I grew up only experiencing canned cranberry sauce and hated it. Thinking, how could anyone like, let alone love, that gelatinous mess.
Later on in life when I had my own kitchen, I picked up a bag of fresh cranberries and followed the recipe on the back of the package. I now understood why someone could love cranberry sauce and I have stuck pretty close to that recipe ever since.
Cranberry sauce is so easy to make and an important addition to my Thanksgiving dinner.
My daughter Lindsey loves to be in charge of making it because she enjoys watching it go pop, pop, pop while it cooks. I like to keep it simple and it’s always a crowd pleaser.
I have added orange sections, lemon zest and cinnamon sticks, which were delicious, but I always seem to go back to the basic recipe the following year. I find that keeping Thanksgiving simple makes it more memorable than when I try to fancy it up.
Be sure to make your cranberry sauce a night or two in advance so it has ample time to chill and allow the sweet from the sugar and the sour from the cranberries to meld together and thicken up to make an amazing condiment to go along with your amazing meal.
12 oz. fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Rinse cranberries an place in a medium size sauce pan. Add 1 cup sugar and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil; and watch the berries pop out of their skins while stirring. When the cranberries stop popping let cook for an additional 2 – 3 minutes while stirring; remove them from the stove and chill overnight.
I, too, grew up with the gelatinous mess - lol, and I now make fresh cranberry sauce as well. It is addicting! I like it the simple way, as on the package, but I must confess I often try to fancy it up, too. Like this year I'm doing the orange thing but adding Grand Marnier, too. We'll see how it goes!
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving!
Veronica