Spiced Cranberry Apple Sauce

Did you know that cranberry sauce is actually a condiment, and not a side dish? Crazy, huh? I know! Because my sister and I grew up on my mother's Spiced Cranberry Apple Sauce (which she says is vintage Martha), we always assumed that pushing it to the side of our Thanksgiving plate so we could save those tart/spicy/sweet mouthfuls for last was totally normal. I mean, it's like candy served right alongside the turkey and brussels sprouts. My sister even tells the story of eating Thanksgiving dinner with her boyfriend's family and nearly offending his mother when she pushed her cranberry sauce to side to save it for last. Didn't she like it? Didn't she know she was supposed to eat it with the turkey? As in, on the same forkful even?

Since I'm not in the US this year for Thanksgiving, and because cranberries aren't exactly as common here in Paris, I swiped this recipe from my mom last year, saving it and sitting on it so I could nostalgically enjoy it through pictures on my blog. And because I want to make sure it's documented in case I do stumble on cranberries, Thanksgiving or not. I'm just cutting and pasting her recipe, which comes complete with helpful Mom tips, like where in the grocery story to find fresh cranberries. Gotta love Mom tips! I especially love the way the recipe ends. With a suggestion you can use for every aspect of life, not just cooking.

Spiced Cranberry and Apple Sauce
From My Mom, like all good Thanksgiving recipes

You can make this sauce up to 3 days ahead, and in fact, it's almost a good idea so that the flavors have a chance to meld.

1-1/2 Cup Chopped, peeled green granny smith apples (about 3)

1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar

1-2 Cup White Grape Juice

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 (12 oz.) Package fresh cranberries - usually found in produce (veg/fruit) aisle

Combine all in medium saucepan
Boil, reduce heat
Simmer 15 minutes
Stir occasionally
Refrigerate - cool completely

Problems? Call Mom.

Nancy, France

Has it really been a week since I posted?  I have a good excuse for not cooking lately.  Which is that my water got turned off for a few days because of a leak, and, well, I just don't feel like it.  I spend all day at the library anyway, so I'm hardly in my apartment except to sleep.

At the beginning of October I took a trip to two towns in the Lorraine region of France: Nancy and Metz.  We were only in Nancy for a few hours, but it was enough time to do some serious standing in the middle of the town's famed Place Stanislas and discuss art historical ideas.

After Nancy, I spent a few days in Metz, which is a much larger town. Pictures coming up, of course.

Speculoos No-Bake Granola

I feel like this post could be about so many things. Like the jars of speculoos spread I've been finding in all the French grocery stores. It's just exactly what it sounds like, a spread with the consistency of creamy peanut butter, but tasting exactly like speculoos.  I've had to limit the number of times I'm allowed to buy a jar, since if it's sitting around I can (and have) just eaten it with a spoon.  I realize it's nearly impossible to find in the US, but if you ever find yourself in Paris, or want to request a gift from a friend who's going, speculoos spread should be a strong candidate.

This recipe started out as Choosing Raw's Vegan No-Bake Sunflower Seed and Oat Bars.  All I did was swap the seed or nut butter (she did say it was my choice!) with speculoos spread and the agave nectar or brown rice syrup with honey.  Thereby un-Vegafying them and kind of un-virtufying them as well.  On the other hand, it was literally a five minute, no-bake solution for what to do with my spread.  And it requires barely any equipment.

These never really held together as bars, probably because speculoos spread doesn't have quite the strength of, say, peanut butter.  So rather than trying to cut them into bars, when they are well chilled they will naturally crumble into the size of pieces of granola you can toast.  Which is definitely what I would have done with half of the batch if I'd had an oven.  But it's just as delicious raw, and really doesn't require the extra step if you don't want to take it.

My friend and I brought the raw granola with us to Vaux-le-Vicomte, the 17th century château I blasted you with pictures of last time.  The perfect French-American traveling snack for wandering tree-lined paths.

Speculoos No-Bake Granola 
Adapted from Choosing Raw's Five Minute, No-Bake Sunflower Seed and Oat Bars

2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup mixed seeds or sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raisins
2/3 cup speculoos spread
1/2 cup honey, plus more if needed

Line a shallow dish with foil or saran wrap and set aside.

Mix the first three ingredients in a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl, blend together the speculoos spread and the honey until combined.  It will be quite thick.

I find that the easiest way to do the next part is with your hands (which would make it a great activity to do with kids, actually).  Dump the speculoos mixture into the bowl containing the dry ingredients and mix them together until combined.  You can use your hands to break up large dollops of speculoos and work it until all of the dry ingredients are mixed in.

Press the mixture into the prepared pan, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. If you have an oven, you can also just crumble the granola into the pan like the kind of granola you'd eat with a spoon, and toast it at 375 F for about 40 minutes.