Is it just me or do you ever feel sorry for food?
Tins, packets and fresh food of all descriptions perch on shelves or lay tumbled in large baskets, waiting for us to choose them. They proudly display their carefully designed labels or shiny buffed skins, hoping that we’ll pop them into our baskets.
Sometimes I wonder whether, in the darkness of night when there’s nobody around, the fruit or tins jostle around, nudging their competitors out-of-the-way enabling the most attractive to take prime place on the display when the lights are switched on in the morning, ensuring that we will clasp our hand around that particular net of oranges or that particular shiny tin of baked beans. Sometimes the bruised veg appear on the top of the pile (perhaps that’s how they got their bruises!) and we cast them to one side, choosing the best of the bunch for our supper.
After a while and particularly if the shop assistants haven’t had time to restock, all the lovely food is taken, leaving the unloved or forlorn items abandoned and waiting to make their way to the discount counter or, god forbid, the giant trash bins outside.
Appearances can be deceptive of course. What we see on the outside isn’t always representative of what’s within…. which is precisely what I discovered this week when I found a bag of cranberries sneaking their way into my basket. And yes, no doubt there’s dozens of reasons why I shouldn’t be buying berries in bags but hey, we gotta live a bit too, right…
My bag of slightly overripe and bruised cranberries was the last of three in the display. I checked the label, this particular bag of cranberries had travelled all the way from the USA before it arrived in my regular little shop in Bagenalstown. All the effort of growing the berries – picking them, packing them, shipping them across high seas then unloading and driving all of those hundreds of miles, before opening the boxes and displaying them … it didn’t seem right that they’d end up in the refuse….
So I bought them. I felt sorry for them (really, is there any hope;))
As it happens I adore cranberry sauce and it isn’t just for Christmas. I love it with chicken, roast beef and pork chops, in sandwiches with cheddar cheese or spread thickly onto buttered and freshly sliced bread with blue cheese and turkey, mmmmm mm.
Cranberry Sauce Roll with Cheddar Cheese, Beetroot & Rocket
Whether you end up feeling sorry for food, or whether you’re just looking for a recipe for cranberry sauce, here’s a quick recipe that can be made in just a couple of minutes.
Cranberry Sauce
(Serves 8-10)
- 2 Clementines
- 200g cranberries
- 100g light muscavado sugar
- 6 tbsp port
Squeeze 1 clementine and put the juice in a pan with the cranberries, sugar and port. Cook for 5 minutes until the cranberries start to soften and burst. Tear the other clementine into segments (remove the membrane if you have time) and cook along with the cranberries for 2 mins more. Store in the fridge, or freeze for up to 2 months.
Now, should I go back and see if there are any more…?
Dee Sewell – a horticulturalist and certified trainer who started Greenside Up in 2009 and teaches people how to grow vegetables. Dee specialises in working with community gardens but also offers workshops, allotment visits, consultations, horticultural therapy, afterschools clubs as well as local talks – she tailors her services to meet clients needs. In 2012 Dee launched a Seed Gift Collection containing varieties of vegetable and insect friendly flowers with the aim of getting more people growing. Dee’s blog was a finalist in the 2012 Ireland Blog Awards in the Eco/Green and Lifestyle Categories.
Source: GreensideUp – Anyone Else Feel Sorry for Food? I Did and Made Cranberry Sauce – Dee Sewell
