Supermarketing for us in the USA

For my New Year's resolution, I decided to gain ten pounds. This has been my New Year's resolution for the past ten years, and I never, ever seem to be able to keep it.

I had a minor weight problem as a teenager, some of the time. I was one of those roller-coasting dieters, always trying to lose weight, then gaining it back.

Don't diet: think "I'm trying to gain weight". Maybe that's the tip of the day?

We saved approximately 14% on groceries this shopping visit, without using any coupons, and we didn't even purchase the $1 per can jellied cranberries. Jellied cranberries are very similar to a regular jelly, and can even be given the jam jar treatment, if one happens to have a clean glass jar about. Just boil up some hot water, and carefully fill up a cup of boiling hot water (cinnamon stick optional), leaving about an inch at the top. Scoop out the opened can of jellied cranberries, and slowly add one spoonful of hot water to the cranberry mix, then mash and stir the jellied cranberries without spilling the hot water in the cup. If you need to add another spoonful of water to give the mix the proper consistency, then do so. Repeat the procedure as many times as is necessary to give the mixture a jam-like texture. If you add too many spoonfuls of water, you will have a bottle of cranberry syrup, not a jar of slightly tart cranberry jelly or jam. (Optional: 4 ounces of corn syrup for the proper American sticky-sweet artificial flavor. Don't forget to make the pancakes if you choose this option.)

By now, the idea of cranberry jello has probably been tried by most of us, as has the cranberry-filled muffin, the cranberry pancake, cranberry tea, cranberry granola bars, and cranberry pie. Cranberry-glazed fish, shrimp, poultry and sweet potatoes have also more than likely been tried. Maybe a few of these ideas sound new to you, new enough to help you get through the twelve days of Christmas.

However, some of us have not had our fill of cranberries. Have you ever tried a cranberry without any sweetening, it is pretty tart, right? Some of us like the tartness of cranberries. Dried cranberries, without added sugar, are also tart.

I heated up a pound of cranberries a top a double-boiler, with the vegetable steamer top. Sweetening up the portion with pure maple syrup makes for a tasty side dish. What's left in the bottom of the double-boiler is pure cranberry juice. If you have a taste for sweets, add sugar to the cranberry juice, also.

Adding a spoonful of cranberry sauce to cornbread muffins is a tasty treat. Turkey roll-ups with a small spoonful of cranberry sauce in the center is also very good.

We made an apple orange cranberry pie using the whole berry cranberry sauce. That's gone, everyone liked it.

Here's the filling recipe:

• 1 seedless orange, peeled,  sliced and separated
• 1 apple, cored and sliced, thinly 
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 can whole cranberry sauce

Mix the ingredients and bake in a crust.

We're going to make a strawberry cranberry pie soon enough.

Tags: berries, canned cranberies, cranberries, cranberry, dried cranberries, food preparation, fruit, grocery sale item, health food, ideas for cranberries, produce