Ruth's Orange-Cranberry Relish

Let me start off by saying that I have no idea who the "Ruth" of this recipe is. All I know is that my grandma knew her at one point, probably back in the 1960s, and ended up with a copy of her recipe. Several years ago, I went through some of my grandma's tried'n'true recipes because I wanted my own copies. The recipe makes a generous quantity, more than enough for the family Thanksgiving dinner, which means since I make the relish, I get to take the remainder home and enjoy it on sandwiches for the next week--yum! 

Ingredients:

1 pound/4 cups fresh cranberries

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup water

2 tsps orange zest

1/2 cup blanched, slivered almonds

Combine the cranberries, sugar, orange juice, water, and orange zest in a large saucepan. Cook over medium high heat for 12 to 15 minutes or until the cranberries pop open. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully skim off the foam. Add the almonds, stir well, and allow to cool before chilling.

Yields about 2 cups.

Cook's Notes:

1. I'm kind of on the fence about the amount of sugar in this recipe. On the one hand, cranberries are rather tart in their natural state. On the other hand, the orange juice adds sweetness & flavor so I think the amount of sugar could probably be reduced. I haven't altered the amounts at all to test this hypothesis, so if you want to change it up, go for it.

2. You can either subsititute pecans or omit the nuts completely. I like the texture; a little crunch to counter the squishy berries but it's up to you.

3. If you don't have a Microplane grater, buy one or put it on your Amazon wish list for Christmas. I use mine for zesting citrus peels, whole nutmeg, chunks of ginger, garlic cloves, & even chili peppers for adding a teeny bit of heat.

Trust me, Ruth's Orange-Cranberry Relish is nothing like the canned sauce. Make up a batch & try it yourself! It also pairs well with pork chops or a pork roast if you get tired of turkey.

Tawny Pumpkin Pie

You know how I was ranting about not liking pumpkin flavored everything? Well, pumpkin pie is the exception and so were some muffins from Albertson's that had cream cheese in them--yum! I generally don't buy baked goods, except for doughnuts and Danishes, but those muffins were amazing. 

Thanksgiving is early for me this year; it's this coming Sunday, the 15th. As my siblings have plans for the actual day with their in-laws, it's become our tradition to gather together either on a weekend before or after Thanksgiving Thursday. I don't mind celebrating on a different day because all that matters is family and food. And Scrabble. And coffee. 

Anyway, I called my grandma to see if she was willing to host and the first thing she asked was if I would make the pies because she loves my pies. And that's a great thing to hear from anyone but especially from a grandma! We call my grandma, Nana (pronounced Naah-naah) and she has cooked family dinners for years. Decades actually. So, we told Nana that us grand-kids would do all the cooking and provide all the food this year. She's still making her scalloped corn because she is constitutionally incapable of not making one or more dishes for a gathering, but we're providing every thing else.

As for this recipe, I'm not entirely sure why it's called "tawny" other than the fact that most pumpkin pies bake up a nice tawny brown. Which is silly because it's like calling broccoli, "emerald broccoli" or white rice, "ivory rice". At any rate, I received a copy of the recipe from a former co-worker who had found it in a community cookbook from 1977. 

Ingredients:

One unbaked pie crust (at least 9 inch) in a glass dish

1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup evaporated milk

2 eggs

3/4 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons water

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet for stability and carefully pour the mixture into the unbaked crust.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until the middle just barely jiggles and is no longer wet.

Cook's Notes:

1. It is perfectly acceptable to use frozen pie crust. Lightening will not strike you down. I like the Marie Callender pie crusts when I don't have the time (or the energy) to make my own from scratch.

2. Some of the ingredients might seem odd, like flour and water. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure why it calls for water unless the creator of the recipe needed more liquid and didn't have any more evaporated milk. The flour, even the small amount called for, contributes some starch to the filling which helps it set. I haven't messed with any of the proportions because baking requires more precision than cooking does as far as swapping ingredients. If you or a loved one needs the filling to be gluten-free, you could use arrowroot powder instead or omit it all together and it'll probably be just fine.

3. The absolute best topping ever for a pumpkin pie is whipped cream, ideally, freshly made whipped cream. Although, you really can't go wrong with classic Cool Whip or even the canned stuff.