Cranberry Applesauce

I got hit with a major cold the day after Thanksgiving. Honestly, I started feeling a little under the weather on Wednesday night, but chalked it up to being over-tired and needing a good night’s sleep and a long weekend away from school and work. On Thursday, the flurry of preparing to host vegan Thanksgiving for 8+ people took over and Eric and I went into full cleaning/cooking mode. We had our dear friends Karen, Oliver and Jeremy and their lovely friend Asia and Maria Elena, Tony and their 6 month-old (Little Tony) over. Karen brought some lovely roasted potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts and a delicious pumpkin spice bundt cake. Maria Elena brought a veganized Waldorf salad (the first I had ever tried!) and some really delicious sweet potatoes she had made after reading Mark Bittman’s ode to the sweet potato in the NY Times. We made the vegetable pot pie recipe from the blog, which turned out well. And mushroom gravy, which was a total flop–too many mushrooms, not enough liquid. I made the savory stuffing and took this updated photo of it.

And the raw cranberry orange relish and took a new photo of that as well.

Overall, except for the mushroom gravy, dinner was delicious and it was really nice to spend time with such good friends. By Thursday evening, though, I was definitely feeling pretty sick. I fell asleep on the couch at 7:30 and went up to bed at 8:30 and slept for 12 hours. Friday, I spent on the couch, trying to get some grading done and drinking lots of cold remedy drinks. I made a mixture of the turmeric detox drink and the lemon ginger cold remedy and used almost an entire roll of toilet paper blowing my nose. Eric went to spend time with his brother’s family on Friday night and I stayed home, ate Thanksgiving leftovers on the couch and watched episode after episode of Drop Dead Diva (my latest fluffy TV show pick that Eric refuses to watch).  Saturday, I wasn’t feeling much better, but I did drag my sorry ass out of the house to go to Costco (a special kind of hell on the Saturday after Thanksgiving) and the vegetable stand for food for the dogs. Sunday, we hung out with Eric’s brother and his family and had everyone over for dinner. Smoky lentil stew, mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, kale salad with persimmons, roasted cauliflower, roasted radishes, and cranberry applesauce.

Cranberry Applesauce: The Recipe

Serves 6-8

8-10 smallish apples (mixed variety)

2 cups fresh cranberries

2 Tbls maple syrup (or more to taste)

juice of half a lemon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Peel and dice the apples, removing the core (you can leave the peels on if you don’t mind them). In medium/large saucepan, add all ingredients. On medium/low heat, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the sauce cooks down to the consistency you like. You may need to add a small splash of water at the beginning if the apples are too dry, but they should quickly cook down and provide enough liquid for the rest of the cooking process. Taste and adjust spices as you like. Serve warm with a sprinkle of cinnamon.