Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Cranberries: Not just for eating.


There isn't a lot of demand for cranberry sauce in my house - I pretty much have the bowl to myself at Thanksgiving.  I've tried all sorts of different ways to make them more appealing to my family.  I've made cranberries fools,  cranberry zinfandel sauce and a dried cherry and cranberry compote.  They were all really good but none seemed to entice my hesitant eaters to consume more of the delicious red fruit.



In the end I decided that if I was the only cranberry eater at the table, I would make them exactly the way I like them. Who knows, maybe one day they will learn to like them too.





Fresh cranberries are available seasonally at the grocery stores.  I usually buy at least one extra bag to keep in the freezer because they can be hard to find in the non-November months.  I like the recipe on the back of the Ocean Spray Cranberry Bag the best. 
Jellied Cranberry Sauce
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
12 ounce package whole cranberries

Bring water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan.  Add cranberries and return to a boil.


Reduce heat and boil gently for 10 minutes.


Place a wire mesh strainer over a mixing bowl and pour contents into strainer.


Mash cranberries with the back of a spoon until no pulp is left.  Stir contents of bowl.


Pour into serving dishes.  (This was a set that I inherited from my grandmother.)


I serve mine with a zest of lime.  

If I haven't convinced you to try making homemade cranberry sauce, maybe you could try decorating with cranberries. 


So whether  your  eating with them or decorating with them, cranberries are a must have for Thanksgiving.

Bon Appetit!

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