Busy days and cozy nights

Busy days, cozy nights, and beginning preparations for Thursday’s Thanksgiving feast have been keeping me busy. The cranberry relish is marrying its flavors, the turkey is thawing out in the refrigerator, a new pumpkin pie recipe with chipotle is on the menu, and there are a few dust bunnies that need to be corralled.

What have you been up to?

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Preparing . . .

We have finally experienced our first hard frost here on the Cutoff. While I won’t say I welcomed it, I know its time has come. We been fortunate with warmer weather this fall. I don’t really mind the change in the air, but, a steady and sturdy wind has been blowing these past few days, reminding me once again that I am not in charge. The last of the leaves and pots need tending to and there is some cutting back of roses and such to do. All in good time, I know, and then there is Thanksgiving to prepare for, reminding me today that the turkey needs thawing, the linens pressing, the silver polished, and thankful thoughts remembered.

These grasses were ethereal, swaying in the November breeze, and breathtaking in their simple elegance. They had a rather “America the Beautiful” air about them when I passed by.

A pot of Jerusalem Cherries that I bought at the Oak Park Farmers Market in October is still bright and colorful in a sunny spot on our deck.  What a wonderful site it is from the kitchen and a bit of a harbinger of the reds of Christmas ahead. 

In spite of a few deer nibbles, the Oak Leaf hydrangea is stunning in its red coat,

and tiny crabapples are hanging on for dear life in Kezzie’s tree, which is surrounded by fencing, lest a randy buck tries to spar with it again this year. They remind me of the cranberries that will soon be chopped for our festive cranberry relish.

Now, about that turkey . . .

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Festive Cranberry Relish

Years ago, at a PTA luncheon, we were treated to a relish I had never had before. It was fresh and tart and sweet and crunchy and a taste sensation I had not experienced before. I asked if I might have the recipe. It was wonderfully tasty and made me think of something Tom had talked about having as a child. It was late spring and Mary said she would get it to me. Time wandered on and I forgot it. About a month later, in June, when school was out and swimming lessons and picnics were the order of the day, a small envelope arrived in the afternoon mail with a note card inside, inscribed with Mary’s name and initials.  She said I would likely not need the recipe for the Festive Cranberry Relish until Thanksgiving, but, she wanted me to have it and to know she hadn’t forgotten me . . .

. . . and I have never forgotten Mary’s kindness.

I still have the card, folded and creased and cranberry stained for at least 25 Thanksgivings. It did remind Tom of the cranberry relish he had at his grandparent’s in Ohio and the girls loved it then and love it still. It is as much a part of our Thanksgiving meal as the turkey itself. Mary, sadly, passed away a few years ago after a battle with cancer, but, I still have her recipe, written in her own hand on the simple and elegant note card that she remembered and took the time to send to me. I pull it out each year, though I know the recipe by heart, and I feel its folds and, in it between the lines of amounts of fruit and measurements, I remember the many good things Mary did and the quiet ways she touched so many of us. It is a simple recipe and a similar one can be found on the back of packages of cranberries this time of year, but, well, you know, to me it is Mary’s cranberry relish and it will always remain a special, once-a-year treat to be savored at our Thanksgiving table.

I made it earlier this evening, right after dinner. Tom helped cut up the apple and wash the oranges, for the whole orange goes in the relish. We both took a small taste before putting it in the refrigerator, where it will mellow over the next two days. I’ll freeze some for when our Minnesota contingency arrives come Christmas, and I’ll find a pretty glass dish to set some in for our Thanksgiving dinner. I’ll smile just a bit as I set it out and send up a prayer of thanks for Mary and such a simple pleasure and for the many years it has remained an integral part of our celebration. I don’t think Mary would mind if I share the recipe and instructions here with you in her words.

Festive Cranberry Relish

2 medium oranges, unpeeled

1 lb fresh cranberries

1 med. apple, cored but unpeeled

1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Wash fresh fruit. Trim thin slice from both ends of oranges, cut in half lengthwise. Remove center core. Cut into chunks, whirl in covered electric blender until smooth, add cranberries and apple, blending until finely chopped. Stir in sugar, pineapple and nuts. Chill at least 2 hrs. Relish freezes well.

(I use a food processor)

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