Cranberry Sauce

Getting ready for Thanksgiving can be daunting but there are many things that can be done ahead of time to make life easier and cranberry sauce is one of them. I usually make it up to a week before. It is really easy to make.

Cranberry Sauce

24 oz fresh cranberries
1c brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
juice and zest from 2 oranges
2 cinnamon stick
1 t fresh ginger grated
1 vanilla bean

Split vanilla bean down the center with a sharp knife.  Rinse and discard any soft cranberries.

All ingredients ready to go

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat until cranberries start to burst. Stirring occasionally.

Stir occasionally

Taste and add additional seasoning and sugar as necessary. Cranberries can be quite tart so it really depends on the batch how much sugar needs to be added.

Ready to remove from heat

Let cool. Scrape vanilla bean and stir scrapings into sauce. Return bean to sauce. Chill. Remove vanilla bean and cinnamon before serving.  You might want to add a little dried cinnamon at this point. Taste and see if it is needed. The taste changes as the flavors meld together.

As it cools, it will thicken

All ready for Thanksgiving

See that wasn't so difficult. I couldn't find the cranberries in a 16oz package - yet another item that they've changed the size but kept the price the same. So I had to change the recipe up from past years. Most recipes use just white sugar but I like the extra flavor that the brown sugar adds.

So now you have your turkey stock ready in the freezer.

Your butter is all ready...

for the homemade rolls (that I can't find the recipe for-ERRGH!).

All ready to go with the easy garlic mashed potatoes too.

Your apple tart ingredients are ready to go for dessert too.

All you need is a side dish, the stuffing, and the turkey...