Eggnog during Christmas season is a tradition that I share with people from around the world. Granted I have met a few people who don’t like it but almost everyone I know loves it. The recipe I have posted below is a very simple one that I have made many times but first some history which can be found on multiple sites on the internet. Continue reading
Category Archives: Recipes
Three Cranberry Coffee Cake Recipes
Cranberry sauce is a traditional part of American and Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations. Americans consume some 400 million pounds of cranberries each year, 20 percent of that during Thanksgiving week!
The cranberry is a Native American wetland fruit which grows on trailing vines like a strawberry. The vines thrive on the special combination of soils and water properties found in wetlands. Native Americans used cranberries, fat and ground venison to make a survival cake known as pemmican. They also used the fruit in poultices and fabric dyes.
The first recorded use of the word “cranberries” appeared in 1647 in a letter written by missionary John Eliot. Cranberries soon became a vital source of vitamin C for whalers and a valuable resource to New England residents. New England sailors ate cranberries, a good source of vitamin C, to fight off scurvy.
Cranberries are primarily grown in five states — Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. They are also cultivated in Chile, Quebec, Eastern Canada, and British Columbia.
Almost all, 95%, of British Columbia’s cranberries are grown for the processing market. The rest are sold as fresh berries. BC produces about 26 million kilograms of cranberries valued at $12 million. These berries are grown by 50 family farm operations on 1150 producing hectares. The berries produced in British Columbia are sold and shipped into the United States for processing to the Ocean Spray Pool along with the crop from Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New York, Maine, Oregon and Washington. Fresh cranberries at Granville Island and other local markets are from British Columbia, but most sold in Canadian supermarkets are likely from Wisconsin. — Cranberry Facts — Ministry of Agriculture & Lands – BC Berry Industry Overview
Cranberries and health
Cranberries are considered a healthy fruit. They contain no cholesterol and virtually no fat and are low in sodium. Various cranberry products may contain substantial levels of dietary fiber and certain vitamins, as well as a variety of photochemical that may be beneficial to health. — Cranberries Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits
Historically, cranberry fruits and leaves were used for a variety of problems, such as wounds, urinary disorders, diarrhea, diabetes, stomach ailments, and liver problems. Recently, cranberry products have been used in preventing or treating urinary tract infections or Helicobacter pylori (H. Pylori) infections. Cranberry has also been reported to have antioxidant and anticancer activity. — Fibromyalgia: Cranberry for Cystitis
No other berry has undergone as much scientific study applied to humans than the cranberry. Aboriginal Canadians knew that they had medicinal properties, and recent research indicates that the powerful phytochemicals contained in these berries may provide a remarkable range of health benefits. Cranberries, for example, contain chemicals that prevent the adhesion of bacteria to cell walls, which help defend against the organisms that cause stomach ulcers and gum disease; probably for this reason, cranberries have long been a recognized treatment for urinary tract infections. Cranberries may also improve cardiovascular health by reducing blood-cholesterol levels, and their anti-inflammatory properties may be a factor in promoting overall health. — Canadian Cranberries: A Tart Treasure
K. Fields has a blog titled Arcticulates: Focusing on Alaska’s Beauty. She shared this coffeecake recipe below with me two years ago and it was an instant hit.
Next I will be trying her Wild Cranberry Muffins.
Cranberry Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup applesauce*
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 ounces of canned cranberries or 1.5 cups of wild cranberries
*Applesauce replaces the cup of sugar… so diabetics or health conscience folks can eat it too.
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, grease and flour one 9 or 10 inch tube pan.
- Mix thoroughly the butter, applesauce, and the eggs.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and cinnamon. Add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream or yogurt to the butter mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract and mix only until just combined. Pour 1/3 of the batter into the prepared pan. Swirl 1/2 of the cranberries/ or cranberry sauce into the batter. Repeat, ending with the batter on top.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for approx. 55 minutes or until golden brown and your finger does not leave a indent when you gently tap on top.
- Let stand 5 – 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool on a wire rack.
Two more delicious cranberry cake recipes
Cranberries and canned pumpkin with a variety of spices make a fabulous cake. Choose from a crumb topping or a simple icing. This deliciously different cake is very easy to make. — Pumpkin Cranberry Cake Recipe
Don’t miss the lovely variation here. – Cranberry Pumpkin Coffee Cake Recipe
Two Canadian Pumpkin Soups
The frost is still to come but it’s cold outside and the daylight ends early. When days are short and nights are long I usually think about cooking comfort food.
This post contains recipes for two pumpkin soups that my friends and I enjoyed at Canadian Thanksgiving dinner and I hope my readers will try them and enjoy them too.
Canadian Pumpkin Soup
This is a vegetarian pumpkin soup with curry and maple caramelized onions.
It takes about 40 minutes to make and serves 8.
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 4 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup real Canadian maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 large apples, peeled, cored and diced
- 2 (15-ounce) cans pumpkin or fresh pumpkin
- juice from 2 oranges
- 6 cups milk
- Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- small rounds of toast or holland rusks
Instructions
(1) Use a large skillet on a medium-high heat, pour in 4 tablespoons of olive oil and add half of the onions. Then saute until the onions are very soft and lightly browned.
(2) Add the maple syrup and ginger, then reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring often, until the onions are thick and caramelized and then set aside.
(3) While the onions are caramelizing, in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, combine the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil, the remaining onion, the curry powder, red pepper flakes and the apple. Then saute until the onion is tender.
(4) Add in the pumpkin and orange juice and then place the mixture into a blender or food processor. Add milk and puree until smooth.
(5) Pour the soup mixture into and saucepan and gently simmer. Season with salt and pepper.
(6) Ladle the soup into bowls, then top each serving with toasts or rusks and spoon the caramelized onions onto the toasts.
Pumpkin and Sausage Soup
Serves 8
Ingredients
- 16 ounces country style sausage
- 1/2 cup onions, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped
- 15 ounces pumpkin, canned
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
(1) Over medium heat brown the sausage breaking into small bits. Drain fat. Add the onion, garlic, Italian seasoning and mushrooms and saute until vegetables are cooked.
(2) Add the canned pumpkin and the broth, stirring to mix well. Cook at a low simmer for 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in heavy cream, sour cream and water, and serve.
Give Thanks: Roasted Tomato Soup
This is the time of the year making soup is my thing. While favored for making sauces, pastes, ketchup and for canning, traditional romas or classic romas were never really sought after for their flavor to be eaten whole or with salads and sandwiches. This has changed over the years as more flavorful, and sweeter tasting Roma varieties have been developed and became popular.
Roasted Tomato Soup and Canadian Pumpkin Soup are traditional soup recipes I make every year that are well received at Canadian Thanksgiving dinners. I also tried a third recipe for Pumpkin and Sausage Soup this year that got rave reviews. In honor of American Thanksgiving I’m sharing three delicious soup recipe in my next three posts.
Roasted Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Roma (plum) tomatoes, quartered
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 quart chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarians)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
- dill to taste
Instructions
1. Cut the tomatoes into halves and place them side up, on a baking dish with the garlic cloves. Drizzle with the oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in a per-heated at 375 degrees F (195 degrees C) for 1 hour.
2. Remove the garlic cloves and cut the ends off. Then squeeze the insides into the bowl of a food processor along with the entire contents of the baking dish. Add stock, basil,dill, and vinegar; blend until smooth. Season to taste. Serve either hot or cold.
