One of the things I could always rely on to make Mom relax into a smile when she was fighting her last pitched battle against  pneumonia was the mention of any of her favorite foods. She often thought she was hungry — and I bet she often was hungry— because the dilapidated rehab she found herself in refused to serve her any food that was not ground to an unrecognizable mush. Everything the kitchen brought to her looked like dog food. Worse than dog food, actually, because it was called something tasty, which raised expectations that there might be something delicious or even just edible under the tarnished silver dome. I know mom died of pneumonia, finally, but I also think that that rehab was starving her to death. So I would tell her that when she got home her caregiver and I would make her favorite chicken soup, or whitefish salad, or hotdogs and beans. I brought her my homemade egg salad, which she loved, but I could feed her no more than a few forks before she declared herself full. Every day, since she died in December, I make it a point to try to honor her memory in some way. And today, because one of her favorite meals was corned beef and cabbage, I’m celebrating her with that classic Irish dinner. I wish I were sharing it with her. But with every bite I’ll be remembering her delight. (The recipe is from allrecipes.com )

Every year at Thanksgiving, my godmother in New York City has to send a jar of ginger preserved in syrup cross-country to me in Seattle. Every year she complains that the postage for mailing the heavy glass jar costs more than the ginger itself, but it’s an unspoken bargain between us. The preserved ginger is a hard-to-find ingredient that’s necessary for making the world’s best cranberry preserve, which was originally her mother’s recipe. It’s okay; another part of our unspoken bargain is that a godmother cannot refuse a goddaughter any request. (She got off easy since she didn’t have to pay for my orthodontia or college education.) And every year we preserve another tradition: laughing about the Thanksgiving dinner when one of her friends forgot to wear pants. (Really: just a big shirt over pantyhose. Not a good look.) The memories are as sweet as the candied ginger. The Recipe... Cranberry-Ginger Conserve 1 c. white wine 1 c. sugar 12 oz cranberries, rinsed grated rind of 1 large lemon 1/2 c. golden raisins 1/2 c. ginger preserved in syrup, finely chopped, plus 2 - 3 T. of the syrup In a stainless steel or enamel saucepan, mix the wine and sugar with 1/2 c. water.  Bring to a boil. Add the cranberries, cover and simmer for 5 minutes, until the berries pop. Add lemon rind, raisins, and ginger with syrup. Simmer 2 - 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Refrigerate overnight. Makes about 6 cups. 

Ingredients 1 12 ounce bag fresh cranberries ½ cup dried cranberries 1 cup broken pecans 1 orange, zested, and 1 full orange, peeled and chopped into small pieces 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon allspice ¾ cup water 1/3 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup pure maple syrup Method In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together cranberries of both kinds, orange zest, cinnamon, water, sugar, and maple syrup. Bring to a boil while stirring frequently. Continue to cook until the sauce has thickened and most of the berries have burst, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Serve warm, room temperature or chilled. Sauce may be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 week. It also may be frozen, then removed the day before and sit in the fridge until it softens. NOTE: If you double the recipe, don’t double the amount of water, adjust, start with 1 cup and see how it does; you might add another ¼ cup but maybe not depending on how thick you want it. It will thicken slightly when it cools. Barbara Ballinger and Margaret Crane last co-authored, Suddenly Single after 50 Rowman & Littlefield), and blog weekly at www.lifelessonsat50plus.com.