Thursday, October 06, 2011

Some thoughts on cranberries, turkey, Thanksgiving and keeping it real


First. This morning, Maggie at Normandy Life graced her blog with a picture of her ironing - that is, her UN-ironing. She joined in with others to provide reality shots of life in Blogland. So often I we fuss over stage our photos to show life at its impossible very best.  

In untypical wild abandon I picked up my camera and shot a photo of my desk - as it is. I keep looking at that stack of papers and the basket of photos, old lists and junk important ephemera and think "I really should do something about that." But I soon sail off into something else.

For more reality shots check out Mocking Bird Hill Cottage. Oh, the sights you'll see! 



Moving on. No, I do not strew fresh cranberries about my kitchen just for effect. This is a staged photo. Just in case you wondered.

Thanksgiving is upon us. This weekend. We're Canadians, you know and like to celebrate before the blizzards descend and the geese fly south. 

Last night I made the Cranberry sauce that accompanies the turkey. It's easy, fast, and tastes so much better than the canned stuff. So. much. better.

4 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed
2 cups water

Bring to a boil in a medium large saucepan and simmer gently 20 minutes. There will be popping noises as the berries explode. Kind of unnerving if you're not prepared for it.

Add 2 cups sugar.

Simmer 5 minutes.

I poured mine into sterilized jars and sealed them so that I have more cranberry sauce to tide me over the winter. It's good with turkey, but equally good with chicken. Oh, I also added about 1 teaspoon of orange zest from an organic orange. At the end. This amount makes 4 1/2 pint jars.


And a little bit leftover. So I staged a shot with some leftover roast chicken. And then I ate it. At 9:30 am. And then, since there was more cranberry sauce than I needed with my chicken, I had a little more. Chicken. It was all very tasty.

Regarding Thanksgiving. I heard yesterday that the average caloric consumption of ONE turkey dinner is ... 3000 calories. No wonder we're all walking around in a daze and everyone wants the couch. 

16 comments:

  1. That sounds like an interesting 'breakfast', Lorrie!

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  2. Excellent post!
    Happy Thanksgiving, hope all your chicks come home to roost this weekend.

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  3. Thanks so much for joining us, Lorrie! It's a pleasure to meet you. And Happy Thanksgiving! I love this reality shot of your desk - how many of us can keep a desk neat? I would venture to say...not many. Besides, a messy desk is more interesting to me. I like a creative mess.

    Claudia

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  4. Everyone sort of does want the sofa, too. Ha! I've found people in my bed after a Thanksgiving dinner. LOL.

    Now that sounds like fun. I'm not taking a picture of my desk. No way!

    Oh, I saw the most beautiful Canadian geese formation (about 50) heading south this morning. I was raking when I heard the honking, looked up and couldn't find them. They were much further past me than I would have imagined. It was a sweet sight in a clear blue sky. With all this bluster, they had plenty of nice tailwinds.

    Happy Thanksgiving preparations!

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  5. Great meeting you (a fellow BC blogger too). I'm going to follow, then read your blog post for awhile. I'll be back to read more.
    - Joy

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  6. Happy Thanksgiving! Your cranberries look delicious and your desk well used and loved. Ann

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  7. Anonymous12:22 PM

    I made homemade cranberry sauce for the first time last year and you're right... it is sooooo much better than store bought.

    Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

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  8. looks delish - i love cranberry sauce esp. homemade. never heard of adding orange zest - why not?!

    happy thanksgiving and nice to see your "real" office. half my house looks like this.

    xo terri

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  9. Happy Thanksgiving to you Lorrie. 3000 calories! Wow!

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  10. I think keeping a clean desk is an impossible task....it is for me anyway.

    Your cranberry sauce looks beautiful and tasty. I could SO eat roasted chicken and cranberry sauce for breakfast!

    Happy Thanksgiving!

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  11. Hi,
    Your desk isn't bad at all, and your cranberry sauce looks delicious! Happy Thanksgiving! Love, Linda

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  12. Last year I had planned on making cranberry sauce and ended up forgetting it completely. No cranberry sauce on the table at all.
    I'm going to bookmark this and hope I don't forget this year!

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  13. Homemade cranberry sauce is the best!
    This will be the first Thanksgiving in 32 years that TGD and I will be on our own, as Lillypad is spending the holiday with her grandmother in Creston. We won't be eating turkey - we're having fun thinking of alternatives!

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  14. A great idea to take pictures of the house as it really looks, I think it could save me a lot of time when I am trying to find something (my glasses). Instead of searchIng room to room I could just sit down with my phone and 'find' them in the photo. Happy Thanksgiving.

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  15. Cranberry sauce must be made from scratch...the best! I asked for fresh cranberries at the grocery store yesterday...and the sales clerk thought they were out, but pointed me to the canned ones. That was not an option! I'm cooking my sauce today.

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  16. Lovely to meet you Lorrie and share more of the beauty that is Canada - I love to visit your area and go as often as possible.

    Your desk is just like everyone else's I think - we definitely share this one. Perhaps we should just have those tiny school desks then we'd have to tidy them up every day!

    Happy Thanksgiving to you and your great looking family.

    Mary - A Breath of Fresh Air

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Thank you for your comment. I read and value each one, cherishing the connections we can make although far apart. Usually, I visit your blog in return, although if you ask a question I try to contact you directly.

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