Cranberries. Not the band - the fruit.

So, I've been cranberry picking in a bog near my house lately.  Yes, I live in New England, and cranberries grow wild here.  Must have picked over 50 cups of cranberries.  I've given some away to neighbours, but mostly, we made homemade cranberry sauce.  Oh yes.  There's now about 22 cups of homemade cranberry sauce, sitting in sealed containers, cooling on my countertop.  Oh, and I made cranberry juice too, as an experiment.  Homemade cranberry juice is a little bit thicker than the store-bought stuff because cranberries have a lot of natural pectin, but the flavour... it's like the store-bought stuff, only you can taste that it's fresher.  I can't quite explain it.  The process for the juice is labor-intensive, but the results are delicious.  The cranberry sauce, however, is super-easy to make.  Oh, and we have more than enough cranberry sauce to get us through the holiday season.  *grins*

For anyone who wants the recipe, here it is:

4 cups cranberries
2 cups sugar
1 cup water

Boil the water and sugar together until thoroughly dissolved, and then continue to simmer it for another couple of minutes. (Watch carefully to make sure you don't burn the bottom or boil over.) Add the cranberries. They'll start popping immediately. Turn down the heat to medium. Stir GENTLY until they've all popped, then continue to simmer gently for another few minutes until it LOOKS like cranberry sauce. Then, pour into a container and chill! Very easy, takes less than 20 minutes from start to finish. Don't overcook! It really DOES go that fast.

~P