We Canadians celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday in October. Unlike our Southern Neighbors we like to spread out our holidays, especially those that involve eating large quantities of Turkey. Our Thanksgiving is a celebration centering around giving thanks for the harvest. Oh yes, there is the harvest of corn, soybeans, pumpkins and so on but the real harvest is the Glorious Cranberry. That is the one we really give thanks for. The cranberry fields are flooded and the ripe cranberries rise to the top of the water ready to be harvested.
I know the Cranberry has a sharp taste and it does need to be tempered with the juice of a sweet fruit such as apple or a combined with a drink such as Ginger Ale. But the ultimate presentation of the cranberry is Cranberry Sauce. This is the real reason why people eat turkey at Thanksgiving and Christmas. They have an excuse to eat Cranberry Sauce.
First you wash the cranberries. Are they not the most beautiful of berries?
Then you prepare a syrup of equal parts sugar and water. Oh yes, I can hear all the anti-sugar brigades muttering and shaking their heads . Well, I’ll have none of that. Sugar does come from a plant after all and is perfectly healthy! When the syrup is ready the Cranberries are added.
Then they are boiled for five minutes
Allowed to cool.
Once they have cooled the sauce can be served warm or cold.
Cranberry Sauce was my contribution to this years’s Thanksgiving meal with our daughter and son in law and their family. I always make double so I can keep some at home as well. It is delicious and looks so beautiful. Every year I give thanks for the Glorious Cranberry.
And just a reminder that the term Minstrel is from Medieval times and denotes a person who entertains with songs, poetry or buffoonery. I hope you have been entertained and I will get back to writing about horses in a day or two.
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