Holiday Highs and Lows

Holidays bring their own set of stresses and joys, and this is certainly true for family caregivers.

Between caring for aging family members, nurturing a marriage and maybe even raising children, not to mention a job or career, it might seem like you’ll never be able to manage all that falls to you, but when the holidays bring even more busyness, you might feel like your head will explode!

For the next several weeks Betsy and I will be looking at the holidays from several different perspectives. We’ll consider the stress of the holidays, the joys of the holidays, as seen through young eyes and old, the memories you make each year that will last forever, and the foods of the holidays that will make your mouth water! We’ll post some of our favorite recipes!

One of the things that should not stress you out during the holidays is food! While everyone has favorite holiday treats, don’t go over the top for a dessert that takes days to prepare. Choose something fun and simple, and let others help. The best ways to handle food stress is to choose light and easy, and enjoy the fellowship more than actual food.

Here’s a favorite recipe we’ve used for the past 20 years every Thanksgiving and Christmas. We call it “Cranberry Stuff”. It’s a Cranberry Horseradish sauce that we serve over cream cheese as an appetizer and then straight up as cranberry sauce on the table with the turkey. It takes a little prep, but in 30 minutes it’s ready to enjoy.

We hope you’ll join us at Heart of the Caregiver dot com as we embark on a holiday journey that we hope will leave you feeling filled with holiday cheer!

Cranberry “Stuff”

Stir together first 5 ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Remove from heat. Cover and chill 1 hour or up to 3 days.

When ready to serve, spoon Cran-Horseradish Sauce over cream cheese on a plate. Garnish, if desired. Serve with crackers.

If you like canning, this cans really well also, and makes a great hostess gift!