Oh Wow Cranberry and Orange Relish

I added the "Oh Wow" to the name of this relish, because that is the first thing that came out of my mouth when I tasted it, still hot and syrupy from the pan.  Somehow, cranberry sauce always seemed daunting to me, what with making sure you had the right amount of sweet and tart, not burning the sugar in the syrup, and generally the idea of working with ripe (i.e., not dried and already sweetened) cranberries.  How wrong I was.  How very wrong...

 

 The recipe that I used, from Real Simple here, called for only butter, brown sugar, orange juice, and ginger (which I keep in my fridge in a handy, already-grated form).  It also called for orange marmalade, which is NOT a standard ingredient in the apartment, so I figured I'd just add in some grated orange zest and call it even.   

 

It was so easy!  All I had to do was melt the butter, add the ginger and cook for a few minutes, then all of the other stuff gets mixed in and simmered until the cranberries start to burst and the liquid gets syrupy and delightful.  I honestly just left it simmering on the stove and went about my business (glitterizing pine cones - more on that later) for 15 minutes while those lovely little cranberries did all the work for me. 

 

 

After a taste test, I added about 2 tablespoons of orange zest, a bit more ginger, and a small spoonful of brown sugar (to make up for the lack of marmalade sweetness).

 

And that was it.  Possibly the easiest thing I've ever made, with the best results.  In fact, I already have visions of me making this relish all season long to top pork chops, dip pretzels, scoop on vanilla ice cream...

That is, if any of it makes it out of the pan.

 

And the happiest of Thanksgivings to you and your's!  I hope that you all get to spend this day with the ones that you love the most!

 

Super Easy Citrus Juice

Things that made me smile this week:
-hearing John Paul singing pop songs in the shower
-warm days in the middle of winter (no UnderArmor during my morning runs!)
-ordering this sign for wedding stuff (it's so fancy and I love the sentiment)
-chatting with my wonderful DC cousin over a big glass of red wine
-swapping weekly recipes with my mom over the phone (my homemade raw brownies, her mystery soup...)
-the color of this simple juice.

I went a little crazy with the citrus this week at the grocery store, and had to use some up before they go bad!  Thus, this wonderfully bright juice was born.  Simply squeeze the juice of 2 blood oranges, 1 pummelo and 1 lime into a glass, chill, and serve.  The lime helps cut some of the acidity and tartness of the pummelo, and it's a perfect mid-afternoon pick-me-up.  It would also be a perfect companion to vodka or tequila... I'm just sayin'.

Orangettes

Orangettes: candied orange peels dipped in chocolate.  See also: a reason for living.
Seriously, it's hard to stop at eating just one of these beautiful treats.  The orange peels are bright and sweet, tempered by the bitterness of dark chocolate.  I made these on a whim over the weekend (John Paul was out of town and a bag of oranges was less than $4 at Trader Joe's), and am so glad to discover how easy they are!

I used Smitten Kitchen's recipe, which worked wonderfully with a few tweaks.  After reading some comments from her original post, I blanched the peels a total of three times, each time using a fresh pot of boiling water.  I also left the peels to dry for 12 hours after simmering them in the simple syrup, which made them much easier to handle when dipping into chocolate. 

I found it easiest to score the orange peel about 8 times down the sides, peel away the pith, then slice into strips.  Also, I used organic navel oranges to avoid the wax sprayed on to maintain freshness.

They're so wonderful!  Slightly bittersweet, with a crunchy chocolate coating.  If you need a tasty party treat, I highly recommend orangettes!