Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Tart & Lovely


I love the inside of my freezer.  It's full of wild berries picked mid-summer, cubes of stinging nettles, freezer bags full of fair trade chocolate pieces, and bulk packages of udon noodles.  I am constantly shuffling them around amongst the packages of coffee and assortment of fish and game meat that I've horded away.

I also stash bags of cranberries in my freezer as if November only comes once every three years.  Right now cranberries are all that I care about.

While homemade cranberry sauce is an absolute requirement for me come Thanksgiving- I am never one to say no to cranberries in most any other form.  For whatever reason the internets have been exploding with beautiful cranberry dessert recipes this year, and I am not one to resist.  I still haven't decided which I'll be making for our actual Thanksgiving dinner- but with a "practice" dinner tomorrow night, and Wednesday just hanging out doing nothing- I think I'll be able to fit more than one into my week.



- Cranberry Shortbread Cake from The Way the Cookie Crumbles is November's answer to out-of-season strawberries.  It sounds like such a fantastic combination and comes out looking rustic and lovely.

- Persimmon Cranberry Sauce is my sauce of choice this year.  I usually just stick with a basic cranberry/citrus/spices combo- but I'm exited to mix things up a little with star anise and the texture of persimmon.  

- Smitten Kitchen gets me every single time.  No matter what.  Deb is talented beyond words, and even when she isn't overly in love with a recipe it still turns out beautifully.  Upside-Down Cranberry Cake is no exception.



- Nantucket Cranberry Pie from the very well known Pioneer Woman is not a pie.  It's cake on top of cranberries.  And I really, really don't care.  Apparently it's a pie when you're in Nantucket.  I can live with that. 


- Cranberry Liqueur from Vino Luci would make a great gift for your host/ess or your own guests.  Just make sure you spell it right.



- Lastly- because a straight-forward simple cranberry sauce is still so good to have- The Delicious Life has a great recipe for Basic Cranberry Sauce which also includes notes on using the leftovers to make cranberry sorbet.  So damn witty.


How do you feel about cranberries?  What are your favorite ways to eat them?

3 comments:

Becca said...

Cranberries are probably one of the greatest things ever. I've already made cranberry sauce (same as last year) plus cranberry-apple chutney and I still have some cranberries left. I'm thinking of maybe infusing some vodka, but I'll probably make more sauce or another dessert. You know me.

abs said...

I just baked a "cranberry pake" (google pake and it's the first thing that comes up) for a pie contest at the orphan thanksgiving dinner I went to for grad students in my program. Though I did not win, I got plenty of compliments, and I thought it tasted damn good. Highly recommended.

abs said...

I just baked a "cranberry pake" (google pake and it's the first thing that comes up) for a pie contest at the orphan thanksgiving dinner I went to for grad students in my program. Though I did not win, I got plenty of compliments, and I thought it tasted damn good. Highly recommended.

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