Sunday, November 20, 2011

The Frugal Kitchen: Cranberry Sauce

When I was growing up my mom would serve a sad version of cranberry sauce that retained the shape of the can.  Fresh cranberries weren't available in many of the areas where we lived and in the 1950's - 1960's convenience food was considered fashionable.

Nooooooooo

Then, fresh cranberries became available and I was served a bitter, raw, ground cranberry hash that was not pleasant at all.  I was beginning to despair until I started hunting through old recipe books and found a recipe for a cranberry sauce that was more like a jam than a relish.

I played with the recipe and came up with a cranberry sauce that my family loves and it is amazingly easy.  It can be canned following the instructions on a jam recipe.  It is frugal because cranberries are BOGO at my grocery store this time of year, so I stock up.  If you don't like canning, fresh cranberries freeze well.

Easy Cranberry Sauce:

1 bag cranberries
1 orange
1 cup white sugar




Place the orange juice and cranberries into a pot.  Heat on low medium, covered until the berries burst.  Add 1 tablespoon, finely grated orange peel and sugar, then lower heat.  Simmer, uncovered, until the sauce reaches a jam consistency.



This sauce nicely complements any rich meal and is great on all kinds of sandwiches, not just turkey.  Once you have made your own cranberry sauce you won't want to eat the canned variety.

God bless,
Pam

2 comments:

  1. Don't remember fresh cranberries growing up, but love them. I make fresh cranberry relish all winter and it's a favorite of mine.

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  2. I remember family dinners at my Great Aunt's house....all the beautiful homemade dishes, the huge turkey, all served on the fine china.....and then the "still has the can rib marks on it" cranberry sauce, plopped right onto one of the serving plates! Ah, the memories!

    Ever since I learned to cook, homemade cranberry sauce (like the recipe you provided) is on the menu. I even make a double or triple batch and can some for eating the rest of the year as jam.

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