Annual FruitShare

Look what arrived on our doorstep (our new doorstep may I add).

I get so excited every winter for our share of citrus. Just think: fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, citrus cocktails, candied orange peels and nice portable snacks.

I usually order the larger box, but since life is crazy right now, I ordered the smaller one this time. Plus, I can always reorder:). Get yours at http://www.fruitshare.com

P.S. This is the first time posting from my phone :)

Review: Alexia Sweet Potato Puffs

Getting ready for a move is so extremely time consuming. We move later this week and our house is in a state of disarray as we organize and pack each room. As you can imagine, we barely have time for cooking or dishes so I've been opening my eyes to some convenience foods.

When Alexia Foods e-mailed me offering sample packages of their new Sweet Potato Puffs, I was pretty excited. Thoughts of tater tot hot dish and veggie burgers started swirling in my head. From the picture on the package, it looked similar to a tater tot, so I wondered why it wasn't called a tot.

When the package arrived, I looked a little closer and saw that it was shaped like a tater tot, but lacked the texture of a tater tot. Hence the name: sweet potato puffs. Unfortunately, it was not going to work well for a tater tot casserole, so I went for Plan B, a side dish for veggie burgers.

Tasting the puffs right out of the oven, the exterior was firm but not crispy and the interior tasted (and felt) like mashed sweet potatoes, similar to a giant sweet potato fry. Wanting to spice it up a little bit, I made a dipping sauce using 1 cup of light sour cream and 1 1/2 teaspoons of Exotic Blend from Sameh Wadi's Spice Trail.

Overall, I thought it was a fun and inventive product (and a very easy side dish…or appetizer), but it just wasn't the right convenience food for me. With over 14 ingredients, I'll stick to making my own sweet potato side dishes.

Disclaimer: Alexia Foods sent me Sweet Potato Puffs to sample at no cost. I was under no obligation to blog about it and of course, all opinions are my own.

Cranberry Wine Sauce

Earlier this week, I shared my new favorite leftover recipe on WCCO.com. If you're lucky enough to have leftover pie, you have to try the Pumpkin Pie Parfait recipe. Mmm…so good!
 
I was recently reminded of a recipe I posted over on WCCO a couple Thanksgivings ago. Since they redid their website (my page included), it never got archived so I figured it would be good to post again over here.

This sauce is absolutely delicious.  The sweetness from the sugar and tartness from the cranberries make an excellent pair.  The Ratafia enhances the orange flavor and brings out the spiciness from cloves, allspice and cinnamon, but you can certainly use port instead as that's what the original recipe called for.

Have leftover cranberry sauce? Use it to top your oatmeal :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ruby Ratafia Cranberry Sauce

(adapted from Los Angeles Times)
Makes 2 cups

1 ½ cups Alexis Bailly Ratafia (or port)

¾ cup sugar
3 cloves
½ stick cinnamon
3 allspice berries (or a dash of allspice)
4 black peppercorns
2-inch-by- ½  -inch strip of orange peel
1 (12 ounce) package cranberries, washed

In a medium saucepan, combine the Ratafia and sugar. Tie the cloves, cinnamon stick, allspice and black peppercorns in a small piece of cheesecloth. Add the spice bundle to the saucepan. Add the orange peel. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently until the wine is reduced to 1 cup, about 4 minutes.

Add the cranberries to the wine. Return to a simmer over medium-high heat then lower the heat and simmer until the cranberries pop, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl. Let cool to warm then remove the spice bundle and orange peel. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.