Common Cuisine |

This is a fun dish to make during Thanksgiving week, when everyone is looking for something besides turkey dinner.

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2″ pieces
• ¾ cup onions, chopped
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ginger
• 1 tsp grated orange rind
• ½ cup orange juice
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar (optional)

Layer chicken pieces in bottom of slow cooker. Top with (in order) onion, cranberries, salt, cinnamon, ginger, orange rind, and orange juice. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours. Remove chicken pieces to a platter.

Melt butter in saucepan. Pour sauce from chicken into pan, reserving ½ cup. Add sugar to saucepan, if using. Heat to boil. Combine reserved sauce with cornstarch until smooth; add to sauce. Return to boil. Boil and stir one minute, until thickened. Serve over chicken.

Serves 4.

Okay, here is the recipe as it was given to me. If you decide to play with it, let me know what proportions you come up with, and I will do the same.

Submitted by Candice Kugler

• Fresh cranberries
• Frozen lemonade
• Sugar

Cook, mash and strain the cranberries. Add lemonade and sugar and stir, then freeze all. After it has frozen take it back out and use a mixer to chip and whip it up. Dish it up in dessert cups. It is a great blend of sweet and tart.

Did you know? Cranberries, blueberries and Concord grapes are the only three fruits native to North America! Cranberries got their name from their appearance. In the spring the vines flower, and the pink petals bear a resemblance to the head and bill of a crane. Originally called “crane berries”, the name was eventually shortened to cranberry.

A ½ cup serving of fresh, raw cranberries has about 23 calories and 2 grams of fiber. It contains a good amount of Vitamin A and potassium. And who eats cranberries raw? But once they are dried, they lose almost all their vitamins A and C content. That probably happens when they are cooked and jellied, too, unfortunately. This does reinforce my intention to serve fresh cranberry salsa this year for Thanksgiving, though.

Cranberries are a seasonal fruit, so if you think you might want to use fresh cranberries in any recipes this winter, buy them now and throw them in the freezer because in a couple of weeks they will be gone for another year. You can use cranberries frozen this way just like you would fresh ones.

For some ideas on what to do with cranberries, check out some of our cranberry recipes.

• 2 Pie Crusts
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar

Mmm… cranberries, apples, nuts. Sounds like a winning combination to me!

• 1/3 cup flour
• 2 cups fresh cranberries
• 5 cups chunked apples
• ½ cup coarsely chopped nuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 425. Line pie plate with pastry crust. Mix brown sugar and flour in large bowl. Stir in cranberry sauce, apples and nuts. Place mixture in pie plate. Cover with top crust and cut vents; then crimp edges together.

Bake 40 to 50 minutes until crust begins to brown and juice starts to bubble out of the vents.

Serves 8.

• 7 crisp apples
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup dried cranberries or raisins
• ½ cup walnut pieces
• ½ cup orange juice
• ¼ cup water
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp orange zest, or 1 tsp lemon zest
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Core and slice apples using a peeler/corer/slicer tool, while leaving peel on. Or, core and peel 1″ of skin off around the top using an everyday corer/peeler tool. Place whole apples into pie dish. Stuff centers of apples with cranberries and walnuts.

In small saucepan, melt butter. Add orange juice, water, butter, brown sugar, orange zest, cornstarch, and cinnamon; whisk until smooth. Pour over apples. Bake 1 hour until apples are tender. Sprinkle cinnamon over top.

To serve, place apples in small bowls and spoon sauce over top. Top with ice cream if desired.

Serves 7.

Submitted by Mary Lee Hackman

To make this recipe bigger, all you have to add is another head of broccoli and measure the remaining ingredients generously. It all works out.

• 1 head fresh broccoli, cut into small flowerets
• ½ medium red onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 pound bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbled
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup whole cashews

Dressing:

• 1 cup mayo
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp white vinegar

In large bowl, stir together broccoli flowerets, red onion, crumbled bacon, and cranberries.

In small bowl, mix mayo, sugar, and vinegar. Refrigerate both bowls at least 1 hour, up to overnight.

About an hour before serving time, pour dressing over broccoli mixture and stir. Just before serving, sprinkle cashews on top.

Serves 4-6.