Cranberry

O n a day that is supposed to bring families together, this dish has a tendency to push them apart. I am talking about cranberries, those tart little berries that everyone feels obligated to serve in some form on Thanksgiving Day. I have nothing against cranberries. I like them, as long as they're fixed the "right way." That means with fresh grated ginger, minced garlic and a can of cranberry jelly. This produces a chutney that has zest, fruit and presence. It livens up the slices of roast turkey served on Thanksgiving Day and is positively essential as a flavorful lubricant for the leftover roast turkey sandwiches that are served ad infinitum on the days after the feast.

Nancy Hannah from Baltimore was looking for a recipe for salad that was made with ground raw cranberries, a ground orange and other ingredients in a red gelatin base. Carole Linthicum from Forest Hill sent in a recipe from "Better Homes and Gardens All-Time Favorite Cookbook," 1971 edition, for a cranberry relish mold that she thought was likely the recipe Hannah was searching for. She said that she has been making this mold for Thanksgiving for more than 25 years and everyone always enjoys it. A food processor or blender will make quick work of this salad, although I suggest chopping the celery and nuts by hand so they have the right texture.

The cranberry's future has never looked rosier. Not only has its refreshing taste and proven health benefits (such as fighting urinary-tract infections) made it one of America's most popular juice drinks, but the cranberry is making a splash on the fashion scene as well. Cranberry is the hot color this season, and decorators are recommending a variety of shades for everything from upholstery fabrics to wall paint.But it's more than just new hues. The berry's tangy flavor is popping up all over.

Tess Coker from Bend, Ore., has been trying to locate a recipe similar to the one she once had for making an eggnog tart or tartlets. Christie McVie from Knoxville, Tenn., sent in a recipe she likes very much from the November 2004 issue of Gourmet magazine for a Cranberry Eggnog Tart. She said she tried this dessert when she first saw the recipe and it has become a standard at her holiday gatherings. While the recipe may seem a bit complicated at first glance, it really is not all that difficult.

The State Highway Administration will temporarily close the Cranberry Road Bridge (Route 852H) over the West Branch of the Patapsco River near Westminster TownMall in Westminster. Weather permitting, the closure will begin tomorrow for approximately one month while the bridge is repaired. The $89,000 project should be completed by Aug. 24. The project includes reconstruction of the roadway at the bridge approaches. Motorists will be detoured approximately three miles in each direction along Cranberry Road as follows: Route 140 to Route 27 to Route 852 (Old Manchester Road)

The Big Iguana, which sells Guatemalan and South American clothing and accessories, opened Sept. 16 in Cranberry Mall.Merchandise includes sweaters, shirts, dresses, bags and purses and handmade jewelry.The Big Iguana has stores in Fells Point, Annapolis, Hunt Valley,Harborplace and Columbia.Also at the mall, The Hair Cuttery recently expanded to include 11 haircutting stations, three shampoo stations and a larger reception area.The store's color scheme has beenchanged and new personnel have been added.

The Westminster planning commission rejected last night a request from Cranberry Square Shopping Center for direct access from westbound Route 140 but left open the possibility of access from Cranberry Road.And the commission deferred a recommendation to the City Council on a proposed manual that would give the city its first written standards for landscaping for residential, commercial and industrial developments.Constellation Real Estate Corp., which owns Cranberry Square, asked the planning commission last November for a right-turn lane that would provide direct access to the shopping center from westbound Route 140.Shopping center representatives said customers, particularly senior citizens, were confused by lanes of traffic coming from both directions on Route 140 and northbound Center Street to the shopping center entrance on North Center Street.

THE INFLATION rate over the past four or five years has been relatively low, perhaps a 2 percent annual rise in the cost of living as measured by the federal government. But as we know, the costs of specific goods and services -- health care is an obvious example -- can increase at a much higher rate.Nevertheless, the price escalation of Cranberry Station Elementary School in Westminster has to be in a category by itself.Incredible rise in priceStill under construction, planned for use this August by 600 youngsters, the school has seen an incredible rise in its projected cost -- from less than $6.75 million to almost $10 million in three years.

The management of Cranberry Mall in Westminster closed the shopping center at 8:23 p.m. Tuesday when a partial loss of electrical power caused the lights to flicker and dim, and smoke to come from some electrical junction boxes, fire officials said.Shoppers were asked to leave, and employees were sent home early.Firefighters from Westminster, Reese, Pleasant Valley and Manchester responded when the power outage set off an alarm. They checked for fire in the mall in the 400 block of N. Center St., but none was found.

Cranberry Mall and Lifelong Learning Council of Carroll County will present the second annual Learning for Life Weekend tomorrow through Sunday during mall hours.This year's theme is a Book Wonderland that lets shoppers "walk" through the pages of a giant book. The pages were painted by local artists to highlight aspects of learning.The event is a fund-raiser for Lifelong Learning Council. Shoppers may purchase, for a donation, apples to hang on the Learning for Life Tree.Entertainment and information booths and sessions by area agencies will be featured.

O n a day that is supposed to bring families together, this dish has a tendency to push them apart. I am talking about cranberries, those tart little berries that everyone feels obligated to serve in some form on Thanksgiving Day. I have nothing against cranberries. I like them, as long as they're fixed the "right way." That means with fresh grated ginger, minced garlic and a can of cranberry jelly. This produces a chutney that has zest, fruit and presence. It livens up the slices of roast turkey served on Thanksgiving Day and is positively essential as a flavorful lubricant for the leftover roast turkey sandwiches that are served ad infinitum on the days after the feast.

The State Highway Administration will temporarily close the Cranberry Road Bridge (Route 852H) over the West Branch of the Patapsco River near Westminster TownMall in Westminster. Weather permitting, the closure will begin tomorrow for approximately one month while the bridge is repaired. The $89,000 project should be completed by Aug. 24. The project includes reconstruction of the roadway at the bridge approaches. Motorists will be detoured approximately three miles in each direction along Cranberry Road as follows: Route 140 to Route 27 to Route 852 (Old Manchester Road)

The locked double doors inside Cranberry Station Elementary held back a growing and increasingly anxious crowd of would-be tourists who milled through the Westminster school's lobby. The estimated 150 students and their parents who attended "Around the World with Reading and Math" already had some hint of their potential destinations: adventures in Africa and Antarctica, a journey to Japan, a run through the rain forest. "This is a way for them to see what their children are doing," said Wendy Eaves, a health teacher who organized the family math and reading night.

The inventory for John Hall "of Cranberry" filed with the Register of Wills on Feb. 7, 1770, lists elegant items owned by a prominent family from southern Harford County. Located along the current Route 7 near Aberdeen, the inventory of Cranberry Hall included fine furnishings and manufacturing supplies. Martha Hall was born into this setting in 1746 as the eldest daughter of Jonathan Hall. She married Samuel Griffith, her second husband, in 1778. They each brought four children to the marriage and had four sons together.

BOSTON -- The cranberry, a Thanksgiving holiday icon in the New World, is bouncing back from a market slump, thanks to the Old World. Four centuries after the bitter berry was embraced by hungry immigrants who left Europe seeking a better life, the cranberry is getting a boost from new markets in Germany, France and, yes, Great Britain, where those first expatriates set sail. "It's been phenomenal," said David Farrimond, general manager of the Cranberry Marketing Committee, a quasi-public agency in Wareham, Mass.

Yes, say researchers who study the berry, although the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which is sponsoring several clinical trials, says the data is "not conclusive." The queen of cranberry science, Amy Howell, an associate research scientist at Rutgers University in Chatsworth, N.J., said that, overall, research suggests that eight to 10 ounces a day of cranberry juice cocktail drink, sweetened with either sugar or artificial sweetener, have been shown clinically to reduce urinary tract infections by 50 percent.

The evidence is in: Tobacco fumes have been judged potentially lethal to smoker and non-smoker alike.A growing body of scientific study has confirmed this finding. The most damning statistics appeared in a recent report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which said "secondary smoke" causes 3,000 lung cancer deaths among non-smokers and up to 300,000 cases of bronchitis and pneumonia in children annually.Politicians and merchants, as fearful of liability lawsuits as they are concerned about public health, have begun heeding the signals.

Casey, the most faithful employee at Cranberry Industrial Park, works for her keep and an occasional pat on the head."A big German shepherd; she looks like a threat," said Jimmy Clopein, owner of Dun-Rite Auto Shop. "The worse she might do is jump up on you, wanting to be petted."Nobody here knows the black-and-tan dog's age, but everyone knowsher favorite foods. At most of the 12 businesses, Casey easily sniffs out food and canine snacks.Tina Stanley, a secretary for A & L Garage Doors, keeps a water bowl and a pink food dish under her desk.