Cranberry Sauce

I've decided to post a few of my most favorite Thanksgiving recipes for any of you who would like to try them. You will never buy that canned glop once you've made your own cranberry sauce, and best of all it's just about the easiest thing to make from scratch ever! Last year my kids made it.

1 12oz bag of fresh cranberries
1 c. orange juice
1 c. sugar
sprinkle of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg

Dissolve the sugar in the orange juice in a sauce pan on medium/high heat. Add the cranberries, stir and let softly boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add cinnamon & nutmeg. You can mash it up a bit with a potato masher or the back of a spoon if you don't want too many whole berries, or just leave it the way it is. OK, now you are done. Easy, huh?!

So if you want you can make it even more tasty by adding one or more of these: chopped nuts, a handful of blueberries or huckleberries, some orange zest, raisins, or use another liquid. Some people use other juices, wines, or even just water. Have fun with it. If you want to can it and you don't have a pressure cooker that's easy, too. Put your empty jars without the lids in an 200 degree oven for a few minutes so they get nice and hot while you are cooking your cranberries. When your cranberry sauce is done spoon it boiling hot into a hot jar and put on the lid. If you want to be extra safe you can pop it back in the oven for a few minutes, or you can just leave it out to cool and it will seal up nicely. See, I told you you could do it!!