Organic cranberries - not from the US, but from our neighbors in Canada.

Even though I grew up eating canned cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving, I never use it now. We’re a “from scratch” house just as more and more households endeavor to be as our food system gets scarier and scarier. In the case of cranberries, a fruit native to the US and one that was certainly available for the first Thanksgiving, their preparation is simple so there are no excuses not to make it yourself. Beware their bitter and tannic nature, however, which is quickly tamed with the addition of a sweetener. If you don’t like the natural sweeteners I suggest, use Port or another sweet wine in place of the sweetener and water in the recipe.

In this simple and quick recipe the cranberries are cooked with a sweetener and spices long enough to become tender and form a beautiful sauce.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz fresh cranberries (2 generous cups), rinsed well. (organic cranberries from Canada are available in 8 oz. bags at Trader Joe’s)
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup honey, demerara, turbinado or cane sugar (bags marked simply as sugar can be made from GMO sugar beets)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 whole cloves
• 2 whole allspice berries
• nutmeg, freshly ground
• pat of butter (optional)
• cheese cloth or a metal tea holder

Procedure:

A simple spiced cranberry sauce takes minutes to make and will sing on the plate next to the turkey.

Add the sweetener and water to the saucepan and bring to the boil, lower to a simmer, stir to mix and add the cranberries and cinnamon stick Wrap and tie the cloves and allspice in cheese cloth or place them in a metal tea holder and add them to the pot (for ease in removing later). Cook over medium low heat uncovered for at least 10 minutes or until the berries have popped and the sauce has thickened.

Test the cranberries for tenderness and continue cooking if necessary until they are soft and tender. Add more water if necessary to maintain a sauce-like consistency. Grate fresh nutmeg over and taste again, adding more nutmeg if you’d like.

If the sauce is not sweet enough for your taste, try stirring in a pat of butter and tasting it again. Drizzle with honey if you think it’ still too puckery. Allow to cool and remove cinnamon, cloves and allspice before serving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our nation’s awareness of the need for healthy, sustainable food is growing and the documentary food films Food, Inc. and FRESH are helping to fuel the momentum. I recommend viewing Food, Inc. first to gain a better understanding of the problems associated with our industrial food system and then joining me for a special night on August 12 to view FRESH, hear from the experts on our local-sustainable food panel and visit with them at their exhibit tables. This is your invitation to join the movement.

Further proof of the growing sustainable food movement is the groundbreaking passage last week of Chicago’s Green Food Resolution encouraging widespread community support for the expansion of farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, community gardens and other ways to provide healthful plant-based foods. Here is an excerpt:

“BE lT RESOLVED, that the Chicago City Council encourages individuals, civic associations, and community based organizations to grow local, organic gardens, and institutions and businesses to offer more plant based foods; and

BE lT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Chicago City Council promotes the expansion of the number of Farmers’ Markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs, community gardens, and other venues which provide healthful plant based foods.”

According to currentgreen.com. “A similar resolution was introduced for New York City calling for a citywide FoodprintNYC initiative to reduce the city’s climate foodprint, which is a more significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions than all transportation systems combined, and create greater access to local, fresh, healthy plant-based food, especially in low-income communities, as well as city-run institutions. So far, 11 City Council members have signed on as co-sponsors.”

Looking to introduce a Green Food Resolution in your city? Farm Sanctuary has launched a campaign to introduce Green Food Resolutions similar to Chicago’s in cities throughout the U.S.  Visit their site to find some helpful tips on how to introduce a Green Food Resolution and obtain a Sample Draft Resolution.

After six long years of work, award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner exposes the ugly underbelly of our nation’s food industry with his film Food, Inc. I’ve heard it said that Food, Inc. will be to food what An Inconvenient Truth was to global warming. Well, yes and no. As Kim Severson of The New York Times astutely points out in her movie review today, “After watching Al Gore explain the horrors of climate change, moviegoers can turn off a few lights, think about a Prius and call it a day. People who leave “Food, Inc.” still have to eat.”

And that leaves us with the daily dilemma of what to eat, where to buy it and how to prepare it so it’s convenient, healthy, delicious and within budget. I built this site for that very reason; I want to be part of the solution! Please visit a farmers’ market, get on a CSA waiting list or visit a farm stand this week. Please use The Buying Guide to search for resources in your town.

One thing you can do right now to make a difference is sign the Food, Inc. petition to get healthy food into school cafeterias that participate in the National School Lunch Program. I promise this is the fastest and most painless petition ever. Please vote yes to making healthy food a priority for our kids.

The number of books and movies in this genre is just exploding. Has anyone read The Unhealthy Truth, Food Fray or Stuffed? Has anyone seen The Future of Food or Fresh, the movie? Does anyone want to see Fairfield host a  Fresh, the movie community screening? I’m trying to arrange it so let me know if you support it. Please email me at marketing@fairfieldgreenfoodguide.com or post a comment.

Food, Inc.‘s exclusive opens in Connecticut engagement is in Greenwich, Norwalk and in New Haven on June 26. The movie is showing in New Haven at Criterion Cinemas 7, 86 Temple Street, time TBA at 7:10 and 9:30 pm. Criterion Cinemas at Greenwich Plaza, 2 Railroad Avenue, is showing Food, Inc. at 7 and 9:15 and Garden Cinemas Norwalk, 26 Isaac Street,  is showing the film at 7 and 9 pm.  Meet me at the movies in Norwalk at 7 this Friday, June 26? Come early to purchase a ticket since this theater does not sell tickets online. The film has been extremely popular in other cities, so it could sell out. Email me at marketing@fairfieldgreenfoodguide.com if you’d like to join the meetup group. See you at the movies!  I’ll post as soon as show times are scheduled by the theater.

A post dated June 24, entitled Feed Me, supersedes this post. However, this post was updated to avoid confusion.