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.

The Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said Friday it had arrested a man and charged him with arson  after he allegedly started a fire outside Cranberry Square Shopping Center in Westminster. According to a release, Edwin Lawrence Kaiss Jr., 49, was taken into custody without incident after deputies identified him as a suspect in a small fire that was set at about 3:20 p.m. behind the shopping center located at 405 N. Center St., off Route 140, in Westminster. According to the fire marshal's office, investigators believe a man removed combustibles from a trash receptacle and set fire to them near the building.

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.

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 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 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.

WESTMINSTER -- John A. Gebhardt, a 51-year-old former marketing executive, told a Circuit Court jury last week that shoplifting charges filed against him in October were the result of an overzealous Caldor security guard who refused to admit he made a mistake.The jury didn't buy the story.After nearly three hours of deliberation over two days, the four-man, eight-woman panel convicted Gebhardt on Friday on one charge of misdemeanor theft.Gebhardt was shopping in the Cranberry Mall store on theevening of Oct. 18 to pick up some hardware supplies, batteries and videocassettes.

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.

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.

A man and a woman were injured in a three-car accident las night on Route 140 at Center Street in Westminster, city police said.The man and woman, who were riding in separate vehicles, sustained minor injuries. They were taken to Carroll County General Hospital for treatment after the 9:20 p.m. crash, police said.Police didn't immediately release their identities. The woman was believed to be a passenger in one of the vehicles.Officers at the scene said the driver of a Toyota pickup truck was northbound on Center Street, crossing Route 140, when the collision occurred.

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.