Cranberry Sauce

It's the season for that ubiquitous cranberry condiment again. Don't think of it as just a partner to the turkey, turn it into the base of a great, yet simple barbecue sauce. Use with chicken, duck or an oriental stir-fry (add a touch of sesame oil).Purchased corn muffins bring a touch of the South to the menu. A simple frozen vegetable mixture can be zapped quickly as a side dish.Make glazed bananas for dessert.Cranberry barbecue sauced ribsServes 41 1/2 pounds boneless country-style pork ribs1/3 cup barbecue sauce of choice (tomato based)

So it's Thanksgiving Day, and if you are a football fanatic lucky enough to have a ticket to the Ravens game tonight, as well as a pass from Grandma, you may well be having your Thanksgiving feast in the parking lot at M&T Bank Stadium . Undoubtedly, there will be tailgaters out there cooking up traditional Thanksgiving fare like whole turkeys and ham, firing up their grills and deep fryers outside of the stadium. If, however, deep-frying or grilling a whole bird in the parking lot feels bit daunting, why not consider making a big pot of turkey chili or something as simple as turkey burger sliders?

So it's Thanksgiving Day, and if you are a football fanatic lucky enough to have a ticket to the Ravens game tonight, as well as a pass from Grandma, you may well be having your Thanksgiving feast in the parking lot at M&T Bank Stadium . Undoubtedly, there will be tailgaters out there cooking up traditional Thanksgiving fare like whole turkeys and ham, firing up their grills and deep fryers outside of the stadium. If, however, deep-frying or grilling a whole bird in the parking lot feels bit daunting, why not consider making a big pot of turkey chili or something as simple as turkey burger sliders?

If you haven't been to the airport since last year's Thanksgiving trip, some things have changed - but much has stayed the same, including the ban on liquids. Although you might not want to pay those extra fees to check your luggage, you may have to if you're bringing a jar of your special turkey gravy recipe. Here's a sampling of things you cannot pack in your carry-on: 1. Meat cleaver 2. Mace/pepper spray 3. Cooking fuel 4. Gel candles 5. Perfume 6. Snowglobes 7. Cranberry sauce 8. Maple syrup 9. Oils and vinegar 10. Wine, liquor and beer Also, passengers are still limited to 3-ounce or smaller containers of liquids and gels, placed in a quart-size zip-top bag. Items such as baby food, breast milk and medicines are allowed to exceed three ounces.

Here is a low-fat feast that is fast and easy to prepare. Cranberry chicken with ginger confetti rice is a delicious dinner that can be baked unattended.The dish is low in fat because no butter or oil is added during the cooking. It's delicious because it's made with cranberry sauce, a natural partner for poultry. Canned cranberry sauce, mixed with a few condiments and the cooking juices from the chicken, forms a rich, tangy gravy that is an elegant burgundy color. It tastes like a very uptown barbecue sauce.

Now is the time for all good cooks to take advantage of fresh cranberries, one of the joys of the fall season that can be found in food stores only from mid-October through December.In this Fastlane Feast, I have adapted a recipe from Karen A. Levin's new paperback, "Twenty-Minute Chicken Dishes" (Contemporary Books, $7.95). Although I have substituted the fresh product for her canned sauce, the meal can still get to the table in under 30 minutes with time to spare. The tartness of the cranberries is balanced with cream cheese, sugar and walnuts.

Cranberry sauce wrestling The lowdown -- Watch female wrestlers duke it out in a pool of cranberry sauce tomorrow night at the Ottobar's annual Nightmare Before Thanksgiving Party. The competing teams in this year's tournament include Afro-Sheen, the Junkettes, Mama's Dirty Girls, and the Germinators. Black Sabbath cover band Snowblind, DJ Matt Walter, Joyce DeSalvo and the Telemarketers and Wayne Mutant and Meat Vegan will perform. If you go -- Doors open at 9 p.m. and the 18 and older show starts at 10 p.m. Tickets are $10. The Ottobar is at 2549 N. Howard St. Call 410-662-0069 or go to theottobar.

If you haven't been to the airport since last year's Thanksgiving trip, some things have changed - but much has stayed the same, including the ban on liquids. Although you might not want to pay those extra fees to check your luggage, you may have to if you're bringing a jar of your special turkey gravy recipe. Here's a sampling of things you cannot pack in your carry-on: 1. Meat cleaver 2. Mace/pepper spray 3. Cooking fuel 4. Gel candles 5. Perfume 6. Snowglobes 7. Cranberry sauce 8. Maple syrup 9. Oils and vinegar 10. Wine, liquor and beer Also, passengers are still limited to 3-ounce or smaller containers of liquids and gels, placed in a quart-size zip-top bag. Items such as baby food, breast milk and medicines are allowed to exceed three ounces.

Theresa O'Hara of Baltimore wanted a recipe for a Cranberry Cake that she used to make. It was baked in a bundt pan and drizzled with a thin icing. Alice Flumbaum from Joppa sent in a recipe her daughter, Rebecca Lowery, makes called a Cape Cod Cranberry-Nut Cake. She says the rich, moist cake has been a standard part of her family's Christmas brunch for many years. The cake has a wonderful delicate flavor and texture and the cranberry swirl adds a lovely holiday touch. It would be a hit any time of year but it does seem like a natural for Christmas morning.

Linda Arnaud's The Artful Christmas (Stewart Tabori & Chang, 2002, $29.95) is a feast for the eyes. The 80 beautiful photographs of Christmas dinner tables include pictures of sumptuous foods such as glistening poached pears and braised duck legs, as well as decorations from delicate angels to brightly dressed teddy bears. Each chapter centers on a holiday theme and includes a menu, wine suggestions, decorating tips and a brief discussion of various Christmas traditions, such as the creche, Santa Claus and Christmas cards.

In New Orleans over the weekend, people were flexing their gullets for the Acme World Oyster Eating championship where the winner was a young man from Chicago, Patrick Bertoletti. But competitive eating is one of those sort-of sports in which women have demonstrated that they can compete with the guys, and at the Big Easy oyster slurp, Germantown's Juliet Lee - all of 105 pounds - finished second. Lee, who used to be a chemistry teacher in China and operates a hair salon in Germantown, downed 31 1/2 dozen raw oysters (378)

Cranberry sauce wrestling The lowdown -- Watch female wrestlers duke it out in a pool of cranberry sauce tomorrow night at the Ottobar's annual Nightmare Before Thanksgiving Party. The competing teams in this year's tournament include Afro-Sheen, the Junkettes, Mama's Dirty Girls, and the Germinators. Black Sabbath cover band Snowblind, DJ Matt Walter, Joyce DeSalvo and the Telemarketers and Wayne Mutant and Meat Vegan will perform. If you go -- Doors open at 9 p.m. and the 18 and older show starts at 10 p.m. Tickets are $10. The Ottobar is at 2549 N. Howard St. Call 410-662-0069 or go to theottobar.

Theresa O'Hara of Baltimore wanted a recipe for a Cranberry Cake that she used to make. It was baked in a bundt pan and drizzled with a thin icing. Alice Flumbaum from Joppa sent in a recipe her daughter, Rebecca Lowery, makes called a Cape Cod Cranberry-Nut Cake. She says the rich, moist cake has been a standard part of her family's Christmas brunch for many years. The cake has a wonderful delicate flavor and texture and the cranberry swirl adds a lovely holiday touch. It would be a hit any time of year but it does seem like a natural for Christmas morning.

The holiday season always sends me into a frenzy of good-intentioned but ill-advised baking. Do I really need to make seven kinds of Christmas cookies? Probably not. But as reliably as geese fly south, when the weather turns chilly, I feel an irresistible urge to measure, press, cut, roll and decorate. Inevitably, I overextend and wind up putting the finishing touches on 101 gingerbread men far too late at night. In the nick of time, Good Housekeeping presents Cookies!, a collection of more than 150 of its favorite recipes and a reliable guide for bakers even if they, like me, come to the kitchen with more enthusiasm than expertise.

You may have decided what kind of turkey will star in your Thanksgiving Day production, but now it's time to consider the supporting cast. "A side dish ... often steals the show," says Jerry Edwards, chef and owner of Chef's Expressions catering company in Timonium. "That is the magic of cooking and recipes and food combinations. That is why I always like to create new side dishes for Thanksgiving." But with new dishes to audition and old favorites to reprise, the cook can soon become exhausted and the Thanksgiving table crowded.

A new combo: chocolate and cranberries Chocolate and raspberry are a classic combination, but now that November has arrived, try a more seasonal variation on the theme by pairing chocolate with cranberries. Here's a rich fudge-cake recipe from Ocean Spray: Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8-inch round cake pan with foil. Coat foil with cooking spray. Dust pan with flour, tapping to remove excess. Combine 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, 1/2 cup butter and 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate in a microwavesafe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute.

In New Orleans over the weekend, people were flexing their gullets for the Acme World Oyster Eating championship where the winner was a young man from Chicago, Patrick Bertoletti. But competitive eating is one of those sort-of sports in which women have demonstrated that they can compete with the guys, and at the Big Easy oyster slurp, Germantown's Juliet Lee - all of 105 pounds - finished second. Lee, who used to be a chemistry teacher in China and operates a hair salon in Germantown, downed 31 1/2 dozen raw oysters (378)

Seventy-six-year-old Agnes E. Smith was surprised to see Gov. William Donald Schaefer and other state officials helping to serve a buffet-style Thanksgiving dinner yesterday to about 2,000 poor and homeless people at the Baltimore Convention Center.Wearing a bright yellow apron, the governor dished out sauerkraut. Members of his Cabinet and staff served cranberry sauce, rolls and mashed potatoes at the annual event sponsored by Goodwill Industries."God bless you, Governor Schaefer," Mrs. Smith said after she presented her plate and then recognized her server.

Clarification To make the brine for Patrick O'Connell's Spruced-Up Turkey recipe that ran in Taste last week, only loose sassafras tea should be used. The bark of sassafras root as a food additive is banned by the Food and Drug Administration. It's decision time. Three weeks from tomorrow is Thanksgiving and you have important choices to make: sweet potatoes or mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie or pecan pie, pinot grigio or zinfandel, brined turkey or plain turkey? And despite our images of Norman Rockwell paintings, not every family gathered around the Thanksgiving table will look alike.

Cooking With Three Ingredients: Flavorful Food Easy as 1, 2, 3 by Andrew Schloss (Quill, 2003, $17.95) inspires a mix of elation, shame and validation in those of us who have a love/hate relationship with the kitchen. The title of the book, reissued in paperback, speaks to the cooking conundrum faced by so many: Why does preparing a delicious meal have to be complicated? And, just because you say you like to cook, does it mean you also like to tangle with complicated procedures for achieving perfect textures and taste fusions?