Leftover Cranberry Sauce?

Got leftover cranberry sauce?  If so, make these cranberry crumble bars.  Super easy and quite a big hit at the Thanksgiving party we went to in Jakarta...  they went slowly at first, but at the end of the party, as we were leaving, I had at least 6 people pull me over and tell me they were awesome.  Pretty ringing endorsement.

I used this cranberry crumble bar recipe from the November issue of Martha Stewart Living, which conveniently arrived here in Jakarta the day before Thanksgiving.  The recipe looked pretty easy and delicious, but I had to make a few changes out of necessity:

• First, a 9"x13" pan doesn't fit in my mini oven, so I decided to switch up the pans.  I went with my removeable bottom tart pan so I would end up with pie-shaped bars... I split the dough recipe into 2 and made 2 tarts, each cooked for 30 minutes. 
• I probably used 1 and a half cans of cranberry sauce between the 2 tarts, though.  
• Also, I substituted toasted, slivered almonds for the walnuts, which I couldn't find for some reason (the Real Martha thinks there is a walnut shortage of some sort this year- she says prices of walnuts have skyrocketed of late).

 

Meyer Lemon Cranberry Marmalade and Blackberry Lemon Rosemary Preserves

I got a bunch of Meyer lemons from Costco and wasn't sure what do to with them, so I made a couple of batches of jam with my new canning set from Target.

I more or less followed these recipes and added my own spin to each:

Blackberry Preserves (with lots of lemon juice and rosemary added)

Blackberry preserves at full boil

Pouring mixture into jelly jars

Blackberry preserves ready for water bath

Meyer Lemon Marmalade (with cranberry option described in comment section):

Meyer lemon/cranberry prep

Finished products!

Apple Cider, Ginger and Cranberry Punch

Since Martha loves ginger and cranberries, I thought she might be interested in this punch recipe that mixes both with apple cider. I emailed it to her a couple weeks ago, and when I arrived in MA, she'd bought all of the ingredients and we gave it a try. Pretty good! Not something you could drink all night, but a nice way to get the party started.

Christmas Punch with Lemon/Lime Ice Wreath!

We had a cookie decorating party/ugly holiday sweater party to kick off December, and I decided that would be a good opportunity to bust out some punch and this fancy ice-ring. The Other Martha provided the recipe for Christmas punch, a tasty blend of pomegranate, cranberry, vodka and citrus. Bon Appetit gave me the idea for the wreath-like lemon and lime ice ring, made in a bundt pan. The real Martha provided the cool 3-in-1 punch bowl/dip tray/cake dome.

Leftover Cranberry Sauce Coffee Cake

Even after turning some of my leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce into an appetizer, I had a ton left. This time I tried swirling some of into a basic sour cream coffee cake... and I still have like three cups left. Oy.

Came out pretty good, despite a tragic glazing incident:

Leftover Ginger Cranberry Sauce on Cream Cheese, with Crackers

As Lindsay suggested, I warmed up some of the leftover ginger cranberry sauce and threw it on top of some cream cheese. Served with crackers = excellent.

Thanksgiving Extravaganza: The Cranberry Sauce

Mmmm... cranberry sauce. This one is a super simple citrusy-gingery version from Ming Tsai via the Boston Globe.

I cooked it a little longer than the recommended 10 minutes in order to break the cranberries down a little and cook off some of the liquid.

This recipe makes a ton of sauce... I'd say way more than 8 peoples' worth, for sure. We had probably an extra quart at the end of the day. I'm researching creative ways to use up leftover cranberry sauce (beyond putting it on a turkey sandwich, I mean.) The lovely Lindsay recommends heating it up a little and pouring it over goat cheese or cream cheese and serving with crackers. Sounds good to me! I shall report back soon.