Black Friday – Avoided

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It’s the day after Thanksgiving and all is quiet in the house. And while I love Thanksgiving Day, I love the day after even more. I get to sit in my sweats reading the news or a book. The kids are home, usually sleeping in till noon. Hubby walks the dogs for me. There are plenty of leftovers, so no real cooking effort needs to be made.

Yes, it is the perfect calm before the storm: The storm of festive flurry we call Christmas.

Thanksgiving has a gentle lead up to it. Mother nature does her part, slowing the cycle of life to a dormant state of rest. Plants and animals alike preferring to sleep through winter, to be awakened by springs breath, tickling them to awake. One is busy through Halloween, preparing ourselves for this time of ‘wintering over’. So, by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, attention can be focused on giving thanks, untouched by the other distractions so prevalent in spring and summer.

Thanksgiving is the time of year families turn inward, reconnecting and cherishing each others presence. It is the time of year we seek out those who might not have the blessing of genetically related family, extending the hand of familial friendship, embracing new connections and relationships so that hopefully no one unwillingly spends the day alone. In our home, with the exception of my brother (who drives the long 4 hours in traffic) we don’t have our own extended family nearby. Instead, we have been blessed with amazing family friends with whom we have created our own traditions, and break bread with. Some years our little family has shared the occasion with three or four families, house bursting to the seams with laughter, conversation and joy. Some years it has been quiet and cozy, shared with one other couple or my brother, an emphasis on comfort and intimacy. All have been wonderful and wonderfully different.

When Thanksgiving Day is over, it’s the perfect time for me to pause before mentally and physically gearing up for the chaos that todays culture has created, Christmas. We all try not to get caught up in a ‘keep up with the Jones’ attitude towards Christmas; but many of us have traditions we wish to keep. The result can be a self imposed pressure to fit all that we have individually defined as ‘Christmas Spirit’ into the Christmas season. Ideally, we spread the ‘reason for the season’ throughout the year. But let’s be honest, it is at least nice to have a time of year were we are encouraged and motivated by society and culture to be intentionally giving and sharing.

And so we come back to Black Friday, a nightmare of consumerism, resulting all too often in the most base of behavior. It’s hard for me to fathom the very people who were sharing their time and table one day, embracing the concept of Thanksgiving, are the very same people mowing down their fellow man/woman in a mad rush to be the first at the bargain table the very next day. For those who work this day, I thank you for your patience and service. It can’t be easy to work on Black Friday, but with the demand for the stores to be open, someone must be there to open the doors and ring the cash registers. And ring they do.

I’ll leave the thrill of the sale to others. I am going to sit here with my steaming cup of coffee and give a pass to the madness. As I read the headlines of the morning, history has been a good indicator of the present. I am reminded of an appropriate metaphor: Don’t feed the beast. So, I won’t. Instead, I think I’ll make a leftover turkey sandwich and be very thankful I am home.

 

Best Cranberry Sauce – Ever!

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As I’ve said in a previous post, I have been doing Thanksgiving forever it seems. In what also felt like ‘forever’, I used to subscribe to Martha Stewart, and read her magazines every month. Along with Fine Cooking & Cooks Illustrated, a few years back I began to feel overwhelmed, and so ditched the Stewart subscription and haven’t regretted it since. I love my Fine Cooking (I have all issues dated back to the very first) and Cooks Illustrated, and rely on them solely (along with the web & my cookbook library) for inspiration and education.

Still, I found some real gems in my years of Miss Martha, and this cranberry sauce ever was a definite diamond among the coal.

I ripped the page out when I tossed all the issues, but it doesn’t have the date, nor the issue, so I cannot give proper credit, except that I got it out of a Martha Stewart magazine. One that featured Thanksgiving.

I made this that first year and have honestly never been tempted to try another version since. It is not too sweet, not to tart, has a lovely, complex spice and just a hint of heat. I make this in a double batch because people actually eat it, (unlike the canned ‘stuff’) and it is amazing on a leftover turkey sandwich. Simply. Amazing.

I apologize in advance for not having a display photo. My empty nesting has caught up with me, and I’m a little out of sorts. Normally, I am planning weeks in advance. But, without the kids home to help fix time in place, I’m a little behind. It also appears last year (when I started my musings), I didn’t think to take a pretty picture, so I am going from a photo from two years ago. The above picture is the cooked sauce, sitting in the saucepan. While a gorgeous, staged photo helps draw attention, the lack of shouldn’t stop you from giving this a whirl. This sauce will be competing with your turkey for a starring role.

Best Ever Cranberry Sauce

2 C Fresh Cranberries, cleaned, picked over. (should be about 1 bag, exact measuring is not necessary)
3 tbsp Cognac (what the heck, make them generous tablespoons!)
1 C Light Brown Sugar, packed
1/4 C Fresh Orange Juice
3 whole Allspice
2 whole Cloves
4 Black Peppercorns
1/2 tsp Red-Pepper Flake (Make sure your pepper is fresh. If it’s not red in color, but brown, it’s old.)
Cinnamon Stick (about a 1/2 inch piece)
Cheesecloth & twine to make a spice bag

(Note: I double this recipe, be sure to double your spices as well)

In your saucepan combine the berries, cognac, sugar and juice. Lay a square of cheesecloth on the counter, add your spices to the center, gather up the edges and tie with cooking twine, leaving some string to hang it with. Nestle it in with your other ingredients in the pot, trying to keep it submerged the whole time. You can use a spoon to poke it down until the bag is saturated. I wrap the excess twine around the pot handle a couple of times and loop the end through the hole at the end of my pot (my pot handle has a hole on the end) to keep it in place and away from the flame. (no one wants a visit from the fire department prior to the holidays!)

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Bring the mixture to a boil, and then cook it at a simmer for about 20 minutes. (The berries will turn translucent) Turn off heat, and let cool. You may remove the spice bag now, or leave it in to allow the flavors of the spices to really bloom. Just know, it WILL get more spicy.

When cool enough to handle, wring the bag of all the juices you can. I really like to extract as much flavor as possible. Stir to combine. Toss the bag, and you’re ready to serve.

I make this at least a day in advance, although you can make it the day of and serve warm. I just prefer to let the flavors marry and get all happy. Then the day of Thanksgiving (or whenever, this is too good to save for only one day a year) bring back to room temperature before serving.

If you give this a try, let me know how your family liked it!

(**yay! I figured out how to eliminate the breaks in the recipe, so no more spaces in-between ingredients!!!! I am not the most tech savvy, but I do know how to cook! )

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Little Man’s First Snow

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Little Man's First Snow

Ok, I apologize in advance for the lousy iPhone picture. But puppies, like toddlers, are little beings constantly in motion during their waking hours. There just is no time to grab the big ‘nice’ camera and snap the spontaneous picture. Oh no, that moment will be long gone before you have even thought of getting the good camera. One can have ‘planned’ spontaneous pictures, but good luck getting the authentic ones.

So, at this stage, my trusty phone will have to do.

As a puppy born in early summer, Little Man has never seen snow. When the Twin Cities received our first bit of white, with my trusty phone at hand I caught his first reaction outside.

At first, the change in color on the deck threw him off. Then, he tentatively tested a first step outside. Finally, after gathering up a bit of bravery, with full gusto he bolted out the door, snuffing and snorting at the snow with his nose.

When he came to ‘check in’ with me, this is what greeted me at the door. Precious, but I’m biased.