Cranberry Sauce

Thanksgiving is the one time of year that people really embrace homemade food. Turkey from the oven. Homemade pies. Peeling and mashing real potatoes. Stuffing inside the bird. People make real food and I salute them for that. So I wonder, why is it that the easiest thing to make is the one thing that everyone buys in a can? I'm talking about cranberry sauce of course. I didn't even know you could make cranberry sauce until a few years ago. Theoretically, of course, I knew somebody somewhere in a factory took cranberries and tuned them into the burgundy gelatanous mass on the plate. But I never knew anybody that actually made cranberry sauce. Every other thing on an elaborate table set out to feed in excess of thirty people would be made lovingly from scratch, and there, in the middle, would be that wobbly cylinder of taste sitting on a plate.
I'm here to tell you that making cranberry sauce is the easiest thing that you'll make for your holiday meal. On top of that, with a few additions, it can be better than what comes in a can. "Better than from a can?" I hear you crying from across the land, but it's true. Of course, the fact that you can actually buy cranberries in the produce section at thanksgiving lets me know that we're not the only ones who make this, but a quick google search tells me that at least 72 million cans of the stuff are sold for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, so quite a few people are buying the stuff.

Cranberry Sauce
1 bag of cranberries (probably 12 ounces)
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla

Rinse the berries and pick out any stems or berries that look wrong. In a small sauce pan combine the cranberries, water, sugar and cinnamon. Over medium heat bring the mass to a light boil and keep in there for 10-12 minutes for a cranberry sauce. For something more like the firm goo that comes in a can, boil for 15-18 minutes. Boil it longer and it will set up more is the theme. When you pull it off the stove, add the vanilla and stir it in. Let it cool as you get everything else ready and enjoy. 


Here is the part where I admit that although I really love the taste of cranberry sauce, I can't eat it. If you could make cranberry sauce candies I'd carry them around in my pocket an eat them all year. The taste is fantastic, it really is. The texture though, I just can't handle it. When I try to eat it I vacillate between rapture over the taste and retching over the mouth feel. I still suggest that everyone make it though, if you're going to have it at your table, you might as well have something that is truly fantastic.