Fresh Picks packed a pint of fresh cranberries in our delivery this past Tuesday, giving me no excuse to pick up a can of the jellied stuff at Dominick's. So, on Wednesday night I stood in the kitchen looking at them, remembering all of the different ways Mom had made cranberry sauce over the years (with orange rind, with different spices, etc.) and wondered if I had a recipe on my shelf somewhere. My go-to book, The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters, lacked a cranberry sauce recipe (surprisingly), but sitting next to it was an old worn book that I'd never turned to for actual cooking guidance.
This was a cookbook given to my grandmother by her friends in the Navy just before she left to marry my grandfather on Christmas Eve 1944 after knowing him for 7 weeks (!). (I can still hear the way she would say, "It was wartime!") The inscriptions inside are the best part:
"No scorched biscuits! No scorched pans! And always watch out for those lily white hands!"
"Here's to better toasted cheese sandwiches."
"Don't forget the Baked Alaska! Lots of happiness and Good Luck."
"Don't let this book stand in the way of your happiness - make tea."
"The best of everything to you - you are really swell."
And the cranberry sauce? It was perfect! And, to be honest, the only part of the meal that Christopher was actually interested in (other than the pie filling, but of course)!
