Apple Ginger Cranberry Sauce

Apple Ginger Cranberry Sauce

Recipe: 

1 (12 oz) bag fresh cranberries, picked over

2 tbsp sugar

4 tbsp (1/4 c) agave nectar

2 apples (golden delicious, gala, or another sweet variety)

10 oz unsweetened apple juice

1 to 2 inches fresh ginger, grated

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp glazed orange or lemon zest

Bring all ingredients to a boil, lower heat. Cook on low until all berries burst. Use a stick blender partially blend the mixture, leaving some chunks for texture. Continue cooking on low until desired thickness. 

Note: you may find this a bit tart if so add more sugar or agave to your liking.

Now for the pics: 

Pumpkin Butter

I just made a big ol' batch of pumpkin butter!

Note: This can be refrigerated or frozen, but not canned per USDA guidelines. For a great explanation, click here.

My recipe is a variation of the one found here.

I used 2 small pie pumpkins... I chopped them in half and baked them cut side down in the oven until fork tender (about 35 min @350 degrees F). I let that cool then peeled and removed the stems. This yielded 2# 9 oz of pumpkin flesh.

I placed the pumpkin flesh in a 2 quart pan with apple cider, spices, and brown sugar. I mashed the pumpkin using a potato masher. I thought about using my stick blender, but I wanted it to be a bit more chunky.

I cooked this on very low heat for about an hour. Giving it a stir every now and then. I suppose you could use your crock pot if you so choose.

The result is delicious if I do say so myself. It will go great with the biscuits I just made using my newly acquired Bakewell Cream. Yeah, I think it was worth it. I mean, usually biscuits are no good on day two. These are on day 3 and they are still edible. (Yes, they were much better fresh.)

Ingredients:
2.5 lbs. cooked pumpkin flesh
1.5 cups apple cider (non-alcoholic)
1 tbsp. Pumpkin pie spice
1 pinch cardamon
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger
1 inch fresh ginger, grated or finely chopped
2 cups brown sugar

Yields 7 (4oz) jars. Must be refrigerated or frozen.

First Attempt at Miso Soup!

Click Here for Recipe!

Actually, the recipe was called Ginger Miso Seafood Broth. I saw Ching-He Huang make it on Cooking Channel, and I had to try it even if it was the middle of summer.  

Miso- Soybean paste, found it in the
refrigerated section at the Asian Grocery Store.

As usual, there were a few ingredients in the recipe I couldn't get a hold of.... and even more importantly, some I didn't like and completely omit (i.e. CILANTRO... blech!) My review on the recipe may not be  completely fair because of this...

Luckily, I was able to visit a real city recently to pick up some miso... There was no bok choy to be had in this little town, so I used Spinach. Also I used mostly salmon because it's what I had on hand. 


I have to say I'm not a big fan of tofu, but it's tolerable in this soup.  The ginger is what initially attracted me to the soup, but I have to admit if I make this again, I would cut back on the ginger a bit... and I would probably grate it... well, then again, since it's in big chunks, I guess you could fish it out of the soup if you wanted... I think I would leave the fish out. Hubby liked it, but he's much more of a seafood eater than I am.... I'm thinking MEAT!! lol Also, I added parsley in place of the cilantro...

Thinly Slicing Ginger

And as I said, it's summer; it was 100 degrees F today, so I also had this delicious "personal size" watermelon. It was so yummy. I really could have personally ate the whole thing myself, but I shared! ;) 

**Tip: Use a spoon to scrap the skin off of your ginger root.