Skip to main content

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Sauce

 12 oz. fresh cranberries, washed and drained

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 to 1/3 cup water

1 1/2 cinnamon sticks

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

The zest and juice of one small-to-medium orange

Pick through the cranberries carefully to remove the squishy/bad ones. Rinse and drain. Combine cranberries, sugar, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, and water in a medium pot. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Reduce to simmer; cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Add the orange juice and zest, then allow the sauce to cool before serving at room temperature. Refrigerate leftovers; sauce will be good for 10-12 days.





I never even liked cranberry sauce until I tried this recipe. Neither did my husband. My mother-in-law used to send us searching for an orange cranberry relish at grocery stores all over Knoxville -- I only found it twice, but when I did find it, I bought her three containers of it. 

This recipe is so good, I cannot imagine having Thanksgiving without it. And it's so easy, I hesitated putting it on this blog!

If  you're skeptical, I totally understand. Make it for your mother-in-law and see if she likes it. I just sent a jar of it with Wesley (my husband) as he headed for his mother's house -- I mean, seriously, just three or four minutes ago. I'll let you know what she says.

(And if I get a good glamour shot of the sauce on Thanskgiving day, I'll update this blog! Right now I'm in the process of getting ready for the big meal during a weird pandemic year. Sunday was for cornbread and cranberry sauce. Monday is for brine and washing all the china!)

EDITED TO ADD: Got the glamour shot -- and my mother-in-law called on Tuesday to rave about the sauce. I have to make another batch just for her!


I thought there were more bad cranberries this year than usual, but the sauce still turned out delicious.



Cruddy little kitchen counters are crowded this time of year!





Watch out for popping cranberries! It's like flying candy coming out of the pot!


Pretty, isn't it? Let me know if you try it, and whether you like it!

Labels:

Comments

  1. erik98122November 26, 2020 at 1:57 PM

    Happy Happy Thanksgiving you you and the family!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bay in TNNovember 27, 2020 at 8:14 AM

      Thank you, Erik! I hope yours was lovely, too!!!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lumpy Chicken Salad

Lumpy Chicken Salad 2 to 2.5 cups cooled rotisserie chicken, pulled off the bone and chopped into 1/2" dice 3/4 cup light mayonnaise 3 to 4 Tbsp Dijon mustard 2 to 3 Tbsp light Italian dressing 1/2 cup small diced celery 1/3 cup red grapes halved (quartered if they're very big) 1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped pecans 1/3 cup Honeycrisp apple, peeled and 1/2" diced scant 1/4 cup green onion, greens sliced diagonally Salt & pepper to taste Optional: diced red pepper, dill pickle relish Combine the ingredients, chill for 2-3 hours, serve. Delicious and easy! My friend Erik reminded me today that it's too dang hot to cook in the kitchen right now, and he is absolutely right. When July takes over the Cruddy Little Kitchen, I take the toaster oven outside to the porch for anything that needs to be baked. I run an ugly orange extension cord out there and use electric tape to try to make sure nothing gets electrocuted if a thunderstorm blows the rain sideways toward the toaster ove
2 comments
Read more

A cruddy little kitchen, a lifetime of loving food

I was looking for a recipe. You know, like everyone else every day everywhere in the world, I wanted something tasty for dinner. I had salmon. I had old tried-and-true salmon recipes I've used happily in the past. I just wanted something different. So I Googled "honey bourbon salmon." This is a thing I've seen on menus. Sounds great. I can make that, can't I? I have honey, I have bourbon; I have salmon. I can make this! Then I spent an hour slogging through a half dozen recipe blogs with long stories, beautiful photographs, freestyle poetry singing the praises of farm-raised salmon -- or wild-caught salmon -- or canned salmon -- and all of it took ten to fifteen minutes to load out here in the boonies because all of those popular, beautiful recipe blogs were monetized. Ads flashed. Clickbait beckoned. Video players popped up and disembodied hands cracked eggs into stainless steel bowls. I scrolled down, ever downward, ever onward, trying to get past the homilies a
Post a Comment
Read more