The Cranberry Has Kicked the Can!

This is not my idea of what cranberry sauce should look like and as far as I am concerned it affects the taste to see a "sauce" in the shape of a can sparing no details of what the can looked like before it was tossed away, no longer useful. It's because of this shape, that I have always preferred mixing this cranberry cylinder into something else, like Cranberry Jello. There are enough extras in the jello to cover the actual bitterness of the "sauce" and no evidence of the can it came packaged in. Thus, I have never kept with tradition and had cranberry sauce on my turkey. However, after last Saturday night, traditions are about to change!

The other night we had guests over for a Pre-Thanksgiving dinner. I made turkey, mashed potatoes, the works. A few hours before serving dinner, I remembered that there are some people out there who like canned cranberries and I didn't have any on hand. All I had were naturally-shaped Craisins. I threw some in with the turkey to roast, but knew that wasn't going to be good enough for real cranberry enthusiasts.

Since I didn't want to go the store, I thought I would try my hand at a homemade cranberry sauce. I found a recipe online, made some adjustments (I didn't have half the ingredients it called for and I had a need to stay clear of Macey's on a Saturday). The outcome was absolutely fabulous!

I haven't changed my position that cranberries weren't meant to look like the object containing them. It's not natural, it's not traditional and it's just not tasteful, but this cranberry sauce has staked a claim on our Thanksgiving table this year and many more to come.


CRANBERRY SAUCE:

1 C. water
1 C. sugar (ahh, the reason it tastes good!)
3/4 C. dried cranberries
2 pear halves, (canned are fine)
1 can mandarin oranges
1/4 an apple or 3 Tbsp. canned applesauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. fresh nutmeg
A few sprinkles of ginger
I didnt use these ingredients, but they might be good:
(opt. a few zests of orange peel and chopped pecans)

Puree the pear, oranges and apple wedge in food processor. Bring the water and sugar to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Add the cranberries, the fruit puree, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Then turn down heat and simmer for 30 minutes (15 minutes uncovered, then the last 15 covered). Let sit and cool to room temperature before serving and prepare yourself for the wonderful smell that fills the kitchen while cooking it! Some of us even liked it enough to put it on our rolls as a jam.

~If the reader finds the bold opinions shared by the author concerning can- shaped cranberries offensive and/or completely biased, please accept all apologies. It's not your fault, you were probably raised on the can.