The Sunday before the holiday, I decided to embark on my ambitious (delusional, perhaps), quest. Because I had a full day, without interruption, to focus. Undeterred by not having a clue what I was doing, I first ran to the place that I knew I could find everything I needed. That cornucopia of culinary abundance: Wegmans. With my credit card in hand, (a full on amazing dinner with all the necessary items was not happening for free), I packed up all my reusable shopping bags and a can do attitude, hopped in my car, and off I went.
Lots of pictures were involved, and about six hours of dedicated fortitude, so I'm breaking these postings down into five blocks. However, to add an element of surprise, I won't be telling you what they are, or their order, until I reveal them one by one. (Of course, as they are typical holiday traditions, you really can guess them all.) Some items were super simple, some were slightly more involved. But nothing was really hard. Proving to myself by taking up the gauntlet from the women in my family who had made fabulously memorable turkey dinners before me, I could do this! (Plus if I failed, no one had to know. Good thing about cooking without witnesses.)
I love tradition, food is definitely wrapped around that concept in our household, and I wanted to make a meal my Nana would have been proud of if she was here today. But I was keen on making traditional items in updated ways, just to put my original mark on the event. So, let's waste no more time with the background jibber-jabber and get to it.
Part I: Cranberry Relish
6 ounces (half a bag) of fresh cranberries
1/4 cup orange juice, pulp free
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup water
2 cinnamon sticks (Penzey's)
Could not be easier. I made this ahead of time so I could chill it. That's why you're seeing it first. I never really liked the jellied stuff that came out of the can, in the shape of the can, when I was a kid. But I LOVE cranberries. So, I had to make this from scratch. If you don't do this, I will never understand why. Can you boil pasta? Yes. Then you can make homemade cranberry relish. (YOU are woman! Hear you boil!)
I've been on several train rides over the years in New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts and have passed by many a cranberry bog in different seasons. When they were just blooming with tiny yellow flowers in their sand boxes at summertime, like this:
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| Cape Cod common scenery. July 2010. |
...to when the berries were fully ripe and the bogs are flooded with water so the red gems float to the top to collect. I enjoy knowing (and seeing) where my food comes from before it's bagged. Which results in you getting this handy package in your local grocery store:
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| Picked and washed and nothing else. |
I added the cranberries to a sauce pan.
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| Not edible yet. Too tart. |
Thought it might be nice to add a complimentary citric flavor. Orange juice.
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| Added another sweet dimension, but not so powerful it would overwhelm. |
Added juice to pan with both sugars (white to cut the tartness/brown for depth of sweetness) and whole cinnamon sticks. Sure, you could add regular ground cinnamon, but I wanted just the hint of the spice, without the bits.
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| Tart and sweet together. |
Get up to a boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer. Give a quick stir, cover and what starts out like this:
Will look like this in about 10 minutes or until the cranberries burst. (Yeah, you'll know when that is.)
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| Who needs a can? Not you! |
Remove the two cinnamon sticks and discard them. Put cranberry relish into a glass bowl, let cool off on counter top for a little while, then cover and place in the fridge until well chilled. I'll have more pictures of it when it's with the rest of the meal. For now, this is your teaser.
Thanksgiving dinner item #1, done! Feeling confident from this minor success, I was ready for item #2.
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