Cranberry Relish

Gentle Reader ~ Will you accept my sincere apology? I showed you a picture of my bowl of perfect porridge topped with that oh! so delicious ~ my go to recipe ~ of fresh Cranberry Relish ~ and I didn't share the recipe ~~~ my head hangs in shame ~~~

So, I shall put that right immediately!

I think the reason I overlooked this was I shared it on my companion page over on Facebook and promptly forgot to share it here ~~~ no excuses though, and I am very sorry ~~~ It is so very easy and really tasty and I'm sure it is quite good for you too if you reduce the sugar, or don't think about it too much, but we all need a little sugar in our day sometimes ~~~ 

Here is the recipe ~~~

Ingredients

2 cups of fresh cranberries
3/4 cup ***brown sugar {I reduce this to 1/2 cup sometimes, depending on how I will use the relish}
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 grated orange peel
1 tablespoon lemon juice {or use port for special occasions}
1 grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon each of allspice and ground cloves {again, I often double up on the spices just because I love them so much}
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts {optional}

Method

In a food processor bowl {do not use a blender} process all the ingredients except the nuts, until the berries are roughly chopped.  Stir in the nuts, if using.  Pour into a clean glass jar {food safe polythene is fine} and store in the refrigerator.

***I use a very dark brown molasses sugar from Traidcraft, but any brown sugar is good.

This keeps for a good two weeks and improves with keeping.  It also freezes well.  I don't keep it just for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Right now, I have several boxes made up in the freezer to keep me supplied through much of the Winter as I use it often for a topping for my porridge {oatmeal}

I also mix it in with home made, or shop bought, mincemeat and use it in mince pies and mince meat cookies or tray~bakes ~ they are just so good, especially if you use pastry for the bottom of the pie and marzipan for the lids!  You just have to use your imagination and experiment and you will see how versatile this little jar of yumminess can be!

If you want to give as gifts, use pretty jars that are  sterilized and add some pretty ribbons for presentation.   The porridge, by the way, looks so dark because the sugary juices from the Relish have melted over ~~~ yum yum happy tum!

I know we all have our own favourite porridge recipes too, and mine is to make the porridge using half a cup of oats to a cup of almond milk, adding more almond milk as needed to get the consistency I like best.

Food fit to keep a hungry gardener going all morning from breakfast until lunch ~~~ because ~~~

~~~A Gardener's Work is Never Done~~~