast, and that we have a warm house filled with love.

What are you thankful for today?

Fantastic Fall - Thanksgiving Eve Recipes

Yesterday, walking to the building where I work, I was passed by a man.  We had just had our first snowfall of the season - officially, at our airport, almost two feet (about 60 cm) which accumulated over two days.  Although the early parts of it had melted because it was above freezing at first, there was well over a foot left on the ground.

The man muttered "When is it going to stop?" and I thought to myself, March?

Winter has begun.

So, here in the Binghamton area of upstate New York, we will have a white Thanksgiving. It's time to settle down, do some cooking, and be thankful for all the good things in our lives.  It's time to share some recipes with you.

Even snow.

First, what shouldn't you make? Alice Gerard has that all covered for you.  In fact, she has side dishes you may want to try out, too.

Today, I will share the link to my easy, homemade cranberry sauce.  It's so easy even I can make it!

Here's a delicious apple crisp recipe - especially if you are watching your weight.

And finally, the easiest chocolate cake in the world.

Tonight, my spouse and I will start our Thanksgiving preparations.  If you are in the United States, may you have a most enjoyable holiday.

Day 23 of NaBloPoMo.

The Least of Us

Today is the American Thanksgiving. 

My spouse and I have both been busy in the kitchen the last few days. Later today, we will have our son over.  Apple crisp-check. Pumpkin pie-check. Homemade cranberry sauce- check. These are my contributions.  Spouse is working hard on our turkey right now.

Warm home - check.   All three of us employed - check.

But, there are too many people who can't check off these items.  Food pantries are bare. Food assistance programs in our country are being slashed.  My son was laid off from his job just after Thanksgiving, last year. (Fortunately, he was rehired early this year.)

Hunger exists in many places in our world, not just in our great United States.

On this day of giving thanks we should pause.  Those of us who are fortunate enough to have jobs and family, and a warm home should take the time to think of those who don't.
This is taken from a post from 2010.

In a trip several years ago to Americus, Georgia, we visited Habitat for Humanity headquarters.   This worthy organization is well known for its support of decent, affordable housing both in this country and overseas. 

Besides the headquarters, on the grounds, were examples of what can be done with little.

The first two pictures are recreations of representative "before" pictures.  The final picture shows Habitat for Humanity housing solutions.  All solutions are sensitive to native cultural requirements.  For example, where a culture would encourage a family to live in one common room, that is what Habitat will build for them.

Clustered around some of the "after" examples were people visiting from other countries, examining the exhibits closely.


There are many things I am thankful for this year.  Our health. The fact that my spouse was able to have two cataracts operated on using modern technology.  The ability to spend Thanksgiving in a warm house scented with roasting vegetables and turkey.


What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday Thanksgiving #ThursdayTreeLove

What am I thankful for today?  So much.  Being able to spend a small Thanksgiving (I like it that way) with some family.  Having food on the table. 

I am thankful for all the people in my life who have been friends, family, mentors, co workers, or those who were in and then out of my life during a time I needed them. Many of them have moved on to wherever we go after our time on Earth is done. Others are still here - I have never thanked them enough.

I am thankful for the people working today to safeguard me, and make my life comfortable.

I am thankful for living in a part of the world where I can enjoy fall color in its season.

Today I'll be busy so here is more of the bounty at our local farmers market, continued from yesterday. 

 Here in the United States, today is Thanksgiving, a day to spend with family or friends if at all possible.

First mushrooms of the season.  This is a winter crop for this particular farmer.

Parsley root.

Living herbs.

Cranberry sauce, made homemade by me, for today's dinner.  Here's the recipe.

And, before I go, a song for the season.

I hope you have a happy Thursday or Thanksgiving, free of drama and full of love.

Joining Parul at Happiness and Food for #ThursdayTreeLove.