Cranberries. Not the band - the fruit.

[mijan]

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

Comments

[dreamyraynbo.livejournal.com]

Yum yum! That sounds like a nice addition to the holidays. I'd love the recipe, although, unfortunately, I can't go out and pick the cranberries myself! How did you make the juice? Obviously not just a juicer, or that wouldn't be labor-intensive :p

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Juice: Boil cranberries. Strain cranberries. Squeeze cranberries. Discard pulp. Sweeten and dilute juice to desired taste.
Cranberries themselves are very dry, and if you were to run them through a juicer, you'd never get anywhere.

For the cranberry sauce:
4 cups cranberries, 2 cups sugar, 1 cup water.
Boil the water and sugar together until thoroughly dissolved, and then for another couple of minutes. (Watch carefully to make sure you don't burn the bottom or boil over.) Then, 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.

[dreamyraynbo.livejournal.com]

Thanks, sounds great! I'll give it a shot for Thanksgiving and let you know how it goes :)

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Cool!

[tweekie.livejournal.com]

My hubby took the recipe off the back of the bag the cranberries came in, then added more sugar until yumminess ensued. :)

Funny thing is, he picked last night to try it out. :)

mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

LOL... the recipe of the bag is the basic no-fail recipe, and is probably the same one I used! Very tasty. :D

[tweekie.livejournal.com]

Oh...and we ate it warm, before it cooled, over chicken. Consistency was a bit runnier than usual, but tasted fabulous!

The leftovers are in my fridge - I was amazed at how much one little bag of berries made, probably 2 1/2 cans' worth or so.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it gels when it cools, so if it was still warm, it would be more liquidy. But, over hot food... mmmmm. :)

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I only like the jellied stuff from the can. Whole cranberries aren't my cup of tea. Or juice. Or something.

Yes, I am a Bad, Bad, New Englander. But I do like quahogs, especially of the stuffed variety, although I've never actually made any.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Quahogs aren't bad, but I don't do clams often. I *like* clams... just don't ever seem to get around to having them. *shrugs*

[karaz.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's how I make it too. And you are right, it's so much better!!

[tamerterra.livejournal.com]

Ooh, must compare to how my aunt makes it. *realises that she doesn't exactly know how auntie makes it* Oh well.

*loves cranberries*

[http://users.livejournal.com/__babbes__/]

Us New Englanders must stick together...I'm from Beantown myself...

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Coolbeans! My mom and father were born there. I was originally from about 40 minutes north of the city, along the shore.

[http://users.livejournal.com/__babbes__/]

woot!

[frankenboob.livejournal.com]

My favorite cranberry sauce: 1 bag of cranberries (we don't have fresh in California -- about 2-3 cups?), 1 apple (cored), and an orange (peel and all)... grind it all up together, add sugar to taste (and possibly a splash of Grand Marnier), and chill. Yum.

Very cool that you went and picked your own.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

So you don't cook it? Weird. Definitely not traditional New England cranberry sauce.

[frankenboob.livejournal.com]

No cooking. It's more like a relish, I suppose. I grew up eating both the fresh and the cooked (jellied) sauce. I love them both. Mmmm.

[allara.livejournal.com]

yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay New England! :D (omgwtfbbqlolz0rs why was it snowing in October?)

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Because it's *New England*. ;)