Bogged Down on Cranberries

 

I'll be darned if I could find fresh or frozen cranberries in Australia. They come canned, jellied or dried, but no fresh ones were to be found around the holidays and I really missed them. When the kids were little, we strung them with popcorn to make garlands for the Christmas tree. Fresh cranberry sauce was always served with our turkey dinner on Thanksgiving and Christmas. The piece de resistance though was Cranberry Pudding, a holiday dessert I've made since … forever.

It was with a certain amount of delight then that I noticed an Ocean Spray Cranberry Bog open to the public not far away from where we're living now. The sign announced “The Bog...at Patriot Place”. Well, Patriot Place is where the New England Patriots play football. The bog isn't too far away and I'm hoping the stadium wasn't built in the marshy areas in which cranberries thrive, though I'd guess, it probably was.

The bog, first planted in 1929, is surrounded by a half-mile nature trail with interpretive signs en route. We learned a lot about cranberries, cranberry growing and cranberry harvesting. For instance, it was originally called a “crane berry” because the flower resembled a sandhill crane. Cranberry growers rent beehives to insure that there are enough bees to pollinate the cranberry flowers. The freshest, ripest cranberries bounce and a bounce board is actually still used sometimes to sort out the best berries from the culls. You can never learn too much about things like cranberries. You never know when you're going to need all that trivia to write a blog post.

We enjoyed the walk on a warm spring's day. The bog was a reddish-green and not in flower yet. No bees in sight. The nearby fresh water pond was teeming with small fish and little turtles sunned themselves on rocks. We meandered along the bog's edge, over and up hills, through stands of trees with buds swollen to bursting, ready to open with a few more days of warm encouragement.

I remember trudging into the bogs and picking red, ripe wild cranberries in the autumn and freezing them whole in seal-able bags for use later in the season. This wouldn't have done me much good in Australia, I'm afraid (no native cranberries, no freezer), but the thought of having fresh berries again, warmed my heart.

Cranberry Pudding

Author: Marcie Connelly Lynn

Here's my recipe for Cranberry Pudding. It's easy and wonderfully good. You can substitute other berries (blueberries, blackberries) for the fresh cranberries if you must, but you'll have to fuss with the amount of sugar, so it's not too sweet.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (200g) of fresh cranberries, washed and cleaned
• ½ cup (100g) + ¼ cup (50g) of white sugar
• ½ cup (120g) chopped walnuts
• 4 tbsp (60g) + 2 tbsp (30g) melted butter or margarine
• 1 large, well-beaten egg (aha...same in metric!)
• ½ cup flour (50g)

Instructions

1. Grease a 9” (23x4cm) pie plate and place the fresh (or frozen) cranberries in the bottom. Mix ¼ cup of the sugar with 4 tbsp of the melted butter and the walnuts and drizzle over the cranberries. Mix together the flour, egg and the remaining sugar and butter and pour on top of the cranberries and nuts. Bake at 350F/180C for about 40-45 minutes or until the cranberries are bubbling and the cake-like top is golden brown. Best served warm with freshly whipped cream or ice cream, but it's great when it has cooled, too.

Notes

As an aside, though David loves cranberry pudding, he's also been known to say that “cranberries are a waste of good sugar”. Obviously, he's not a New Englander.

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The Blue View - An Edible Knot

 

I've referred to The Ashley Book of Knots in previous Blue View Blogs. Of his 3,854 knots, my very favorite is his knot #169. It is difficult to untie, jams easily and is not very strong. The only thing going for it is that it tastes great.

Since today is National Pretzel Day, it only seemed fitting to talk about pretzels in today's blog. I like big, soft pretzels right out of the oven, slathered with mustard. I have my own recipe for pretzels, and I've made these on long passages and more than once on a cold, rainy afternoon in a remote anchorage. And of course, I use Ashley's knot #169, the Pretzel Knot to form the pretzels.

I boil the pretzels before baking. I think it adds to the flavor and gives them a softer, firmer skin. The time they are allowed to boil is important. If they aren't boiled long enough, they will be too soft, while boiling them too long makes them tough.

Edible Knots

Recipe Type: Snack

Author: David Lynn

Ingredients

• For 1 dozen pretzels
• 1 tbsp (15 grams)yeast
• 1 tbsp (12 grams) sugar
• 1 tsp (5 grams) salt
• 2 tbsp (30 grams) soft butter or margarine
• 1 cup (250 ml) warm water
• 3 cups (300 grams) flour
• 2 tbsp (30 grams) coarse sea salt to sprinkle on Pretzels before baking
• 2 tbsp (25 grams) baking soda mixed in 4 cups (1 liter) water in a saucepan (non-aluminum).
• Greased cookie sheet

Instructions

1. Put yeast, sugar, salt, butter or margarine, water and 1/3 of the flour into a medium mixing bowl. Stir mixture until it is smooth. When the yeast starts to bubble, add the remaining flour. Stir the mixture until it is too stiff, then begin kneading. Knead the dough until it is smooth and no longer sticky. Cover the bowl, set it in a warm place and allow the dough to rise until it doubles in size, about an hour.
2. When the dough has risen enough, punch it down, and knead for a minute or so. Divide into 12 equal parts and roll each with your hands into 12-15-inch long ropes. Use the photos or Ashley's Book of Knots #169 to form each into a pretzel knot. While the pretzels rest for a few minutes, grease the cookie sheet and bring the the baking soda/water mixture to a boil on stove. Preheat oven to 475 F (250 C).
3. Boil them for 1 minute on one side, then flip them over with a slotted spoon and boil one minute on the other side. When each pretzel is done, remove from the water and let it drip for a few seconds before placing on the cookie sheet.
4. Sprinkle the pretzels with the coarse sea salt and bake for 12-15 minutes or until they are golden brown.
5. Serve with mustard – either the basic yellow type or a spicy brown mustard.
6. If they aren't eaten right away, they can be refrigerated and reheated at 250 F (120 C) for a few minutes.
7. We're pretty sure this works, but we usually eat them so fast, there are none to re-heat.

3.2.1275

Lemay Special

It's amazing what constitutes “comfort foods” for different people. For some it's chocolate or something sweet; for others, warm bread or cookies. Sometimes just the delicious smell alone provides comfort when you're cold, wet, tired, lonesome or all of the above. For me, it's a big kettle of Lemay Special. I grew up in New England where the winter nights began at 3:30pm and cold and snow were a requisite part of living in central Massachusetts in February. A Saturday winter tradition in the Lemay household was for Mom to prepare this hearty soup early in the day and it would simmer and sit on the stove till dinner time. Some call it Hobo Stew and it's probably got lots of different names and variations on the theme. It's been cold and raw here the last week, so I put the soup pot on and brewed up some Lemay Special and it warmed us up from the inside out. Just in case there's none left when you stop by, here's the recipe so you can make some for yourself.

Lemay Special

Author: Marcie Connelly Lynn

Ingredients

• 1 lb minced (ground) beef or turkey
• 4 carrots peeled and sliced
• 4-6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp each salt
• 1 – 15oz (400g) can chopped tomatoes
• 1 – 8oz (225g) can tomato sauce
• ½ tsp black ground pepper
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• Tobasco sauce to your taste
• Water

Instructions

1. Brown the meat, onion and garlic; drain any fat. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, vegetables and rest of ingredients. Add enough water to just cover the vegetables. Stir well. Add more salt, pepper, Tobasco to suit your taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until all the vegetables are tender. Serve hot with crusty bread or crackers and cheese.

Notes

I use this recipe as a Passage Soup, prepared before we leave the dock, knowing I'm not usually up for much for cooking or galley work the first couple of days on a passage. You can use your imagination and substitute chicken chunks for ground meat; add peas or green beans in addition to or in place of carrots. Out of tomato sauce...substitute catsup. It always tastes good.

3.2.1275