kung-fu silicone grip

Tonight, I made the cranberry relish I mentioned in an earlier post.

Usually, I buy the canned stuff, and I still like it. Timber had his own “secret” recipe, and I enjoyed his citrus-y contribution for a number of years. He has inadvertently guilted me into home-made sauce each year. But I must respect his secret, so I had to strike out on my own. Dean & Deluca sell a cranberry-cardamom sauce, but for $25. Um, no. (Quick check on their site indicates that they’re sold out. Whoa.) Epicurious set me up with a reasonable-sounding recipe, so that’s what I made. Lemon juice, honey, apricots, cardamom… and cranberries.

Cranberries are just the cutest little things.  I’ve had them in the house before, but never before cooked with them. I was instructed to boil them until they popped. Bubble, bubble, hisssss… hey! It popped, alright… and spit hot cranberry juice at me! The nerve.

Ah, right, the point of this post. Last Christmas, Mandy bought me an assortment of kitchen gadgets in my “signature” color, red. Potentially the oddest item, a silicone utensil clip, has turned out to be an absolute wonder to have in the kitchen. Forget about gloppy, sticky spoon rests. This doohickie fits right over the edge of my saucepan. It’s heat-resistant and malleable enough enough to securely hold any spoon/spatula/whisk/whatever without me having to sully my counter, stove top, or another dish. The utensil drips neatly back into the pan, and stays within easy reach. It cleans up in a snap, too.

End, public service announcement.