{Recipe} Orange Cranberry Sauce

I will tell you that my most favorite meal is Thanksgiving dinner.  Yummy yum yum!  I love it and all the leftovers that come along with it.  I love mixing it all together and creating fun things like hot open-faced turkey sandwiches smothered with gravy.  Which brings me right where I love to be frequently…gravy.  You can never have too much gravy.  Ever.  Absolutely delish!

Cranberry sauce is one dish to which I’ve never given much attention.  I have always loved the rest of the dinner that cranberries never made the cut.  Until this year that is.  I found a fantastic recipe that sold me for life on these fantastic little berries, and I’m going to share it with you.  You’re welcome.

I also have to say that the entire time I was slaving over the stove for this one, I was thinking how much my dad would love this.  I stood there stirring and planning to take it to him in my suitcase when we visited (which we did), which meant that I had to pack it, drive it, fly it, store it, and transport it to him from Florida to Maryland.  Because my dad loves cranberry sauce (shaped like a can)!  Because of a lifetime of cranberry sauce shaped like a can, that is still his preference, which is just fine.  It’s kind of like comparing jello to preserves.  Not the same, with two different textures and flavors.

Anyway!  Recipe time!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup orange juice (with pulp or if you would rather leave out the orange juice, use 1/2 cup of water)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 cups (12 oz) fresh or frozen cranberries

Instructions

1. Combine water and orange juice in a pot and simmer on medium/low heat.
2. Dissolve sugar in that mixture.
3. Bring to a boil.
4. Add cranberries
5. Gently boil for about 10 minutes.  The berries begin popping as they cook, which is fun.
6. Serve warm or cold.  I discovered that I love it warm!  I just wanted to eat the entire jar.  I served my cranberry sauce in a mason jar.  It makes about 2 cups of delicious sauce.