Gail’s Cranberry-Orange Sauce

Cranberries popping (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For those of you who are having diabetic friends or family to your home for the Thanksgiving holiday dinner, or if you are a diabetic yourself and trying to cut down on sugar consumption, here is a nice cranberry sauce recipe that you might find useful.  Instead of using gelatin or a cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce up, I’ve substituted a sugar-free marmalade or jelly that does the trick and lends the sauce a nice flavor.  You could try substituting a different light flavored jelly for the sugar-free marmalade I use here for a unique taste.

GAIL’S CRANBERRY-ORANGE SAUCE—

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 dry white  sugar substitute (Splenda or other cup for cup substitute)
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar-free orange marmalade or jelly (or apricot, lemon or strawberry is good, too)
1 twelve (12 oz.) ounce package ‘fresh’ cranberries

In a 1  1/2 quart saucepan, mix sugar and water and stir to dissolve the sugar.  Bring to a boil, then add the cranberries.  Bring mixture back to a boil and simmer on reduce heat.  Cook on low simmer for approximately 10 minutes or until cranberries pop and are softened.  Liquid should be reddened.  Add marmalade or jelly and simmer slowly for approximately 4 minute, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and takes on a sheen.  For a thicker sauce, add a bit more jelly to taste.  Remove pan from heat.  Cool sauce completely to room temperature.

Place in container and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Makes about 2  1/2 cups.  Recipe can be doubled.

This is just a little snippet for you before I start cooking my thanksgiving desserts.  I expect to be too busy to add much in the way of wisdom and light between all the fussing, cleaning, cooking and fidgeting that we’ll be doing before our Thanksgiving repast.

“I hear the tread of
pioneers of nations yet to be,
The first low wash of waves where soon
shall roll a human sea”

—WHITTIER

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL.

Mexican Christmas Eve Salad

English: fresh fruit salad (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In this salad I use the original beets as it lends a festive air to this Mexican style salad.  If you want to use this for a dessert instead, leave the beets out.  Fresh beets are best, but for ease of preparation canned beets may be used if thoroughly drained.  Fresh fruit is preferred.  Sugar is the only sweet added or it may also be served with a thinned mayonnaise.  I like the following combination, but you can substitute a fruit ingredient for some other that you prefer.

INGREDIENTS:

1  3/4 cups orange sections or mandarin orange sections
1 cup apples, unpeeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 3/4 cups pineapple chunks
1 cup sliced bananas
3/4 cups roughly chopped unsalted peanuts
seeds from 1 medium pomegranate
1 cups cooked sliced or diced beets
1/4 cup finely chopped peanuts

Mix all fruit pieces together.  Top with pomegranate seeds and chopped nuts

Sprinkle with superfine sugar (or granulated) or serve with thinned mayonnaise.

This makes a wonderful dessert or dinner starter served before a holiday meal.  It is usually served as part of the Christmas Eve meal in some parts of the world.

A Real New England Roast Turkey

English: Thanksgiving Dinner, Falmouth, Maine, USA 2008 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Having been raised in the land of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving feast here in New England, I know firsthand that we take our selection of a Thanksgiving turkey very seriously.  It is that time of year again when the markets and supermarkets stock turkeys of all brands and varieties making selection a daunting task.  I don’t have room in a small post to list everything there is to know about selecting, thawing and preparing a turkey dinner, but I’ll try to break down the process into several smaller writings.

To those unfamiliar with the process of selecting and handling poultry, especially large American bred turkeys that can weigh over 24 pounds, I will simply give you this link to the United States Department of Agricultures’  fact sheets on the safe handling of turkey and poultry products:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Lets_Talk_Turkey/index.asp

Here’s my familys recipe for roast turkey which is the way it was done by my great-aunt Julie.

ROAST TURKEY –

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahreheit.

15 – 16 lb. thawed turkey
Aunt Julies’ stuffing (or of your choice to fill cavity of turkey)
1  1/2 sticks margarine or butter
1 1/2 Tablespoons sage (dried is fine)
1 Tablespoon thyme (dried o.k.)
1 Tablespoon rosemary (dried o.k.)
2 teaspoons pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 can chicken broth (16 ounces)
1 1/2 cups water

Remove giblet packet and neck from inside of cavity of turkey.  Sometimes the neck is loose inside the neck cavity.  Thoroughly wash turkey with cold water and place on counter on a platter and dry it completely with clean cloth or paper towels.  Do not let the raw turkey touch surfaces of counter.  Wash up behind yourself and periodically wash your hands with hot soapy water.

Stuff the turkey with stuffing mixture and  place on raised roasting rack in a deep sided large roasting pan.  Baste the turkey with melted butter or margarine, then sprinkle liberally with dried herbs, salt and pepper.  Pour broth and water into the bottom of the pan and cover with heavy duty aluminum foil, tenting slightly in the middle away from the top of turkey.    Place the stuffed turkey in the oven on the lowest oven rack and roast for 5 1/2 – 6 hours.  About 40 minute before roasting is complete, uncover the turkey so that it may brown.  Cook for additional 40 minutes until turkey is golden. Remove turkey from oven and check internal temperature with meat thermometer.  The thermometer should read 165 degrees when place in the thickest part of the thigh and, also, it should measure 165 degrees when placed in the thickest part of the breast.  Stuffing, likewise should be thoroughly done at 165 degrees.  Juices at leg joint should run clear.  Let stand for 30 minutes. Carve and serve.

Serves 12 with leftovers

My hopes are that you have a very happy Thanksgiving season.
Aunt Julie’s Stuffing recipe follows in my next post.

Thank you for following my blog.

Chocolate Liqueur

English: Roasted cocoa (cacao) beans (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here’s a quick recipe for a liqueur that can be used for any special occasion.  I’ve found it an easy recipe to make and it is can be enjoyed after things have settled down after your holiday meal.

CHOCOLATE LIQUEUR

1 CUP LIGHT CORN SYRUP
3/4 CUP SUGAR
2 CUPS VODKA
3 TABLESPOONS CHOCOLATE EXTRACT
2 TEASPOONS PURE VANILLA EXTRACT

In a saucepan, mix together the sugar and corn syrup, stirring occasionally.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, being careful not to burn it.  Remove from heat and let stand for 30 minutes.  Mix in the vodka; stir in the

vanilla extract (Photo credit: craftapalooza)

vanilla and chocolate extracts.  Pour finished liqueur into glass bottles with corks or into other fancy glass containers.  Cover and let stand for 2 or more days for the flavor to develop.

YIELD: 1 QUART

This is good served with a shortbread cookie or Biscotti’s.

An Essay for Veterans Day

Elks National Veterans Memorial (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the United States, Veterans Day falls on November 11th this year.   I am offering this little essay for your enjoyment.  It was written by me when I was just a girl of twelve years old in response to a national contest sponsered by the Lodge of Elks in my hometown.  I won the contest in the girls’ division and was very proud to have attended a ceremony where the essay was read by a group of veterans.  The premise of the contest was to write a piece about ‘Old Glory‘ and how it related to veterans who fought in our many conflicts.  I don’t know how appropriate it is to reprint here, but the sentiment then was heartfelt, and it remains that way to me today.

WHAT OLD GLORY MEANS TO ME

To me Old Glory means just what its famous name says, a flaming glory.  It symbolizes the honor, pride, trust and independence of the United State of America.  Old Glory is not just a flag.  It’s more than that.  It’s more than a piece of red, white and blue cloth made up of stars and stripes.  Maybe it’s a beginning of a deserved liberty and feedom, and a country where the freedoms of press, speech, and worship have a chance to thrive.  It describes a democracy in which no man shall suffer discrimination because of his color or race.  To me it means the freedom of all people to choose religion, jobs, and politics.

Old Glory stands for a nation where no man shall be a slave, denied the education and support that every human being positively must have.

In my heart, it means a free land, in which dignity and authority are maintained to the fullest and best of the country’s ability.  This great flag symbolizes our growing and striding country as a whole, a world power seeking peace which stands ready to defend the rights desired and cherished by every single person and American.  It’s a nation in which important officials of the United States are voted on by the people and are responsible to the people and is not a dictatorship.  Under a dictatorship our country might fall as other have done in past wars.  It may also, to me, stand for the bloody battles of past conflicts.  It means honor for the men and women who have sufffered in order to hold this United States together in time of crisis.  Old Glory means much to me.  It is the symbol of my country.

There is much more to this little essay that is lost in the 40 years since it was written and, of course, the conflicts in the Falklands, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, and others have taken place since that time.  The sentiment was meant to honor our veterans, and I hope that this year you will not forget to remember the sacrifices that those who have served in our armed forces have made for us.  These are men and woman who realize what their flag means to them.  Please try to give our vets the honor they truly deserve for having given their all to their country.

Have a good Veterans Day.