the motherload

yep. i found it. the key ingredient to any american thanksgiving dinner worth its salt.

and i didn't even have to bribe any bidness travelers to smuggle it in for me this year. found it in the terno - my local walking-to grocery store. of all places! and we're in the armpit of bratislava here. there's not a lot of import schtuffy stuff (even the heinz ketchup tastes different).

our first thanksgiving in shanghai i bribed a local expat-restaurant owner who boasted he was serving a traditional thanksgiving w/ cranberry sauce to sell me some. i drove (well, i was DRIVEN) all over the city before i found him and his "cranberries" 3 kilos of 'em. MOUNTAIN BERRIES. better known as LINGONBERRIES. i was SOOOO disappointed. but i bought them anywayze. and i used them.  better baby berries than nothing at all (plus, they made for a very nice martini base later)!

but these little jewels are the real deal...

boy, they're pretty, ainna hey?

i blew up the label. (we actually DO live in bratislava!!!)  see?  and these little babies came all the way from the you ess ayyyyeeee!!!  how did they DO that??? 

and now for your first slovak word:  cranberries here are BRUSNICE - say that 5 times fast...

anyone want to venture a guess as to how many USD this costed me? c'mon. think just a little. what would YOU pay? k, so figure a loss leader at mebbe a buck a bag, right? think 5 TIMES that much for me.  yep.  five dollah.  EACH.  and these little babies are worth every penny.

and 7 bags is all they had. must've had a box somewhere. but i gots'em. 

mineminemineminemine...