Cranberry/Orange Relish

Notes

On the night you were conceived, your mother and I went to her company Christmas party at Chasen's, a legendary L.A. restaurant. They had this cranberry sauce thing that also had oranges and walnuts and it was so good! I scoured the net for recipes and engineered this. I seem to be its biggest fan because I really do enjoy it.

Make this the night before Thanksgiving. That will give the raisins time to plump up.

Ingredients

• 1½C orange juice
• ¾C sugar
• Dash of powdered ginger
• 1 bag (12 oz) cranberries
• 2 cans (11 oz) mandarin oranges
• 1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple
• 1C golden raisins
• ½C chopped walnuts
• 1 lemon (optional)

Directions

1. Heat OJ to a simmer in a pot big enough to hold all ingredients.
2. Add sugar and ginger. Stir to dissolve.
3. Add cranberries and simmer until the berries begin to crack (listen for the popping sound).
4. Add raisins and wait for the simmer.
5. Add oranges with juice from cans and wait for the simmer.
6. Add pineapple and wait for the simmer.
7. Add walnuts, stir, and remove from heat.
8. This year I have added the juice of one lemon and stirred at this point. The jury is still out on whether it's a good idea or not.
9. Let cool down and then refrigerate overnight.