Day #18 Gift > Homemade cranberry sauce

It’s nearly time for Christmas dinner. People everywhere will be getting up at dawn to put a giant turkey in the oven. They’ll peel pounds of potatoes. They’ll cut Xs in the bottoms of Brussels sprouts. They’ll glaze carrots.

And then they’ll open a can of cranberry sauce.

Now, what’s wrong with this picture? Would you serve canned turkey on this big day? Or canned mushrooms? Probably not. But somewhere along the way we’ve decided that there’s nothing like cranberry sauce alongside a roast, and that canned is fine.

OK. I’m here to dispel that myth Don’t yell at me, I know, I know, canned is quite lovely too. I eat it all the time. But for Christmas dinner? No way! Got to have the real thing. And it’s really simple … you can even follow the recipe that comes on the side of the bag of cranberries, or you can jazz it up a bit with one of my recipes below.

(1) you can turn whole berries into quite a lovely homemade sauce

(2) The cranberries will begin to pop and the outside skin will split open

(3) bring to a boil

(4) as it cooks, it will become quite jammy and most of the berries will explode open

(5) once cooled, it will be thick and lovely

Orange Whole Berry Sauce

One bag of cranberries (or about 3 cups of whole berries)

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons grated orange peel (zest)

Rinse cranberries, pick out and discard any that look very shrivelled or brown. Put all ingredients together into a medium-sized pot. Heat over medium heat. The skins will begin to open a bit and they might spit a bit.

Once it comes to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer about 10 minutes. Most of the berries will pop open and the sauce will be quite jammy. Let cool at room temperature, taste to see that it’s yummy, then put it in the fridge. Can be stored for a week or so. Makes just over 2 cups.

Spicy Whole Berry Sauce

Same recipe as Orange Whole Berry Sauce, but add:

4 tablespoons dried raisins
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

Talk again soon,
Shelley