Cranberry Chutney
Dad, Mom & Elisabeth on Christmas Eve at the Reed House in Kingsport, Tennessee. 1989.
All of us at the Volberg House in Kingsport, Tennessee. Sometime at Christmas, 1989. I don’t think Dad was pulling a gun?!
Christmas morning at the Volberg House. Nonnie, Granddaddy, Me (in my ever present men’s’ pajamas), Mom (in a GROOVY kaftan that I still have), and Elisabeth (in an adorable Modern Times dress that she got as a gift). Mom received a vintage bowling shirt that had “Dale” stitched on it.
Mom with my sweet Aunt Kathy who, unfortunately, proceeded Mom in death. Christmas Day at the Reeds. 1989. (Mom wearing her bowling shirt.)
Christmas in Jerusalem. 1973. We made all of our own ornaments that year from egg cartons and the like. I learned later that Mom and Elisabeth would work on this project during my nap time so I didn’t mess things up. The nerve! Ha ha.
Left: Me and my sister with beautiful velvet muffs that Mom made and embroidered. We were going somewhere cold for Christmas Eve (perhaps Bethlehem?) and Mom made these to keep us warm. 1973. Right: My daughter with my muff in probably 2006 or so?
Mom loved getting her granddaughters matching holiday dresses. She would usually buy a fancy one and a more casual one for each year. Here are a few, although I really need to do a deep dive on the photos and find all the rest. They were so beautiful! Mom favored Desigual for the casual look. Mom died in October of 2018. My sister and I cobbled together a last minute look for Christmas of 2018 but it just wasn’t the same. Also, teenage girls with different styles make things more difficult!
‘Tis the season of giving. And you know what I realized? I have been given a gift from beyond the grave. I’ve heard from several of you recently with kind words about the blog or funny stories about my mom. That truly means everything to me! I’ve been at this blog for what will be a year in January and this project has come as a complete surprise to me. I’ve never written before. I’m from a family of WRITERS for Christ’s sake, so why would I want to do that?! But, in recent years I’ve had an inkling that I had something to say, I just didn’t know where to begin. I felt similarly when I took a video course in college. I thought that the medium of video might hold something for me, but the options were endless and intimidating. And, you know what saved me? Systems. For my video project, I set up a system: a repetition of patterns. I counted things, repeated things, found a way for it all to make sense. When Dad sent me Mom’s recipe files last January, I unconsciously responded in a similar way. Each blog post contains 3 components: photos, a story, and a recipe. That’s a way for me to handle the chaos, or as my husband likes to say, “rope the wind”. (We once saw Jerry Lee Lewis’ tour bus and it said, “You can’t rope the wind” on the side. Deep.). This week I was thinking about this blog and realized that Mom did another one of her little tricks. With this project, she gave me a new creative outlet! More than she would enjoy hearing stories about herself (I mean, who wouldn’t like that?), I think that Mom would actually love for me to have a new medium and some confidence to boot. Thanks, Mom!
To do this project, I’ve had to get a little sleuth-y. What I really need to do is go to Chapel Hill and sit down with the boxes upon boxes of perfectly organized photos that Mom put together. I mean, seriously. What hasn’t been digitally scanned, color corrected, and labeled was put in a meticulous box with section dividers. Our lives are professional-level archived! But, Covid has kind of put a damper on travel, so I’ve had to do with the photos I grabbed when Mom was dying, what I can find on ancestry.com (another project of Mom’s), and what I can find on her Facebook page. Which brings up another gift. I don’t know if you’ve ever done this, but if you go to someone’s Facebook page, on the upper righthand side by “Friends” and “Message”, there is a “…” button. Click that. From that drop down menu, you can selected “See Friendship”. This will show you everything you and that person ever shared with each other. There’s an option to view posts or photos. I recently did this with my Mom’s Facebook page and was delivered the most beautiful compilation of our virtual relationship: years of creative ideas, beautiful images, interesting articles. It was like having a really good chat with my mom. I liken it to that gorgeous final scene from Cinema Paradiso with the greatest hits of kisses. (Click the link if you haven’t seen it. Or even if you have!) So, if you are missing someone, maybe try this little Facebook trick for a visit.
Today I’m taking my daughter to the Nutcracker. We used to go every year when she was little. We went because I went when I was little. I just didn’t question the tradition. Over time, we stopped going because tickets were expensive and it was the same every year. (We knew the drill: boring guest scene, freaky mice, culturally stereotypical show-off dancing, etc.) But this year, for whatever reason, my daughter and I got nostalgic for it. I came down the other day and my daughter was blasting the Pas de Deux in the kitchen (which is arguably one of the most beautiful pieces of music, in my opinion). So, I bought tickets and we’re off! I wish I had some Rive Gauche perfume to wear. That’s what my mother and grandmother (Nonnie) both wore on special occasions. As a child it was the most elegant scent to me.
So, for today’s recipe, I leave you with something similarly elegant from my mom and Nonnie: Cranberry Chutney! The candied ginger makes it for me. This chutney was always served alongside our turkey, but it would go nicely with most any meat or would be a jazzy addition to your veggie plate.
CRANBERRY CHUTNEY
From Phyllis Volberg (my mom’s mother aka Nonnie)
4 cups (apx 1 pound) fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup cider vinegar
½ cup chopped almonds
½ cup chopped green pepper
¼ cup chopped candied ginger (or chopped, peeled fresh ginger)
1 medium clove garlic, minced
Combine ingredients in large saucepan.
Bring to boil, reduce heat.
Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Chill. (Freezes well.)
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