Christmas Cranberry Compote

Its probably normal for people to try and relate their lives to movies or books. Its not always possible to relate to the movies you consider your favorites (its pretty doubtful that Eric will learn the Force) but sometimes it feels like your living out a movie. This week, we've been living out Marley & Me. For anyone who hasn't seen it, the movie is all about a family with a crazy but loveable dog. Its very easy to laugh at for the most part especially if you've ever had a large dog with lots of energy. Why do we feel like we're living in this movie? Here are the most common phrases used this year:

• Don't chase the cat.
• Don't chase the other cat.
• Off, off, OFF!
• Whats for dinner?
• OUTSIDE!
• OFF THE BED!
• YOU CHEWED A HOLE IN THE BED!?! OUTSIDE!

Yeah, its been an adventurous year so far, all 7 days of it. It's also been really hard to get anything done. Between taking holiday decorations down and getting the house put back together (we're still finding pine needles from last year) theres a lot to do so we hunkered down this week and procrastinated most of it. Eric's favorite chair is still covered in ornaments that haven't been put away and the house still smells like pine needles. The only major progress we've made is taking down the outside lights and taking the tree outside. Its also a good time to talk about one of the Christmas Eve traditions we've shattered this year and why were so glad we did. We usually serve jellied cranberry, you know that purple glob that comes out shaped exactly like the can and jiggles? Most entertaining side ever. This year we went with a cranberry compote Charisse found over at finecooking.com. This was by far the best use of cranberries since they were first juiced and mixed with vodka. With the sliced scallions they looked as festive as they taste.

Behind the puppy dog eyes lies a big hearted big toothed monster... 

Christmas Cranberry Compote 
What you will need:

24 oz. fresh cranberries
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
2 shallots, finely chopped (about 4 Tbs.)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions (3 large)


This dish can be prepared up to 1 week early. 


Early Prep: 
Preheat the oven to 350*. Prepare your cranberries, removing all the stems, debris and bad berries. Put the cranberries, lemon zest, orange zest, shallots, and sugar in a big mixing bowl and combine. Pour into a 3 quart glass baking dish and sprinkle orange juice. Stir every so often while it bakes until the sugar has dissolved and a few of the berries have opened. Should be about 30 minutes. Cool, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. You want the pectin to solidify. 


Ready to Serve: 
Bring the dish to room temperature, mix in the sliced scallions and pour into a serving dish. Serve. Enjoy. 


adapted from fine cooking




Did you notice our new watermark? Charisse and Eric have formed a new photography studio: ECP Photography! We're available for shoots in the San Francisco Bay Area for food or product pictures, sports photography and some portraiture photography! Contact us for details!