I was having a discussion with my mom the other day about what dishes I really looked forward to enjoying on Thanksgiving when I was a kid. They were the dishes that unless they were present my Thanksgiving meal would not be complete. As I rattled off the three different dishes, I realized they were variations of the three Thanksgiving posts I shot for the blog this year. Kind of funny, huh? In case you’re curious, this was kid Courtney’s must-have list: cranberry sauce, roasted sweet potatoes, & pumpkin pie. And what did I plan for the blog without even thinking once about this list? Sweet potato & sage corn muffins, this cranberry pear compote, and a gingersnap pumpkin pie I’ll be posting over the weekend. I guess I still have similar cravings in my ripe old adult age, but with a more refined palate 🙂
For this version of cranberry sauce, I gave it a little update, or some “Courtney flair” if you will. It’s more of a chunky compote full of fresh cranberries, Bartlett pears, meyer lemon, & fresh lavender leaves. I went with a nice, dark grade B maple syrup to add some sweetness and depth of flavor that you can’t get with cane sugar. I ended up eating it over oatmeal, on top of a waffle, and smeared onto these sweet potato & sage corn muffins. Let me know in the comments below some of your favorite Thanksgiving dishes!
I had a big breakthrough last week on the tail end of my cleanse. One of the things I wanted to work on was laziness/stagnation in my life. Laziness has been taking many forms lately and slowly choking out my normal productive tendencies. It caused me to stray from focusing on what I really wanted in life as well as building my career. I got lazy. And complacent. I stopped dreaming and planning. It was easy. But it wasn’t exactly enjoyable.
I pictured this tart in my head a couple of weeks ago. I think I was driving home from a yoga class and it just popped into my mind. I wrote down the idea as soon as I got home so I wouldn’t forget. Since I was able to get some lovely local pears at the farmers market this past weekend, it earned the top spot for post-cleanse baking. And then I almost didn’t make it because I knew how involved each step would be along with the photography. Then I almost kicked myself for thinking that way and let go of those thoughts since they weren’t serving me in any way. I’m re-adapting and re-learning. I’m creating a new groove.
