The Great Cranberry Debate

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I don’t understand cranberry sauce from a can. I know people love it, and they get those white and red tin cans, and open one end, and goosh out that cylindrical shape with the ridges encircling it. 

And then pretend it’s cranberries.

I know there are even MOLDS you can buy to make your homemade cranberries have ridges! 

A food found in nature would not behave like that. Cranberries are little round red things that, in the natural order of the universe, will just stay essentially little round red things, and not be tortured into some sort of forced aspic shape.

(And I know pumpkin pie does not look like a pumpkin, but let’s leave that for later since it’s not my point.)

Don’t get me wrong, I adore cranberries. Real cranberries, put into a sauce pan with water and triple sec, and sugar and orange rind. And boiled, until they make simple syrup. Then poured into a crystal cut glass bowl and refrigerated and chilled until–voila. It becomes like a gorgeous chunky marmalade. Maybe add chopped walnuts.

This is a real plate from our last year's table. See the cranberries?

I have never tasted ridged cylindrical shaped/ produced from real-but-how-would -you-know cranberries. Is it like Jello? Or aspic? Or…those candies called Chuckles?

People seem to have opinions on this. What are yours, Reds and Readers?

Thursday, we will talk about stuffing. Dressing. Or whatever you call it. But today: ONLY cranberries. Or cranberry-type food items.

Let me take a moment to acknowledge the place where I live, now called Newton Massachusetts, was the home of the Massachusett tribe, for, according to some records, around 12,000 years.

LUCY BURDETTE: Hank! You’ve never tasted cranberry sauce from a can?? It’s the perfect accompaniment to Thanksgiving dinner. Period. I know people are very proud of their homemade cranberry sauce (Debs for example), but give me the jelly roll can with perfect ridges every time! I am going to spend my extra time saved by not making cranberry sauce on a mocha crunch pie.

Oh and I do adore Chuckles, but it’s more like grape jelly, only cranberry flavored if that helps?

RHYS BOWEN: Cranberry sauce is something I tend to forget to put on the table. I prefer the one with whole berries not the jellied tower of horror, but really if it’s not there I don’t notice. More important to me are stuffing and crispy roast potatoes, or creamy mashed potatoes and lots of lovely gravy.

Having not grown up with Thanksgiving I don’t obsess over all the required elements of the meal. Once I even served crab, much to the horror of our children.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Do you know I don't think I've tasted the cranberry in a can since I was a child? I think I might have liked it then. I also remember there being some kind of relish on the TG table that I thought was gross, but I have no idea what the recipe had in it.

But somehow between then and now I fell hard for cranberries–the real berries that pop when you cook them and make the most gorgeous mess. (Do not splatter on clothes, however!) Of course you have to sweeten cranberries or you would be permanently puckered. The recipe I love calls for honey (along with jalapeno, loads of orange zest, black pepper, and vinegar) but I usually add a couple of teaspoons of brown sugar, too. It is my favorite thing on the entire table and sometimes the only thing I actually cook because I can't envision Thanksgiving without it.

JENN McKINLAY: Give me the jiggly tower of horror! I have never tasted a cranberry relish that I liked. Ick. Bleck. Nope. Also, I need it to stay in can shape for easy slicing. And when you make a turkey and stuffing sandwich the next day there is no substitute for the smear of cranberry jelly on the bread to bring all the flavors together! Yum!!!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I hate to pile on, Hank, but I, too, use the canned stuff - although not the jiggly jelly. I buy the whole berry cranberry sauce, and if I’m feeling ambitious (and haven’t mucked up the timing so I’m cooking eight dishes at the same time) I’ll stir in some fresh orange segments and add a little mace or something.

The fact is, no one in my family really likes cranberry relish, so it’s pretty much out there for the guests. If they want some fancy recipe that starts with them wading through the bogs in Wareham, Mass, they can make and bring it themselves.

HALLIE EPHRON: YAY for the canned whole berry sauce!! I have *4* cans of it just in case the store runs out. And it’s *essential* for turkey and stuffing sandwiches the next day.

(Yes cranberries aren’t cylindrical-shaped, but neither is tuna, and yet….)

HANK: Like a pumpkin and pumpkin pie. Of course. Still. I mean--I really love actual authentic cranberry relish, and it's even good on oatmeal. But not the canned stuff with ridges. How about you, Reds and Readers? Where are you in the great cranberry debate?

Yak is back! Ron Corbett on MUSKIE FALLS

 HALLIE EPHRON: I'm delighted to welcome back Canadian mystery writer Ron Corbett whose first mystery novel (Ragged Lake) came roaring out of the gate as an Edgar finalist in 2018. In that novel, Ron introduced an unforgettable, crusty protagonist and seasoned cop, Frank Yakabuski. 

In what feels (to me) like the blink of an eye, he's out this week with his FOURTH series novel, MUSKIE FALLS.

And I'm thrilled to say that Ron Corbett is here to talk about how Yak came to him and what he's getting up to in the new book.

RON CORBETT: First, thanks for having me on Jungle Red, Hallie. And Frank, I know you like his last name. That’s an important part of the character. 

Place has a lot to do with Frank, the character, the reason I think Ragged Lake worked, and it’s all real.

Not far from where I live there’s a town that claims to be the oldest Polish settlement in Canada. I don’t know if anyone has ever bothered to double-check that, but that’s the claim. Not far from that town, there was a Yakabuski hardware store. Passed it every summer as a child, on my way to Algonquin Park. Frank is like a big fishing guide you’d meet up North. Except he’s a cop.

HALLIE: Were you surprised by the amazing reception Ragged Lake received?

RON CORBETT: Well, I thought people would like the story, you always hope that; I thought Frank was a good character, I thought I had a good villain in Tommy Bangles, and the far North, a fictionalized far North, I thought I had a good setting. I think place is important to a story and I think this series has a good sense of place. The Edgar nomination was a nice surprise.

HALLIE: Your new novel is a prequel, written after you've given your main character lots of life experience. What inspired you to turn back time?

RON CORBETT: It’s funny what happened with this book. The original idea was to have a short story about Frank Yakabuski’s first case, a very simple whodunnit locked-room mystery of about 10,000 words. One of the complications in the story would be that all four of my suspects would be tough and ornery and look guilty as hell.

My complication soon became that I quite liked the characters, and 10,000 words became 20,000 words, without any change in the plot. I soon realized I needed more of a story, to justify the extra words.

At around 40,000 words I realized none of this was going to work without a villain. At around 50,000 I realized I was writing a novel.

It was the first time a story grew on me like that, and there were many times I wished it hadn’t. One of the characters’ names, one of the suspects in Muskie Falls, his name is Leon Stoppa and I really do blame much of this on Leon.

I’d be curious to know if some of your readers have had this happen to them. I know there are a lot of writers out there. I don’t know if inspired is the right word for what happened.

HALLIE: The book is being published this week, on pre-order now on Amazon, goes live on Black Friday. Bookstores will just be in Canada.

Ron, you have another series going as well, with Berkley Books. The first book got a starred review in Publishers Weekly, and The New York Times called it a “dynamite debut” that “brims with heart and grit.” Tell us a little about that.

RON CORBETT: Yes. That’s the Danny Barrett series you’re talking about, and that’s been a lot of fun. The first book was called The Sweet Goodbye. The second book comes out in March, it’s called Cape Rage.

Similarities to Frank, a great many, but he’s younger, and he’s rootless. That’s the biggest difference. Barrett is a professional undercover cop, and he travels from case to case, a much darker figure; for Barrett, place will change from book to book.

Barrett isn’t even his real name. We don’t know yet what his real name is. It’s going to be interesting to see how this will change the two characters over time – the one that stays put; the one that doesn’t.

HALLIE: You were a journalist and a broadcaster for many years, how has that shaped you as a crime novelist?

RON CORBETT: If nothing else, it’s given me a few stories to re-tell. A lot of what was in Ragged Lake, it’s old stories.

There really was a street gang in Ottawa in the 1830s called the Shiners. They ruled the city for a few years. I wrote about them when I was a newspaper columnist. 

In Cape Rage, the Liz Taylor and Richard Burton story you’re going to read, it’s true. 

Being a journalist, if you were lucky enough to have been given the chance to write stories, if you weren’t just doing promotional nonsense, it’s great experience for any novelist.  

HALLIE: So I'm still thinking about that 10K word short story that sprouted (bloomed?) into a full length novel. So that's a question for today: Have you ever started writing/creating something short but got seduced into producing something much longer? (For me it more often works in reverse...)

Meet Tara Sidhoo Fraser’s ghost self…

HALLIE EPHRON: Today we’re thrilled to welcome Tara Sidhoo Fraser. I heard her read from her then work-in-progress, and had to seek her out after to tell her how moved I'd been by what she'd written. Now her book is out!

When My Ghost Sings: A Memoir of Stroke, Recovery and Transformation, is one part memoir. every bit a mystery.

Tara describes it as “an apology letter, a song of mourning.” It’s a moving and enthralling story, unlike anything that we’ve featured here on Jungle Red.

It's my pleasure to introduce you to Tara and her “ghost self”…

TARA SIDHOO FRASER: Seven years have passed since my stroke, which I had at the age of 32, however, it is her reckoning with I was still haunted by the murky memories of my previous life. Since I have published my story, others have referred to this form of memory haze as amnesia and I suppose that is the correct term. Though I was able to understand what some things were and most people’s names, many things were fuzzy. And, strangely, as memories did begin to surface, they were seen through someone else’s eyes-the person whose body I stole. I call this person Ghost.

The stroke, itself, was caused by a rare mutation in my brain. After surgery, my memory of self and my world were incredibly murky. I felt as though I was a different soul in another’s body.

To verbally express this was impossible for me but to write about it, felt safe. Through writing, I was given the opportunity to invite Ghost to speak. Together, we created a memoir of lucid exploration of amnesia, selfhood, and who is left behind when the past is obliterated.

When I began writing my memoir, it was merely the task to write out my feelings following the stroke. To experience my memories and to create an almost timeline of events.

However, once I began writing, my heart and Ghost had much more to express! Each morning, while it was still dark, I brewed coffee, set my musical playlist, and invited my Ghost to sing.

I fell into the madness of writing, many times carrying on from the wee hours of the morning to late afternoon. It felt as though, my ghost and I had formed a pact, to share her story. It was now my responsibility to complete this promise.

Photo by Kristine Cofsky

As mentioned, this novel is also an apology letter to Ghost. It is a memoir of her lived experiences as well as her own. It is also an apology letter to each lover during this time period.

Truly, writing this memoir was a way for Ghost to reach each person and bid farewell.

And while, this story is deeply personal, I know that for other people reading her memoir, it can ring truth and bring forth connection. Since publishing my memoir, I’ve been fortunate enough to share conversations with other people who have had similar experiences, either with someone they know or personally.

When My Ghost Sings: A Memoir of Stroke, Recovery and Transformation, is a mystery set in the liminal space of amnesia. It is a lyrical memoir of healing, a farewell letter, and an embracing/reclamation of selfhood. Publishing this book is such a gift because now, Ghost’s story will always exist and can never be forgotten.

HALLIE: Utterly fascinating. Wondering if any of our readers have had close encounters with amnesia, or sensed that you had a ghost self? As I read Tara's description, it made me think of that sense so many people have that they've had past lives. Food for thought.