Cranberry Sauce

I have never been a fan of cranberry sauce--the stuff out of a can looks a little sad to me. Well--this year I was asked to bring cranberry sauce to the Stephenson Family Thanksgiving dinner and knowing I could never take the canned kind we looked on the internet and found a fun recipe.

The recipe had several different options and after a family taste test making it 4 different ways-- we decided we liked it best with pecans, orange zest and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. My attitude towards cranberry sauce has totally changed.

Ned didn't want to miss out on the family kitchen time--so he decided to put new cabinet screws in while the rest of us were cooking.

Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 1 cup (250 mL) water
• 4 cups (1 12-oz package) fresh or frozen cranberries
• Optional Pecans, orange zest, raisins, currants, blueberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice.

Method

1 Wash and pick over cranberries. In a saucepan bring to a boil water and sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add cranberries, return to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes or until cranberries burst.

2 At this point you can add all number of optional ingredients. We typically mix in a half a cup of roughly chopped pecans with or without a few strips of orange zest. You can add a cup of raisins or currants. You can add up to a pint of fresh or frozen blueberries for added sweetness. Spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice can be added too.

3 Remove from heat. Cool completely at room temperature and then chill in refrigerator. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

Cranberry sauce base makes 2 1/4 cups.