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Cranberries Aren’t Just for Sauce

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UK Enters ‘Last Real Major Week’ of Brexit Trade Talks: Foreign Secretary

The Brexit trade talks between Britain and the European Union are entering the “last real major week,” UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has said. “I do think this is a very significant week, the last real major week, subject to any further postponement of the goalposts in terms of the timing,” Raab told the BBC on Sunday. Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab arrives at 10 Downing Street in London, UK, on April 6, 2020. (Peter Summers/Getty Images)Face-to-face negotiations between Britain and the EU restarted on Saturday, with just five weeks left before the UK leaves the EU single market at the end of the year. “We’re down to really two basic issues, but I think in particular the issue around fisheries,” Raab told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. A deal…

Cranberries Aren’t Just for Sauce

Thanksgiving has passed, but that’s no reason to stop eating cranberries.

These pert and tart berries are a welcome addition and decorative garnish throughout the year, and especially brighten up a winter table during the frosty holiday season. Their bright ruby color practically screams celebration, livening up salads and sauces, desserts, and cocktails, and their pucker-y tartness easily complements sweet and savory dishes.

Need inspiration?

While a good ol’ cranberry sauce is the go-to accompaniment to turkey, you can also add cranberries to chutneys, salsas, and relishes. Blitz or cook them down with savory ingredients, such as peppers, onions, ginger, and dried fruit to accompany red meat, game, and pork.

Blitz cranberries into marinades. Their astringent tartness will work wonders as a flavorful meat tenderizer.

Add tart cranberries to fruity desserts, such as pies, crisps, and cobblers. They pair well with apples, pears, quince, and dried fruit. Their tartness will make the dessert pop, and nicely balance the sugar and sweetness of the fruit.

Did anyone say chocolate? Cranberries love chocolate (who or what doesn’t?). Fold them into dark chocolate cakes, bark, and bars, or simply dip and coat them in chocolate for a dangerously easy nibble to eat.

Add them to cocktails and mock-tails. Use them to flavor simple syrup, infuse vodka, muddle into mixed drinks, or simply float a few berries as a colorful garnish.

And while we’re on the subject of drinks, this is a bright and festive cocktail that will carry you through the holiday season. The berry’s cheek-sucking tartness provides contrast to the warmth and spice of honeyed bourbon, acting as a natural bitter, if you will. The berries are incorporated in three ways: in a cinnamon-infused syrup, muddled with citrus and mint, and then added in frozen form for colorful bling.

Cranberries Aren’t Just for Sauce

Cranberry-Bourbon Citrus Smash

Makes one cocktail

For the Cranberry-Orange Simple Syrup

  • 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 (2-inch) cinnamon stick
  • 2 strips orange peel

For the聽Cocktail

  • 3 to 4 fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 3 to 4 mint leaves
  • 1 lime quarter
  • 1 orange slice
  • 1 1/2 ounces bourbon
  • 1/2 ounce Cointreau
  • 1 ounce Cranberry-Orange Simple Syrup
  • 1 ounce fresh lime juice
  • Ice cubes

Make the simple syrup: Combine the syrup ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the cranberries break down, about 15 minutes. Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve, pushing down on the cranberry pulp. Discard the solids. Cool the syrup to room temperature. (The simple syrup may be stored in a glass container in the refrigerator for up to one month.)

Make the cocktail: Combine the cranberries, mint, lime, and orange slice in a cocktail shaker and muddle. Add the bourbon and Cointreau, and then add the remaining ingredients. Shake vigorously and pour into a tall glass or strain into a rocks glass. Serve with whole fresh or frozen cranberries, lime wedges, and mint sprigs.

Lynda Balslev is a cookbook author, food and travel writer, and recipe developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives with her Danish husband, two children, a cat, and a dog. Lynda studied cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris and worked as a personal chef, culinary instructor, and food writer in Switzerland and Denmark. Copyright 2020 Lynda Balslev. Distributed by Andrew McMeel Syndication.

Focus News: Cranberries Aren’t Just for Sauce

Brazil’s Bolsonaro Says Aware of Fraud in US Presidential Election

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Nov. 29 that he is aware of “a lot of fraud” in the U.S. presidential election, and that he will hold off declaring the victor amid contested election results. “I have my sources of information that there really was a lot of fraud there,” Bolsonaro told reporters while casting a ballot in municipal races. “Nobody talks about that. If it was enough to define [victory] for one or the other, I don’t know.” “I am holding back a little more,” the conservative Brazilian leader added when asked if he would recognize Biden as president-elect. He also expressed doubts about Brazil’s current electronic voting system, which he has suggested is vulnerable to fraud. He has urged the country to return to a paper ballot system…