Cranberry Cravings

Hello! Greetings from Paradise :)

I know I have been away for a while (like a month!) but we'll discuss that another time.

Today I want to share my recent adventure at Epcot®, and another Evening with Ocean Spray®!
I was invited to an exclusive event, where I sampled some amazing food made with cranberries. Cranberry sauces, cranberry dips, glazes, chutneys, in everything from entrees, to side dishes, and desserts. Wow! The chefs at Epcot ® went all out for this one!

Everything was so very delicious!

Kobe Beef and Craisin Vegetable Fried Rice

Craisin Glazed Pork Belly with White Cheddar Grits
Cranberry & Sea Salt Cured Wild Salmon with Maple Sugar Crystals

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Craisin Ketchup

Two of the cranberry growers! Todd May & Peter Beaton

I have mentioned before what a big fan of cranberries I am :) I love the juice straight with nothing added, and the sparkling cranberry is very refreshing too.

Did you know the cranberry is a super fruit? It sure is! They are loaded with antioxidants. Just 1/4 cup of dried cranberries, or 8oz of juice provide 1/4 of your daily fruit needs! Besides that, they are just dang good! And now Ocean Spray® makes Trail Mix, too!

I usually just eat Craisins® right out of the bag, or make my signature Cranberry Cookies. (My kids STILL ask for these, even though they are adults.) I came up with this recipe shortly after Craisins® debuted in the early 90's, because to tell the truth I'm not a fan of chocolate chip cookies. Gasp! I know, weird, huh? I'll share my recipe with you soon, as well as everything that's been going on around here. I have so much to tell you! A couple of years ago I stumbled onto a recipe for Cranberry Cheesecake Bars, and they really are to die for! I'll share that with you too! You can find many recipes at OceanSpray.com , and become a member of the cranberry club. I did! You can share your cranberry recipes with them too, on the website, their Pinterest, and Facebook, and Instagram. You can click on those and it will take you right to it :)

I really love the fact that many Ocean Spray growers are family, and have been doing this and passing it down for generations. Ocean Spray is one big happy family of 700 growers!


If you get a chance to go to Epcot® during the Food and Wine Festival this year, you too can eat your way around the world, and drink your way around it too! My daughter did just that, starting her day with a Scotch Flight, which was 3 shots of Scotch. She said the 18 year Scotch was the smoothest. I've never tried Scotch, and won't get the chance to, unfortunately. (Darn Lupus!) She also had the Tequila Flight (3 shots of Tequila's) and various other alcohol based concoctions. Her fave food at the Festival is always the grilled
Greek cheese. She always gets this, and Friday she had it twice! I've been trying to pick a favorite, but I ate so many good things it's really hard to choose. I do have a way now to get my son Kyle to eat cooked spinach! Spanakopita!!!! Phyllo is on my grocery list :)

We didn't get to visit The Land this time (where the amazing greenhouses of Epcot® are) but we did get in to see The Sea, and Nemo and Friends. I got to ride in a seashell!!!!! I could live in that building. There are huge tanks, and small tanks, everything from coral growing, to many baby clown fish, seahorse, starfish, manatees, dolphin and rays, I even saw a shark. There's an elevator in the building for us disabled folks, too.

You've just got to go and see for yourself!

There's so much to see and do! And TASTE!

Make sure you check out the cranberry bog!