Thanksgiving: Cranberry Sauce

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Thanksgiving: Cranberry Sauce

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Contributor: Eucaly Eucaly
Does anyone eat it or expect to see it any more? Is it just something that sits on your plate and then gets tossed? Do you do anything creative with it? Do you skip the sauce but include other cranberry items, such as dried cranberries sprinkled into the stuffing?

Do tell.
11/23/2011
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Contributor: Ciao. Ciao.
My partner's step-dad makes the best homemade cranberry "sauce" ever. It's basically just shredded fresh cranberries orange (and a little orange zest), with maybe a little sugar. Not sure the exact contents, but it's tart, delicious, crunchy, and perfect in all ways.

The canned cranberries were a favorite of mine when I was a kid, and my family (in its Swedish heritage ways) does lingonberries instead, but I will still eat the canned stuff if it is around.
11/23/2011
Contributor: Chilipepper Chilipepper
My mother will not have anything but Ocean Spray jellied cranberry sauce in the house. I've had homemade chunky cranberry sauce/relish before and I think she's really missing out on how wonderful it can be.

But, no, she won't hear anything about it. Ocean Spray jellied cranberry sauce, none others need apply. My father and brother don't care for it, so it's usually left to my mother (and sometimes me) to finish it off. She thinks it's weird that I put it on my turkey sandwiches after the holiday.
11/23/2011
Contributor: KC Kitten KC Kitten
We always buy the jellied kind in a can for our Thanksgiving, nothing fancy is done, just cut it into slices. It's ok, my family loves it but not me! But I'll eat it to keep the peace lol
11/23/2011
Contributor: null null
One of the only things I like about Thanksgiving is the jellied canned cranberry sauce! I'm the only one who eats it in it's sliced form, preferably on a roll, while the rest of the family mashes it into their dressing.
11/23/2011
Contributor: WhoopieDoo WhoopieDoo
I think it's disgusting, personally, but there's always a huge plate of it there for the taking, should someone besides my grandmother desire it.
11/23/2011
Contributor: jedent jedent
i make an amazing cranberry sauce using fresh cranberries, sugar, orange juice, and pecans. people beg to take that shit home.
11/23/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
I love cranberry sauce. It's one of my favorite things. I am not personally a big fan of the "relishes" that add citrus/orange juice, but plenty of my family likes it.

Have a little snipped from Monday's Eden Cooks meeting/party:



We're talking about cranberry sauce by special request---when we were first talking about having a holiday party merged with Eden Cooks ( at the community planning meeting---which everyone is invited to show up for!), the very first thing Kindred said was "can we have a recipe for cranberry sauce? It makes me sad to see people open up a can of something that's really simple to make."

I'm glad to oblige---cranberry sauce is one of the staples at my home table, and it is very simple. It takes only three ingredients.



Antipova's Family Cranberry Sauce
1.5 cups water
1.5 cups white sugar
4 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen both work perfectly well)



----------

So how do you turn three ingredients into something as delicious as cranberry sauce? Just add the sugar and water to a saucepan, and make a simple syrup by brining them to a boil and letting them boil for one minute.



While they are warming up, fill the kitchen sink with water, and pour in the fresh or frozen berries. This way you can rinse them, and at the same time pick out any that aren't good quality (too squishy, or not enough color for you).



Once the simple syrup has boiled for one minute, scoop the berries into your saucepan and reduce the heat to 3/4 full. Bring to a medium boil. When the pot level rises, reduce heat but maintain a full boil. Never stir. This keeps your berries whole---they will pop from the heat but they will still be semi-intact, making this a "whole berry sauce."


After about 15 minutes, when all the berries have popped, turn off the heat. The key is to keep it at a full boil but never let it scorch. You will see the color darken at about 15 minutes and smell a change when the sugar is just starting to caramelize. My mom likes to take hers off the heat just before the caramelization, and my aunt prefers to let it turn just the faintest purple with a hint of caramelization. It's easy to let it go too far, though, so for your first time it's better to err on the side of caution and take it off the stove when you first smell a change.



Let the sauce cool fully on the counter, then store it in the fridge until you're ready to serve. If you want to make a lot, you can make this in huge batches and can it. (Some of my aunts do this, others just keep frozen berries in their freezers all year 'round.)
11/23/2011
Contributor: onehotmomma onehotmomma
I hate cranberries, and cranberry sauce. We usually have it at our get togethers because a lot of people DO eat it, I don't like the stuff on my plate period. I usually just stick to fruit salad.
11/23/2011
Contributor: Lindsey123 Lindsey123
We always have it. I'm not sure who exactly eats it, but someone does.
11/23/2011
Contributor: Vanille Vanille
I only like Ocean Spray's jellied cranberry sauce. Don't like anything else. Blech.
11/24/2011
Contributor: LavenderSkies LavenderSkies
I eat it!!
11/24/2011
Contributor: Cookie Monster Mike Cookie Monster Mike
Quote:
Originally posted by Ciao.
My partner's step-dad makes the best homemade cranberry "sauce" ever. It's basically just shredded fresh cranberries orange (and a little orange zest), with maybe a little sugar. Not sure the exact contents, but it's tart, ... more
mmmm Cranberries and Orange are amazing!!!!

However over time i have gradually started to phase this side off my turkey dinners. Not sure why, just do not enjoy it nearly as much as I used too.
11/24/2011
Contributor: Princess-Kayla ♥ Princess-Kayla ♥
I love it!
It's one of my favorite Thanksgiving foods.
11/24/2011
Contributor: VioletMoonstone VioletMoonstone
I love making my own cranberry sauce! But we always have the canned cranberry cut into slices as a tradition too. I usually put cranberry sauce on my biscuits and use it like jam. I love cranberries.
11/27/2011