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Myra may be gone, but not her Cranberry Chutney

By Dave Ross

November and December are my favorite months; I enjoy the holidays and having families and friends near.

In past issues of Wrangler News, I shared stories of my childhood remembrances and my recipe for preparing a roast turkey. This year I thought I would share a recipe for cranberry chutney to go with the turkey. As with most of my recipes, this one comes with a story.

Since moving to Tempe, my wife and I have had great neighbors. Two of these were John and Myra Davis. John and Myra greeted us with welcoming smiles the weekend we moved in 17 years ago, and we have remained close friends ever since.

Every year at Thanksgiving Myra would bring us a dish of her homemade cranberry chutney.

For the first couple of years we served it and another dish of cranberry sauce. After a couple of years I noticed that Myra’s chutney was the odds-on favorite, and the old standby went untouched.

When I asked Myra for her recipe she said she would gladly share it, but there was no need to go through the trouble of cooking it since she liked to make it and give it to her friends at Thanksgiving.

I eliminated our original recipe cranberry sauce from the menu and now, to everyone’s delight, serve only Myra’s chutney.

Last year John and Myra moved away from Tempe and, like a true friend, she gifted us with her recipe.

She said she still intends to make it and deliver it in time for Thanksgiving but we should have a copy of the recipe.

This is the first year in the past 17 that our friends won’t be across the street from us during the holiday season. They will, however, be present at our Thanksgiving dinner when we pass the cranberries.

Myra’s Cranberry Chutney

Makes 1 pint

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

2 cups fresh cranberries

2 tbs. vinegar

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 cup seedless raisins

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1 tsp. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

Combine water and sugar in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and add remaining ingredients all at once. Boil slowly, stirring occasionally until fairly thick, approximately 20 minutes. Cool before serving. Can be made several days ahead.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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