It wasn't until five-thirty that it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't prepared cranberry sauce to accompany the half-turkey I had roasting in the oven. I wasn't feeling particularly energetic, and so confined my preparations to placing a few Yukon gold potatoes around the roast, as well as separately roasting cauliflower and carrots to accompany the meal.

It's Passover and Easter. We're not religious and don't pay too much mind to religion-inspired holidays. The ubiquitousness of Easter in our society does sweep one along, in a secular way, and the heritage-value to us as Jews of Passover is a sweet sentiment, absolutely devoid of religious fervour, however. My husband is fond of Matzo as a recall of our youth, and breakfasts like Matzo-brie delight him. I hadn't even prepared matzo balls to accompany the chicken soup I had cooking; just rice, as usual.

He had suggested turkey, instead of the usual Friday-night chicken meal, so I acquiesced, and he brought up a half-turkey from the freezer for that purpose. It had, after all, been there more than long enough. As it was, the turkey was flavourful and tender, just what my husband was looking for; he is inordinately fond of turkey, too.

But without cranberry sauce? A vital element to full satisfaction would be missing. So peering in the vast recesses of the freezer, I withdrew a frozen bag of cranberries and proceeded swiftly to cook up the cranberry sauce. Takes no time at all, actually, and while I poured the finished product into jars for refrigeration, I filled a small bowl with enough to do him for dinner, placed it in the refrigerator and by the time dinner was served at seven, it was refreshingly cold.

But it was the fruit pie I'd baked in the morning that really pleased me. I used three bosc pears, one black plum, and one McIntosh apple; used lots of clove and some cinnamon for flavouring and it was a delightful concoction to finish off that meal.

And now, the irritating aspect of having to deal with all that leftover turkey. Pies, of course.