Thanksgibbin'

In my household, my parents always made the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. We always had to have the cranberry "sauce" that came from a can as well... Last year, I tried making my own cranberry sauce and it turned out pretty well. This year, I'm re-vamping the recipe and giving it some extra ingredients...
Because really... who likes that stuff from a can anyways?


Ariel's Ultra-Amazing Cranberry Perfection Sauce Recipe

Start out with the main ingredients:
-1 cup water
-1 cup sugar (you can use raw sugar as well)
-1 bag whole, fresh cranberries

Since this is a new recipe, I'm going to add:
-1 cup cut oranges (with rinds! aka: skins)
-1 cup whole, fresh blueberries
-1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. In a saucepan, boil water, sugar, and cinnamon until sugar is completely dissolved.
2. Stir in cranberries, blueberries, and oranges. Bring back to a boil.
3. Turn down heat to low and let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes, or until cranberries burst.
4. Take off heat and chill to room temperature. Move sauce to a bowl and chill in refrigerator for 2 hours.
...and now you're ready to eat it on top of your turkey (or for you vegans/vegetarians like me: tofurkey), yams, or biscuits.


AND
While you're making this delicious recipe, it'd be fun to listen to some fall time Thanksgiving music. I highly recommend some acoustic AA Bondy, Andrew Bird, Titus Andronicus, or Dr. Dog.

Download free music mixes here:
AA Bondy
Andrew Bird
Titus Andronicus
Dr. Dog

(All mixes come from Daytrotter sessions)

Tis the season...

Since the holidays are coming up, I thought it'd be appropriate to make a "best of the best" and "worst of the worst" list for the holiday season. Starting from October, and going til December, I have compiled the best and the worst of the next two and a half months...

BEST:
1) The amazing end-of-the-year sales after Christmas.
Seriously, who wouldn't love to get 75% that amazing new Betsy Johnson Faux Fur Mink Chubby Jacket from Bloomingdales?!
2) Halloween costumes - Being able to dress like a slut and get away with it.
If one just puts "sexy" in the beginning of any regular Halloween costume name, it suddenly becomes popular. Examples? Sexy cop. Sexy vampire. Sexy Hippie. Sexy clownfish. (Any Disney character made into an adult costume is just wrong, though).
3) Tryptophan Coma on Thanksgiving.
Turkey (although I'm a vegetarian), cornbread, stuffing, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, yams and cranberry sauce is always the best on Thanksgiving. You eat a lot of delicious food, unbutton a button or undo a belt, pass out and wake up for round two later on that night.
4) Days off work.
Self explanitory.
5) The holiday flavors of Starbucks or Peet's Coffee drinks.Peppermint, gingerbread, pumpkin spice, gingersnap, deliciousness. Having a peppermint hot cocoa with a shot of espresso in front of the fireplace while reading a good book is the best.
And last....
6) THE VICTORIA'S SECRET FASHION SHOW.My goodness. Considering the Victoria's Secret website crashed a couple years ago due to the amount of people wanting to watch the live stream of the show just goes to show that it is one of the most popular events of the season. Who will be the musical artists? Who will be the guest winner of the model search? What will the lingerie be? Will there be wings again on the models, like always?
To see a clip from last year, click here.
For those of you who don't already know, it will be airing this year on Tuesday, December 1, at 10:00pm on CBS.

WORST:
1) Getting toothbrushes instead of candy on Halloween.
That's the exact opposite of what little kids want on a holiday devoted to candy. EXACT opposite.
2) Watching the Detroit Lions lose every year on Thanksgiving.
It's just sad. They are one of the worst football teams in the NFL and seeing them lose year after year after the Macy's Day Parade just makes you bummed.
3) Pretending to like bad presents from distant relatives.
"Thanks so much for the dalmatian spotted sweater with matching socks... I especially love the fur trimmed wrists of the sweater and the pom poms coming from the ankles of the socks! How cute..." No.
4) Fruitcake.
Just look at it....
Seriously, no fruit is naturally that green!
The walnuts could break teeth!
It's so tough, it could be used as a brick.
5) Anything Martha Stewart.
There is such a thing as too many butternut squash and chicken recipes, "creepy" crafts, and Christmas decorations. (I have to admit though, her "I Scream" sandwiches for halloween are cute...)

With that, I complete the list of the best and worst of the holidays.
Tell me your thoughts!