Cranberry Orange Relish

I love good cranberry sauce with my turkey for Thanksgiving.  I bought some cranberries to make an Apple Cranberry Pie, so I figured I would buy some extra so I could try some homemade cranberry sauce.  I looked for a good recipe, just so I could get some inspiration and an idea of where to start.  Here is what I did.

Cranberry Orange Relish

12 oz cranberries
3/4 c sugar
1/3 c water
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 orange, zested and juice

In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, water, orange zest and juice, and spices.  Bring up to a boil over medium heat, and then reduce to a simmer.

Cook for another 5 to 7 minutes.  The mixture will thicken as it cooks.  Remove from heat and pour into a bowl, then chill in refrigerator til ready to serve.

Holiday Recipe Contest!

I am teaming up with my friend at The Handmade Heritage with a new project she is calling Half Baked Heritage.  I am excited for this project because it's a fun new thing to do, and it's something thats close to my heart.  I love holiday recipes!

We're having a recipe contest for the holidays that is centered around Thanksgiving.  Since Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away, we are doing this pretty quick!  Check out the rules for the contest and enter your recipe quick so we can share recipes and you can have a chance at winning an AWESOME prize from The Handmade Heritage--the winning recipe gets featured and posted on Half Baked Heritage, and they get a great basket full of handmade candies made by The Handmade Heritage!  (Trust me, you want in on this.....even if you cant eat it yourself, it would make a great gift!  She makes some great stuff!)

Don't have any traditional Thanksgiving recipes?  No worries.  We'll be doing this again for Christmas too!  I'll make sure I post another reminder for you as we get closer to that contest.

In addition to the contest, I will be featuring some of my favorite holiday recipes, and I hope you will follow us in this fun time!  Maybe this will inspire you to start some of your own new holiday traditions!!  Join the fun!

Stuffing...not just for Thanksgiving!

I am a firm believer that you don't have to wait for Thanksgiving to have turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes....and of course rolls and pie!!  This post is only for stuffing though.  I love it!  My mom and step-dad have been making this stuff their own way for years, and I have morphed my own recipe because theirs isn't my fave...sorry Mom!  We were invited to a friend's house on Sunday because they roasted a HUGE turkey and needed help eating it.  This guy knows how to roast a bird, let me tell you... and I brought my favorite side dish to go along side...it even won over the non stuffing lovers...!  Enjoy!

Stuffing

1 pkg herb seasoned stuffing
1 small pkg cornbread stuffing
1 can chicken broth
1 stick of butter
1/2 c celery
1/2 c onion
1 lb pork sausage (usually use the country kind)
1 c cashew halves
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced

Pour stuffing pkgs into a large mixing bowl, toss to combine.  Brown sausage in a skillet, and break into crumbly pieces. Set aside.  In same skillet you browned the sausage in, melt the butter, and then promptly add celery, onions, eventually, when onions and celery are tender, mushrooms.  Sauté veggies together til mushrooms shrink down and veggies are completely tender, and then dump this (make sure you get all of the butter in there too) and sausage into bowl with stuffing mix.  Add cashews and mix well.  Add chicken stock, stirring as you go so you get it moistened evenly but not soggy.  Pour this whole mixture into a greased 9x13 baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Pull out of oven, and stir so the top and bottom are swapped (kind of flip or turn the stuffing so the top doesn't burn and the bottom stuff gets slightly crisped.)  Bake another 10 minutes.

Serve with your favorite fixings, or just on its own.  I love this stuff!!