An obligation to clean this. . .
2006
We are entering the season of wishing all people, peace on earth. Oh, gentle and good reader I do believe I know what would bring world peace. If all families could have cousins, aunts and uncles, parents and grandparents such as I have had, there would be world peace but there would also be pandemonium.
And so today, you are in luck as I am going to share with you my Cousin Kathy and my/her kitchen in Pennsylvania. Today, Kathy is only 6 years older than I but when I was 6 and she was 12, she was so much more. The hero worship a 6 year old can have for a 12 year old cousin is sooo huge. Still, today, my Cousin Kathy is my Super Cousin and we can really rock!
On Friday afternoon.
Kathy & I took my Aunt Eunie (Kathy’s mom) out for dinner to celebrate her 95th year. That was a darn good hot chocolate. Aunt Eunie delighted in telling me one of the family’s favorite stories. Kathy met her now husband when she was 12 and he was 11. He timed his walk to school so that by hanging back in the bushes, he could happen to be on his way to school at the same time and carry her books for her. Now, I won’t tell you that their lives have been trouble free. There are no lives like that. But I can tell you that love abounds between them and all their children and grandchildren and my Aunt Eunie.
After dinner, we returned to their new home and their new kitchen. I said their lives hadn’t been trouble free and just so you know I do tell a true story here I must tell you how they came to be in this new kitchen. Just about a year ago, Kathy & husband were living in their home of some 33 years. The house was having some renovation and let it suffice to say that one afternoon arriving home they heard some noises in the basement and before midnight they stood in the street in their bare feet watching their house and all it’s contents, 
a pile of rubble. It all fell down.
But, life does go on and in this new kitchen we were looking for something truly spectacular to cook.
Last year when I visited Kathy we made 
some really killer Lemon Curd and she was all excited to do that again. I went through 20 of my cookbooks collecting many recipes for Lemon Curd. One of those cookbooks I hadn’t had last year. 
You may remember it from a few months ago being all over many of your favorite blogs in a Cookbook Spotlight. Kitchen Sense by Mitchell Davis. As with many of the recipes in that book, there were several variations given after the main recipe. Now, I know that Lemon Curd is the ultimate thick heaven on a spoon, on a scone or piled between cake layers.
But, have you ever considered ...
Cranberry Curd
Idea from Kitchen Sense
1 1/3 c unsweetened cranberry juice
juice of one lime
pinch salt
3/4 to 1 c sugar
1/2 c (1 stick) butter
6 large egg yolks
DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT MAKING THIS UNLESS YOU MAKE YOUR OWN FRESH CRANBERRY JUICE
For the juice:
5 c fresh, washed cranberries
water to barely cover
Bring to boil and cook until cranberries all burst about 20 minutes. 
Mash the berries and pour through a strainer. I pressed on the pulp, letting a fair amount of solid material through. I returned this to the heat and reduced it just a little.
In a sauce pan over low to medium heat, combine the cranberry and lime juice, pinch of salt, sugar and butter. The sugar is really a personal thing. I love tart you may want more sweet. Taste it. Allow the butter to melt completely. Remove from heat and allow to cool as you separate the 6 egg yolks. Whisk the yolks together. Temper the egg yolks by pouring about half the warm cranberry mix into the yolks as you whisk them. Reverse and pour all the yolks into the cranberry mix as you whisk everything together. Return the saucepan to the heat. Whisk constantly over the heat until the curd begins to thicken. It’s thick when you dip a wooden spoon in the curd, draw your finger across the back of the spoon and it doesn’t run back together. Most of the recipes said this took from 3 to 5 minutes. Mine always seems to take much longer, from 10 to 15 minutes. Maybe I’m just too timid and keep the heat too low but I’ve never burned any either.
Now was this any good to eat? Would I do this again?
Let’s put it this way: Kathy said “I feel an obligation to clean this out.”
and I worked really hard on the whisk...
and then we did a little Cranberry Pandemonium Dance around and around the kitchen. Thank goodness Kathy’s husband was out of town for the night. I’m really not sure if he would have understood this. I do know he will love Kathy and the lemon curd and the cranberry curd. He’ll probably think I’m OK too because I helped make both curds and I’m not staying two weeks like last year.
Ceramic plates by Julia Junkin found here.
Love, Hugs and The Lemon Curd Is Good Too Smiles
One, Two Curds...no whey...Oh, yes way!!!
Friday, December 1, 2006
The story of world peace and pandemonium.
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