Cranberry Sauce

Fresh cranberry sauce was one of the first things I learned how to make and it was my contribution to our family Thanksgiving dinner for years.  

And it's SO easy! There's no need to buy canned or pre-made sauce.  All you need is a $2.00 bag of fresh cranberries, some sugar and some water to make a tasty sauce.  I added a few extra flavours but they're totally optional. 

This recipe makes a lot of cranberry sauce, but it keeps for months in the fridge or freezer so use the whole bag.

When you cook the cranberries you'll hear them pop.  Cranberries are full of pectin so the sauce will thicken up as it cools.  

You can make this ahead and chill it for Thanksgiving day!

Here's the recipe: 

340 g (12 oz) bag fresh cranberries, rinsed well
1 cup water
3/4 cup - 1 cup sugar 
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (optional)
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest (optional)

Place the cranberries, water, sugar, ginger and zest in a medium pot. Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes until cranberries pop.  Remove from heat and cool.

Happy Hour - Punch Romaine

Have you ever watched the TV show Hannibal?  If not, you should! The first two seasons are available on Netflix, and the the way they film food is unbelievable.  The final season is wrapping up on NBC right now.  It's not a spoiler to reveal that earlier this season Hannibal, played wonderfully by Mads Mikkelsen, mixes Punch Romaine to serve to his guests.

Punch Romaine was one of the last things served to first class passengers on the Titanic before it sank.  

It's an icy cocktail of rum, orange, wine, champagne and egg whites.  Here's what you need to make one cocktail:

1 egg white
1 oz white rum
1 oz white wine
1/2 oz simple syrup
1/2 oz lemon juice
1 oz fresh squeezed orange juice
2 oz champagne (or sparkling wine)
twist of orange peel for garnish

You'll also need crushed ice, a cocktail shaker and a cocktail coupe to serve.  I used the cocktail glass above.  

I used my blender to crush the ice, which worked very well.  Mound the ice in the glass just like an iceberg.  My crazy husband thought staging these pictures in front of a picture of the Titanic would be fun.  

Shake the egg white, rum, wine, simple syrup, lemon juice and orange juice together in a cocktail shaker with ice until frothy and chilled.  

Pour the cocktail into the glass and top with champagne and orange peel.  Enjoy in calm weather.  

This cocktail was surprisingly light and tasty. It would be a great palate cleanser between courses at a fancy dinner, or a cooling treat on a hot night while watching your favourite TV show.  Cheers!  

Orange Muffins with Chocolate Granola

If you wake up this weekend with nothing in the house for breakfast and a craving for muffins, you could do worse than this recipe!  

I love baking but I don't do a ton of it because there's very limited need for baked goods in a two-person household that's trying to eat healthy and rarely eats dessert.  

This recipe is adapted from the Joy of Cooking which is a terrific resource for baking.  You probably have most of these ingredients on hand, or ingredients for some other muffin variation.  Here's what you need:

Roasted Beet Salad with Blood Oranges & Beet Greens

My fantastic husband made this salad for me and it was delicious!  The recipe came from the always reliable Epicurious.

Here's what you need:

3 large beets with beet greens attached
2 large oranges
1 small onion
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

1/4 cup crumbled chevre (soft goat's cheese)

Pork with Sweet Potatoes and Caramelized Onions

Continuing our time of healthy eating, this recipe was inspired by Clean Eating magazine, but the recipe is not online.  This is one of the least successful healthy meals I've made recently. It was ok, but I wouldn't make it again. I do love the colours though!

I used a pork sirloin chop, large red onion, chili pepper, orange, apple, sweet potatoes and broccoli.  Also, soy sauce, which didn't show up for the picture.


Thinly slice the onion.

And saute it in oil for about 30 minutes until caramelized.

Meanwhile, peel and chop the sweet potatoes and boil them until tender.


While all that is cooking, chop the chilis...

... and zest the orange.  This microplane is a lifesaver for zesting.

Here the onions have cooked down for a while and are getting nice and brown.

Slide the onions to one side of the pan and raise the heat, then add the pork.

Once the pork is browned, add the broccoli, apples and sweet potatoes, the orange zest and juice and lots of soy sauce.  

I served this over basmati rice.  It was ok but something was missing. The sweet potatoes were a little dry and the dish lacked contrast. I can't put my finger on what the problem was, and we certainly ate it all, but we didn't love it.


Oh well, they can't all be winners.  

My Perfect Margarita

I love margaritas.  I love tequila and I'm trying - on a budget - to become enough of a connoisseur to distinguish between the different kinds.  


A really good margarita is a treat for me.  So this holiday season, I decided to do a little research and put some nice tequila and my new blender to use and make a delicious margarita on the rocks.

I started by cutting up some citrus fruit.  I thought I'd use the clementines but didn't end up using them.  I juiced them anyway because I loved the colour.

Even with my brutal photography, how could you resist?  I think these citrus shots are the worst yet!

Here's a blood and guts shot of the juice and rinds. 2 limes gave me about 2/3 cup of juice.

I got this pretty new blender for Christmas after 20 years (!) with a crappy old one. This one had way more ice-crushing power than I expected.  I ended up with sno-cone level ice after just a few pulses, so I had to start over and make cracked/crushed ice for the shaker and the rocks.

These are my booze ingredients.  The clerk at a USA liquor store recommended this tequila.  It is cheaper than Patron and I like it quite a bit. I got anejo because it's for sipping, not just for mixing. A clear tequila would make the drink prettier, but I loved the flavour here.


I read in my research that some people prefer triple sec over Cointreau because it is less complex and lets the tequila flavour shine through. Good thing that's what I had! There was more triple sec in the recipe than I expected, but I liked the balance.  

Here's what you put in the shaker for 2 drinks:

• Cracked ice
• 3oz el Mayor Anejo tequila
• 2 oz triple sec
• 2/3 cup fresh lime juice

Shake with ice and serve over crushed ice. Salt rim if desired.  I like the salt but my husband does not.

This is a very boozy drink, so one was enough for us but it is so delicious you may want another round.

Yum! I found my perfect cocktail!