Cashew Pumpkin Seed "Cheese" with Apple-Cranberry Sauce (gluten-free, vegan, ACD)
Posted Dec 01 2010 5:00am
This dish appeared at my Thanksgiving family feast last week , and was a big hit. It satisfied two things that are an absolute must at any of my family's holiday get-togethers: cheese and cranberry sauce.
I'm from Wisconsin. Cheese makes an appearance at every family meal. And we're not talking fancy little wedges of imported stuff or raw milk cheese from small cheesemakers. No sir, we're talking classic Wisco favorites like multiple tubs Merkts cheese spread and slices of cheddar, colby, or pepper jack hacked from big blocks of the stuff. There is always cheese. And crackers. And summer sausage.
And as for the cranberry sauce? Well, each of my grandmothers make different yet equally delicious cranberry dishes that always seem to be there. Grandma Smith makes a raw cranberry relish that is to die for, a simple combination of raw cranberries, sugar, and orange juice. Grandma Christensen makes a cranberry mold that is spiked with Coca-Cola. And I, for some reason, always succumbed to my strange fascination with the canned jellied variety that lines the grocery store shelves every holiday season. I would insist on having a can of that on the table as well, and I would meticulously slice it following the can ridges. Thus, we would have three varieties of cranberry per meal. Crazy.
This dish appeared at my Thanksgiving family feast last week , and was a big hit. It satisfied two things that are an absolute must at any of my family's holiday get-togethers: cheese and cranberry sauce.
I'm from Wisconsin. Cheese makes an appearance at every family meal. And we're not talking fancy little wedges of imported stuff or raw milk cheese from small cheesemakers. No sir, we're talking classic Wisco favorites like multiple tubs Merkts cheese spread and slices of cheddar, colby, or pepper jack hacked from big blocks of the stuff. There is always cheese. And crackers. And summer sausage.
And as for the cranberry sauce? Well, each of my grandmothers make different yet equally delicious cranberry dishes that always seem to be there. Grandma Smith makes a raw cranberry relish that is to die for, a simple combination of raw cranberries, sugar, and orange juice. Grandma Christensen makes a cranberry mold that is spiked with Coca-Cola. And I, for some reason, always succumbed to my strange fascination with the canned jellied variety that lines the grocery store shelves every holiday season. I would insist on having a can of that on the table as well, and I would meticulously slice it following the can ridges. Thus, we would have three varieties of cranberry per meal. Crazy.