Cranberry Sauce: Life Beyond The Can

Most of my childhood and into my early adult years I thought THIS was cranberry sauce. This cylinder shaped gelatinous goo that came right out of a can into a cut crystal serving bowl only at Thanksgiving dinner. The sad part is that I grew up in the Southern Oregon coast where I was surrounded by cranberry bogs! How had I never had actual homemade cranberry sauce? I guess in hindsight that if I were to really think about it , compared to all of the other Thanksgiving day contenders of: roast turkey, stuffing, gravy, and pie that cranberry sauce pales in comparison.It was about 5 years ago that I actually thought about this how overlooked cranberry sauce was. I LOVE the tart flavor of cranberry sauce and one of my absolute favorite sandwiches in the world was a left over Thanksgiving day turkey, cranberry and cream cheese sandwich. What could make this sandwich that much more dreamy- if the cranberry sauce was amazing and not just a " moist maker". Here is my recipe for show stopping cranberry sauce that holds its own in the Thanksgiving line up.

12 oz of fresh whole cranberries.

1 cup of water

1/2 cup of orange juice

1/2 cup of sugar or (3 T Agave or Stevia)

1 Orange -Zested

1 sprig of fresh mint leaves.

1/2 t. cinnamon- or 1 cinnamon stick

1/4 t. fresh grated nutmeg

* Options add ins: 1 apple diced, dried cherries and currants.

Directions: Add all ingredients in a saucepan and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes until cranberries *pop*. Serve immediately or chill if preferred.