The Cranberry

I love cranberries. What holiday table would be complete without those beautiful red berries? Those round berries have more health benefits than other fruits.

Some of the health benefits include: The cranberry lowers LDL cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol; It can possibly ward off cancer and they have been shown to inhibit cancer cell proliferation, particularly with the cells associated with breast cancer.

Cranberries are great dried and can easily be thrown into a salad. I like to use them as I use raisins. You can easily throw them into your cornbread batter. I like the sweet/tart combination of the corn with the cranberry. Recently, I found an appropriate drink for the holiday season. A cranberry martini!

The Holiday Martini
Servings: 1
• 2 ounces vodka
• 1/2 - 1 ounce vermouth
• 2 ounces cranberry juice
• Frozen cranberries for garnish
(the frozen cranberry acts as a small ice cube to keep the martini cold)

Pour the first three ingredients into a cocktail shaker with a few ice cubes. Shake for 10 seconds and strain mixture into a chilled martini glass. Float 3 cranberries for garnish (It has to be three or five..garnish is all about odd numbers).

-Fer

p.s. We also can't forget the traditional Jezebel Sauce I love so much.