Let the Baking Begin! (Not to mention the canning).

For Thanksgiving, I made one of my very favorite desserts: a cranberry tart with a polenta crust. It's divine, especially with a cloud of freshly whipped cream, barely sweetened with a bit of powdered sugar and a dash of vanilla.

I changed the corn syrup to Lyle's Golden Syrup, but otherwise it's about the same as the printed recipe.

Cranberry (Polenta) Tart

This is crisp and bright in flavor, a nice change from some of the very sweet desserts more traditional at Thanksgiving.

We went out for dinner this year, to a wonderful old tavern about an hour away. My husband and I took a friend who wasn't able to get home for Thanksgiving.

Here we are, after dinner.

 

 

I have also started with the mince pies; this year made from cranberry mincemeat, rather than green tomato mincemeat. I am also considering a batch of traditional mincemeat.

 

 

Below are apple marmalade, and spicy pork and apple pie, as mentioned in the previous post.



I happened on some good sized quince in the market today, so tomorrow will probably be something or other with the quince, and I also plan to make another dozen mince pies.

In knitting news, I have finished a beanie for my mother-in-law, and found some coordinating leather mittens; I am trying to finish a ruffled necklet scarf to match.

These past few months have been some of the worst I can remember; not only for us, but for so many other people. I am trying, with some success, I hope, to burnish up the good things, to make them stand out and remind us that there are still good things, and good people in this world.

The Preparations Begin

What a year it's been. For the most part, not a very good, or a very nice year. There's the obvious of this past week--the election.

Five weeks ago I cut my finger badly while working in the kitchen (two ER visits)...not a lot of fun, that. It's going to be weeks or months before I can go without a dressing on the wound, but it is beginning to heal nicely.

We've had colds, bronchitis, food poisoning...yikes.

Well, enough of that. Thanksgiving is in a couple of weeks. Before that, there's a lovely vintage market to attend in Boston, and on the following day, I've organized a group to dress up in 20s garb and go to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

It's really been a funny year. For one reason and another, I have done very little canning. Only one batch of jelly, one of marmalade, and a few pints of pickles. Good thing that past couple of years have been so productive! I count on those things for Christmas presents, and use them as hostess gifts.

Finally, this past week I made mincemeat. Not the traditional stuff, but a cranberry mincemeat. It's good, but rather tart, and not as rich as the green tomato mincemeat I've made in the past. I am considering my first batch of real mincemeat, too.

Two fruitcakes are maturing in the cellar; a white one, a light one, and a third (dark) is in the works; the fruit and nuts are soaking in brandy now.

There will be little or no Christmas knitting. What with all the weirdness, and then the hand injury, it's just not going to happen. I can knit, but not marathon style, and as I'm so far behind, that's the only way I'd manage it!

For Thanksgiving my husband and I are going out to dinner with a friend who lives in the area; we'll be dining at one of the old, traditional New England restaurants we're so lucky to have here.

I just might make a Thanksgiving dessert, though. Possibly. We'll see...but it would be a lovely excuse to come back here, light a fire, and have dessert, tea, coffee, and brandy at our leisure.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for many things this year: my husband, other family, friends, good health...our house.

And as always, knitting (yarn!) and food.