All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel
Thanksgiving Leftovers Pilgrim Sandwiches are the perfect sandwich to to enjoy using your favorite Thanksgiving leftovers. Yum!
Making a Pilgrim Sandwich is a must once you have enjoyed Thanksgiving meal. Use the leftovers to whip up a really tasty sandwich for your post Thanksgiving lunches.
…
Post from 11/13/12, Pictures updated 11/8/16
When I was younger, I wasn’t a huge fan of the cranberry side at Thanksgiving.
My mom loved the classic canned jellied cranberry sauce. She loved the ridges on it and how it would pop out of the can. I love that this is a staple on our table for her. I just didn’t really love the texture of it. Plus, cranberries were so tart to me back then.
I think things all changed when I was working in the South End of Boston by a place called Charlie’s Sandwich Shoppe. You see, Charlie’s would sell oatmeal with a cranberry compote that I would get if I as a treat for suffering through retail on the weekends. I loved the warm oatmeal in the winter and the compote really added a lot of flavor to an otherwise pretty plan breakfast.
And then I met this amazing guy who just loved homemade cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. So now when we’ve gone back to my mom’s to celebrate Thanksgiving there have been 2 kinds of cranberry sauce on the table. It’s great to have cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving but really I believe you can have it at any point in the fall. It works hot with oatmeal or cold with yogurt if you can’t get enough of it and want to enjoy it for breakfast as well.
No matter if you call this a sauce, chutney, salsa, compote, or a relish, you will call this a new family favorite. I love the orange and cranberry combination so much. It helps highlight the natural flavors of the cranberry while adding some sweetness at the same time. I often throw a vanilla bean that I’ve been using in my homemade vanilla extract to add a bit more flavor. I just give it an extra scrape and throw it into the pot. You can add a bit of vanilla extract instead or even substitute the sugar for vanilla sugar, or skip it all together. If you feel you might light a scrape of nutmeg or to throw a star anise in there then give it a try as this is all about finding the right flavors so this will be a family favorite.
Ingredients
Process
So this little storm came through named Hurricane Sandy. Well, let me tell you Sandy it was a Bitch with a capital B. As anyone with a pulse knows, she has wrecked havoc on a whole hell of a lot of the country. Prior to the storm’s arrival I was glued to the TV watching weather channel like my life depended on it. Dear Jim Cantore, you had me at millibars. Since I’m a weather channel junkie I knew this was going to be bad but in no way did I anticipate just how bad it would be. My little town of Chelsea MA lost 15% of power, obviously including us- hence the blogging hiatus and crazy back log I have to catch up on. But loosing power is nothing compared to what the people in NY and NJ are dealing with. It is heartbreaking. Please consider helping if you can, I can’t make a big financial contribution but I am donating blood next week since, according to Red Cross “Hurricane Sandy has affected blood collections in the Northeast, forcing the cancellation of more than 240 American Red Cross blood drives, resulting in a shortfall of more than 8,000 donations thus far.” That’s huge! I just think that if help in anyway you should try.
Anywho, this week Amanda and I bring you drinks centered around the ‘cranberry’ theme. This is the season for cranberries so be sure to get ready for some cranberry sauce, cranberry jelly, dried cranberries in just about everything. It’s an awesome thing, esp in Massachusetts, where there are a crazy amount of bogs. My coworker’s family even has a bog and they are profiled on Ocean Spray bottles- she is in the back, on the right. Cranberries are great for you as they contain antioxidants, such as vitamin C, that will boost your immunity, which is great for the upcoming cold and flu season.
I made a Cranberry Lime Cooler that is really refreshing, so simple to make, and a great alternative to sugary soda. Amanda made a Frozen Cranberry Margarita that will just knock your socks off… there is a pretty cool ingredient in there!!
makes 1
Ingredients
Process
Blood-Red Wine Punch is the perfect wine punch for Halloween parties or girls night. It’s light, fruity, and the prettiest ruby color. Cheers!
I have been waiting for this Thursday for a long time. And it’s finally here!!!!! Woohoo!!!
…
I will be the first person to tell you that I was not ever going to sign up with twitter. I ended up caving out because of this article and the rest is history. I love how twitter has put me in touch with such great blogs and people. Through twitter connections I have gotten to know Pam, and last month when I was on her blog I saw this post I learned about the Improv Cooking Challenge Group.
I could not pass up a fun group that prompts you monthly with 2 ingredients to develop a recipe from. Starting with December the 2 special ingredients are: Eggnog and Cranberries. I toyed around with this combo for a bit…. an eggnog flavored bread with a cranberry glaze, an ice cream, or even a pasta dish. I decided to go with a bread pudding with an eggnog base and the cranberries would be mixed throughout the bread pudding.
This worked out perfectly. The day I planned on making this, I went to the bakery and they had day old croissants so I picked them up instead of getting a day old loaf of bread. The croissants being lighter and sweeter than a baguette, had me reduce the amount of liquid and sugar I had originally planned on using, based upon bread puddings I had made in the past. The texture was softer than a typical bread pudding and enjoyed the difference. I feel you can’t ever go wrong with eggnog, so this was really a no brainer. The cranberries added a nice bit of tartness every now and then which was nice to break up the rich eggnog,
*serves 5-6*
Ingredients
Process
Poe’s Kitchen at the Rattlesnake Bar and Grill is one of my favorite places to eat. Chef Brian Poe has transformed this bar and restaurant into a place that I actually want to go to. Prior to coming to the Rattlesnake the only reason to go was because of it’s roof deck, and since that was it’s only positive thing the line to get up there was maddening. Now, I don’t give a crap about the patio, I just want the food and drinks. We have been there for several birthday’s now, and several ‘just because’ times. Just because I would like corn bread time. Just because I would like to go there for brunch, but incorrectly assume it opens at 11, and wait outside for 30 minutes time. Just because it’s Tuesday. (swoon)
When I saw a drink contest posted on their Facebook page, I knew I had to give it a try. I’ve spent the night making Cranberry Ginger Margatias for Price to try and give me feedback on. Such a difficult task!! ‘ Too Sweet” “Not enough tequila” “Needs lime?” “The sugar works, but…” So, I’m hoping that this recipe will make it into the top 3 for voting. Fingers crossed.
The first thing that came to mind was to make a margarita with cranberry juice. Why? Well why the hell not? But really it had everything to do with the upcoming season. The fall just screens cider and cranberries to me. Ruling apple juice/cider out I moved forward with the cranberry base. The second thing that came to mind was ginger. I have been on a major ginger kick this year, mainly making a lot of ginger infused simple syrup for seltzer. Instead of a ginger simple syrup, I decided to use Domaine de Canton, a French ginger liqueur. The combination of cranberry and ginger worked well, so full steam ahead. The rest fell into place- a gingered sugar for the rim, and a squeeze of lime to add tang.
The result is a margarita that has bite, since the cranberry brings acidity, much like the normal margarita. However, the sugar and liqueur bring some sweetnes, to cut the tartness. The Cranberry Ginger Margarita makes for a great fall cocktail because of it’s seasonal flavors. It can even been accessorized with some fangs for Halloween- this margarita has bite!
Prior to mixing the drink, combine the sugar and ginger on a plate to rim the glass. Wet the edge of the glass with water, drip into the sugar mixture, remove and let dry while mixing the drink.
Fill a glass half way with cubed ice, pour in the cranberry juice and add the cranberries. Add the tequila and Domaine De Canton. Squeeze the wedge of lime into the mix. Pour drink into rimmed glass.
Enjoy!
Apple Pie is my thing. I won a pie contest at our local library when I was 5/6… no, really ask my Mom! I totally rocked it. Plus I used a Pillsbury crust which made all those grandmas pissed to no end since my pie with store bought crust kicked their pies bottoms with homemade crusts. Must dig that photo out somewhere. (Get on it Mom!) Well, since then I have to make apples pies in the fall. HAVE TO. I signed up for a Meetup event that was a mac and cheese/ pie cookoff so this required me stepping up my game and trying something new. I saw a recipe for an apple cranberry crumb pie in my new gourmet magazine that sounded good but since I hate crumb toppings I had to do things my way.
I was happy with the outcome of my pie since the sweet apple was balanced by the tart cranberry. Plus the cranberries still had a bit of that burst in your mouth consistency. I typically make pies that stack up really high but since I was pressed for time and space in my tiny ‘oven’ I made them average, I guess you could say that. While at the meetup people were saying how interesting and good mine tasted with the cranberries and something else, something they could not figure out. Well that something was ginger. I had an impulse to add some ground ginger and I guess it paid off. Although I used cornstarch, like usual, it still bubbled over. I’m guessing it’s due to the fact that the cranberries gave off more liquid than I expected ( I adjusted the recipe to reflect this). Luckily I put my pie on a sheet pan incase this would happen, also, its easier to take out of the oven for me.
Preheat oven to 425.
Peel. core, and slice apples. In a large bowl combine the apples, cranberries, and all other ingredients. Mix well. If there is a lot of liquid add a bit more cornstarch to thicken it.
Put 1 crust into 9″ pie plate. Carefully, add all apples and cranberries into pie crust. Cover with the other crust. Trim the edges/excess and cut slits in top crust.
Bake for 15 minutes at 425. Turn oven down to 350 to continue baking, approx 45 minutes. If the crust starts to darken add tinfoil around crust or slip on a crust shield.
Let pie cool 15 minutes before serving. The cooling allows for the juices to thicken.
Serve and enjoy 🙂
And remember… a compost would love all that apple peel and core goodness. At least my compost does!
You must be logged in to post a comment.