Cruddy Little Kitchen

Cranberry Sauce  12 oz. fresh cranberries, washed and drained 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1/4 to 1/3 cup water 1 1/2 cinnamon sticks 1/2 tsp ground allspice 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg The zest and juice of one small-to-medium orange Pick through the cranberries carefully to remove the squishy/bad ones. Rinse and drain. Combine cranberries, sugar, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, and water in a medium pot. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Reduce to simmer; cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Add the orange juice and zest, then allow the sauce to cool before serving at room temperature. Refrigerate leftovers; sauce will be good for 10-12 days. I never even liked cranberry sauce until I tried this recipe. Neither did my husband. My mother-in-law used to send us searching for an orange cranberry relish at grocery stores all over Knoxville -- I only found it twice, but when I did find it, I bought her three containers of it.  This recipe is so good, I cannot imagine having Thanksgiv...

Homegrown Tomato, Cucumber, and Corn Summer Salad 1 large homegrown tomato, ripe, chopped 2 Kirby cucumbers, chopped 1-2 ears fresh ears of corn, kernels sliced off the ears Mayonnaise Apple cider vinegar Pinch of sugar Kosher salt & pepper to taste Mix about a third of a cup of mayonnaise with about 2-3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar in a bowl. Add a pinch of sugar and salt & pepper to taste. Taste the dressing before you add the vegetables.  Chop up a large, ripe, homegrown tomato -- Better Boy, Cherokee Purple, whatever you've got. This recipe does not work with store-bought, mass-produced tomatoes. Chop up a couple of Kirby cucumbers or half of an English cucumber. Slice the kernels off of 1-2 ears of corn. Add the vegetables to the dressing in the bowl, stir to combine. Cover and chill until dinner is ready. This salad holds for a day or two, but it's best when fresh. The vegetables are sweet and crunchy; the dressing is creamy and tangy; it's a match made in ...

Melon Salad 3 cups watermelon balls (or chunks) 3 cups cantaloupe balls (or chunks) 3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil 3 Tbsp chopped fresh mint 1/3 cup fresh or bottled lemon juice 1/3 cup simple syrup Combine the melon chunks in a bowl.  In a food processor or blender, combine the basil, mint, lemon juice, and simple syrup.  (To make simple syrup, boil together equal amounts of water and sugar, and allow that to cool. Very important! Do not add hot simple syrup to the blender; it'll cook the basil and turn it black, which is not appetizing at all.) Blend/process the basil, mint, lemon juice, and cool simple syrup for a minute until thoroughly combined. The dressing will have lovely little green flecks all through it. Pour over the melon balls, stir to combine. Refrigerate for several hours so that the dressing thoroughly soaks into the melon. (The cantaloupe takes longer to soak it in; otherwise, you could serve this salad the moment you make it.) I can't tell you how much we love t...

Marinated Asparagus recipe 1 pound asparagus 1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion 1 tablespoon vinegar - sherry or red wine 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard Salt and pepper to taste 3 tablespoons olive oil Wash and prep the asparagus by breaking off the woody ends of the stalks. (Annnnnnd discarding the woody ends. Almost forgot that part.) Drain and pat dry.  Prepare the diced red onion by putting it in the vinegar and lemon juice to begin breaking down. Steam the asparagus in a steamer or a steaming basket over boiling water for 4 to 7 minutes. Do Not Over Cook. You want the spears to be crisp-tender, not flabby. Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients: Red onion, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt & pepper, and drizzle in the olive oil while whisking to emulsify the dressing/marinade. When the asparagus is steamed, put it in a dish that allows it to lay flat -- rectangular, oval, whatever you like. Pour the vinaigrette over the asparagus,...

Creamy Dijon Coleslaw Dressing (by Ina Garten) (sorta) 1/2 cup mayonnaise 2 heaping Tbsp Dijon mustard scant 1/2 Tbsp sugar 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar (or Prosecco vinegar, or champagne vinegar) 1/2 tsp celery seeds 1/4 tsp celery salt (couple of dashes, really) Pinch of kosher salt A few grinds of pepper Whisk ingredients together and add a bag of your favorite cole slaw mix.  Today's picture is of "Southern diced" slaw, but this dressing is fine with angel hair slaw and vegetable slaw and broccoli slaw and tri-color slaw ... any slaw you can think up, actually. It really did start with an Ina Garten recipe. Hers used a lot more mayonnaise, less Dijon, and a little dab of apple cider vinegar. And it was fine like that, honest. I had just been using the same apple-cider-vinegar-heavy recipe for several years, and I wanted a change of pace. And a change of vinegar. The second or third time I made it, I had Prosecco vinegar on hand, and I ran out of mayonnaise, so I added mo...