Gram’s Cranberry Salad Sauce

Photo of a totally gratuitous California sunset, because well, it’s pretty.

OK, super lucky readers, my auntie, the daughter of my third grandma, is kindly allowing me to share her mother’s salad sauce that normally accompanies her amazing cranberry salad (I think hers does not have cinnamon). So here it is!

GRAM’S CRANBERRY SALAD SAUCE

 

COMBINE in medium bowl:

1 cup canned (evaporated) milk

2 TB sugar

1 TB yellow mustard

 

ADD, very slowly, via tiny drizzles from bottle, 

cider vinegar to bowl of milk, sugar and mustard,

to thicken the mixture.  

 

OPTIONAL: Add small dollop of sour cream or

plain yogurt to mixture.  

 

SERVE OVER CRANBERRY SALAD.  

 

 

–Gram (Jacqueline Barnard) c. 1950’s

Roasted Cauliflower – Too Delicious to Ignore

Roasting cauliflower is akin to transforming an unappreciated commoner like Eliza Dolittle into an empress. Perhaps I should mention that I never had anything against cauliflower – I just never sought it out before now.

I happened to somehow end up with three or four cauliflower at once – so…what to do? Yes, why not try roasting? Brings out the sweetness of the vegetable and gives it a great texture. Yummy, yummy. I’ve decided it will be a non-guilty pleasure, what with the all vitamin C and other nutritional goodness it represents as a member of the cruciferous family of vegetables.

cauliflower slathered in olive oil and salt

on the grill/cookie sheet

roasted cauliflower

Ingredients/Tools:

1. 2 cauliflowers;
2. approximately 1/4 cup of oil;
3. salt;
4. mixing bowl/zippered plastic bag; and
5. toaster oven.

Directions:

1. Set your toaster oven to broil. While that’s getting hot, get into the prep.
2. Break off the cauliflower florets and slice the largest into quarters, cross-wise.
3. Pour some oil into the zippered bag, then add 2 teaspoons of salt.
4. Add the florets and shake the bag! Cover all the florets with this oil mixture.
5. Pop the cauliflower pieces into the toaster oven. (I did this in 2 batches, 30 minutes apiece).

It’s so easy. What about sauces? I was thinking about glazing the cauliflower with some miso butter – haven’t gotten around to doing that, mostly eating it just roasted. Squeezed some home-grown lemons (gift from a friend) onto the roasted cauliflowers with some dashes of soy sauce – worked great!

Strawberries with Melted Chocolate / Salinas Valley Farmland Pix

Quick, what if you don’t know what to make for dessert and you are feeling ultra-lazy? Melt some dark chocolate in a metal bowl floating in simmering water, wash and hull some strawberries and call it a day! That’s the recipe. I served this to some friends – spooning the chocolate over strawberries. Pretty effortless.

Strawberries with Melted Chocolate

And where do strawberries grow? you may be wondering. Why, many grow in the Salinas Valley. Coastal California dominates domestic and international strawberry production with Watsonville/Salinas crops representing nearly half of California’s total strawberry acreage.

Conventional strawberry production is associated with the potential use of methyl iodide. Monterey County, which includes the Salinas Valley, is primarily agricultural and very poor. I was surprised to learn that it is supporting a potential ban on methyl iodide since strawberries enjoy the status of being a billion dollar crop.

This chemical is the subject of enormous controversy  complete with its own government scandal at the moment. The conflict may very well subside: the Strawberry Commission and the state are studying how to grow strawberries more safely without methyl iodide. This could be good news since strawberries have the potential to be cancer-preventing on one hand but would be causing cancer on the other hand if methyl iodide is used to grow them.

Anyways, here are some pix from my recent visit to America’s Salad Bowl. Is it fair that it is so darn fertile as well as stunningly gorgeous?!!? Being there is like stepping into a Georgia O’Keeffe painting.

Organic Strawberry Plant Closeup

Rows of Organic Strawberry Plants

Ye Olde Barn

Salinas Valley Farmland, against Hills with Clouds