11 Cranberry Recipes for the Holidays and Beyond

It’s the time of year for all things cranberry!

The fruit’s tart taste is an excellent balance to the creamy and sweet foods the holidays are heavy on. And they just happen to be that deep red color that goes perfectly both with Thanksgiving’s fall palette and the merry shades of Christmas.

Whether they’re in a centerpiece or a serving dish, cranberries instantly make a table look more festive.

Here’s a scrumptious compilation of cranberry recipes, so you can get cooking!

Mama Stamberg’s Cranberry Relish

Every year NPR Correspondent Susan Stamberg shares her mother-in-law’s recipe, a surprisingly controversial twist on the classic side dish. The relish was originally meant for Thanksgiving, but she also recommends it putting it over latkes for Hanukkah. / via The Salt

Cranberry Balsamic Roasted Chicken

This is a gluten-free, paleo, single-dish entree with a one-minute video showing the simple prep. I imagine you could use the same recipe for turkey breasts, as long as you adjust for a longer cook time. / via Cotter Crunch

Sugared Cranberries

Candying cranberries adds sweetness and gives them a little extra sparkle. You can then use them to top desserts or garnish drinks. / via Fork and Flower

Sweet Potato Bake with Fresh Cranberries and Apples

Memories of a friend’s Thanksgiving table – and of the sweet potato and apple dish that was served on it – inspired Marlee of I Just Make Sandwiches to create her own version for family members trying to eat healthy. / via I Just Make Sandwiches

Cranberry Hazelnut Pear Tart

A unique addition to your Thanksgiving dessert table, I’m pretty sure that both #TeamCake and #TeamPie will be fans of this tart. / via The Everyday Mess

Cranberry Pistachio Baked Brie

Ali at Gimme Some Oven has a great tip: choose a “go-to appetizer” for the entire holiday season that you can whip up every time you need something to take to a party or serve to guests. This 7-ingredient, 20-minute recipe for a melty wheel of brie topped with cranberry sauce, pistachios, and orange zest looks so pretty and festive! I’d be curious to know how well it travels, but it certainly sounds delicious! / via Gimme Some Oven (h/t Jenny Collier’s Friday Favorites)

Holiday Cocktail

Vodka, rosemary syrup, tangerine and cranberry juice make up this Warhol-inspired cocktail, which you can garnish with a sprig of rosemary and sugared cranberries (use the recipe above or the less-sugar version in this post.) / via Fork Knife Swoon

Chiltepin-Cranberry Relish

Another unusual take on cranberry relish uses wild chiltepin peppers to spice it up and either honey or agave syrup for sweetness. Try it with peppers that grow where you are! / via Savor the Southwest

Mixed Nuts & Cranberry Magic Bars

Great idea for a holiday season snack! / via The Kitchen Is My Playground

Fig and Cranberry Compote

This recipe calls for fresh or frozen cranberries, dried figs, cardamom, and honey. You can make it up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate, and then just bring it back up to room temperature before serving.

Chicken Salad Sandwich

Greek yogurt standing in for mayonnaise is the secret to lightening up this chicken salad. While it isn’t just for the holiday season, I could also see it inspiring a new take on Thanksgiving leftovers! / via Damn Delicious

Photos via their respective sites.

November 17, 2018November 24, 2018

Genoa, the Italian Riviera, and a Palm Tree

I was skeptical about the palm tree on the Genoa travel poster and whether it could actually grow in a city that far north.

What I hadn’t realized is that Genoa is on the shores of Mediterranean — specifically, the Italian Riviera. This coastal region in Liguria also includes towns like Portofino and the Cinque Terre, and it has a climate warm enough to support palm trees, agaves, and sun-seeking tourists.

In fact, the Italian Riviera was already a tourist destination in 1884, when Claude Monet visited and painted scenes like the Palm Trees at Bordighera.

Now if the word “riviera” initially made you picture a river (same here), you weren’t completely wrong. The Italian word rivièra can actually refer to the shores of a river, lake, or, in this case, a sea.

Because there’s an Italian Riviera, English speakers called the Mediterranean coast on France’s side of the border the “French Riviera,” borrowing the Italian word again. Apparently, there’s also a (much) lesser-known English Riviera, which seems like a tourism-bureau invention.

And, yes, in Italy, you can just call the Italian Riviera the “Riviera.”

Photos via:

Art Auction House Günther
AudreyH. CCL. (Waterfront in Riva Ligure)
trialsanderrors. CCL. (1920s poster: La Riviera Italienne)
Regan Vercruysse. CCL. (Monet’s Palm Trees at Bordighera at the Met)
Our Italy trip (map in the Vatican)
Martina Pathogens. CCL. (Beach in Alassio)
Regan Vercruysse. CCL. (Detail of Palm Trees at Bordighera)

I’ll be linking up with Thursday Tree Love at Happiness and Food.

November 3, 2018May 23, 2023

Downtown Mesa’s Día de los Muertos

A 10-foot tall skeleton in a sombrero leaned over to ask if I knew what time it was.

Which is not that weird when you’re at a Día de los Muertos celebration with skeletons everywhere – on banners, as sculptures, painted on kids’ faces, and for sale on tote bags.

So, of course, there would be a skeleton with stilts, a full beard, and no watch.

When you think about it, the lack of a timepiece may be the least surprising part. Schedules are probably pretty irrelevant in the realm of the dead.

Phillip, Quijote, and I had showed up near the end of Mesa Arts Center’s festival. We started at the custom car show and worked our way toward an oversized Frida Kahlo skull made from tissue paper flowers, stopping to listen to a band on the way.

We visited the community altar, which was decorated with photos, candles, art, and flowers in memory of departed loved ones.

On a second stage, Mariachi Pasion, an all-woman mariachi band, began playing.

When Quijote got restless, we moved on to check out the arts and crafts vendors. There were handcrafted decorations, jewelry, papel picado banners, and small ceramics that looked like ones we had seen in Peru.

Now it was 4:30 – half an hour before it was all scheduled to be over – and the party showed no signs of stopping.

In fact, it was still so crowded that our stilt-walking friend had trouble getting through. The bands played on, vendors continued to serve up churros and hot dogs and tamales and paletas, and there was still a line to get into the craft-making area.

As we walked away, the celebration continued behind us – everyone enjoying the moment, like time was irrelevant.