Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Since it's the holiday season, I wanted to share one of my favorite holiday recipes: cranberry sauce!  In our family, this is more traditional for Thanksgiving, but this is easily a Yule-season dish too.  And honestly, this is so delicious, I could eat it year-round!  Om nom nom.

I perfected this recipe in 2011, and have brought it to my family's Thanksgiving dinner every year since.  Please note this cranberry sauce uses about half the sugar of most recipes, so it is tart - add more (or less) sugar and/or apples to adjust the sweetness.  

This recipe is super easy, and much healthier than BPA-laden canned sauce.  And, you know, not creepily shaped like a can.  Also, you can easily double, triple, or even quadruple the recipe.  I usually bring a double batch for our 30- to 50-person family Thanksgiving dinner (yes, you read that right.  My extended family is huge!)

Ingredients:

1 bag of fresh cranberries

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 apple, peeled and chopped finely

1/4 - 1/2 tsp cloves (you can use ground cloves, but go light)

1-2 tsp. cinnamon, or to taste

1-2 tsp. ginger, or to taste

1/2 tsp. fresh orange zest or valencia orange peel from the spice aisle, or to taste

Instructions:

~ In a pot, bring the water and orange juice to boil, then stir to dissolve the sugar in the water.

~ Turn heat to medium-high, and add the cranberries.  Let them simmer until they start popping (about 10 minutes).

~ Turn the heat down to medium-low.  Add the apple, cinnamon, ginger, and orange zest.

~ Put the cloves in a tea strainer or tie them up in a cheese cloth, and immerse in the sauce.

~ Let this all simmer for about 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries are falling apart.

~ Mash the cranberries and apples with a fork or potato masher to desired consistency.

~ Move the pot off the heat and let it cool for at least 10-15 minutes before serving or moving to a container for transport.  Make sure to remove the bag of cloves before serving.  I find it's best served at about room temperature or slightly warm, especially if serving over turkey. 

Enjoy!!  I like to eat mine on turkey at Thanksgiving, but it's also good on crackers and fresh bread.