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Cranberry Sauce and a Thanksgiving Explosion

November 23, 2010 by Joy the Baker 119 Comments

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Beauty!  Look at these cranberry gems!  I’m turning them into cranberry sauce.

Super easy.  Are you doing this too?

You’ll probably be cranking food out of your kitchen all weekend.  Need a few more ideas?  I’ve got everything!  Everything but the turkey, stuffing, and cornbread… Yea, I know.  But I have everything else!

thanksgiving

1-  Pumpkin Pie Pancakes.  Super flavor for for breakfast.

2- Honey Roasted Acorn Squash.  So easy and it makes me feel fancy.

3-  Spiced Apple Cake.  I love this creature.

4-  Prosciutto Dijon Gruyere Puffs.  How about an appetizer?  I love the mustard in these.

5-  Roasted Pumpkin and Leek Soup.  That’s yummy.  Fact.

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Let’s finish this cranberry sauce.

There’s absolutely no reason you should by the canned stuff. It slinks out of the can and has weird ridges.  It’s also waaaay too sweet.

I think you should boil cranberries with orange juice and zest… then add just a tiny touch of vanilla beans.

Cranberry sauce dream… I’m tellin ya.

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Cranberry Sauce

makes about 4 cups

Print this Recipe!

2 12-ounce bags fresh cranberries

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

pinch of salt

1 cup water

1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1 teaspoon orange zest

scrapings from one quarter of a vanilla bean (optional if you don’t want to shell out the cash for a vanilla bean)

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm the water, juice granulated sugar, brown sugar and salt.  Stir until sugars have dissolved.  Add the two bags of cranberries and stir until cranberries begin to pop.  Cook cranberries, stirring occasionally for about 10 to 12 minutes.  Sauce will thicken as cranberries cook down.  Once thick, remove from heat and add orange zest and vanilla bean.  Stir to incorporate.  Cool to room temperature then store in the fridge until ready to eat.  Lasts for up to three days in the fridge.  Delicious.

thanksgiving

6-  Maple Pecan Muffins.  Topped with pure maple syrup and baked to perfection.

7-  Dad’s Perfect Sweet Potato Pie with No-Roll Pie Crust.  Yes.  I’m totally obsessed with this pie.

8-  Cornmeal Cranberry Honey Bread.  Sweet and crunchy.  Like.

9-  Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread.  So moist you’ll never know it’s vegan.  Promise.

10-  Apple Pie Granita.  Like pie…. but totally not!

11-  Buttermilk Pie with Warm Blackberry Sauce.  Ooooh man.

thanksgiving

12-  Apple Crisp.  My key to one day tricking a man into marrying me.

13-  All Purpose Holiday Bundt Cake.  Bring a bib.

14-  Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Frosting.  Cupcakes for the holidays?  I say ok!

15-  Pear Walnut Bundt Cake.  The praline alone is reason enough to make this happen.

16-  Homemade Apple Pie.  It’s worth the time.  It really is.

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Filed Under: Fruit, Holiday, Pie, Recipes, Savory, tips

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rachelle

    November 28, 2012 at 3:29 pm

    I just wanted to let you know that I made this cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving this year (first time I’ve ever made ANY cranberry sauce) and added a dash of cinnamon / cloves since I didn’t have vanilla. I have NEVER had that many people request a recipe or compliment me on a dish…EVER. And I bake a lot so thats saying something. Just though you might want to know it was a hit :) And thanks for making me look good!

    Reply
  2. Liz

    November 25, 2012 at 3:58 pm

    I’m surprised there is no bourbon in this recipe! :)

    Reply
  3. Julie N.

    November 24, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    i just used this recipe, but with only a 12oz. bag of cranberries. I love it! It’s so tasty, and I can’t wait to use it as spread in my thanksgiving sandwiches =D

    Reply
  4. Lucia

    December 8, 2010 at 5:40 am

    No Thanksgiving in Italy. I’ll make up a Thanksgiving Day of my own just to try all these recipes…

    Reply
  5. Bonnie

    December 3, 2010 at 11:54 am

    I too, am a homemade cramberry sauce lover. I’m 55 years old and was a teenager before I found out that cranberry sauce even came in a can! I never knew anything BUT homemade cranberries for thanksgiving, ever. We always made the 2 recipies that came on the back of the bag, The cooked kind with just cranberries sugar and water, and the cranberry orange relish. Thats the stuff you have to make a few days ahead of time, so the flavors meld. Raw cranberries, oranges (with the peel) all run through my grandmothers meat grinder, mixed with sugar and let set in the frig… and yes, leftover cranberries go with EVERYTHING! Have a wonderful Christmas!

    Reply
  6. Tammy

    November 27, 2010 at 11:38 pm

    Joy, This year I made and ate my first sweet potato pie. I have loved your posts and when you explained how life altering this pie is for you, how it inspired your wonderful relationship to good food and sharing that relationship with people…well, I HAD to try it. AND, I’ve spent my entire life avoiding sweet potatoes and candied yams because try as I might, I just don’t care for them. This year my sister and I were making Thanksgiving dinner for our families at my dad’s house. I forwarded the recipe to my sister so we’d be prepared and in agreement (I have always had to tout the virtues of real pie crust, rather than that yucky store bought ‘stuff’ that is rolled and folded that they have consistently used). I was hoping that your Dad’s Easy No-roll Pie Crust would make her a convert FINALLY. Well, the recipe was going along very well, I steamed the sweet potatoes and the skins were fantastically easy to remove. I got a little imprecise when I couldn’t find a 5 oz. can of evaporated milk or a liquid measuring cup anywhere amongst a life-time collection of kitchen gadgets and gizmos. I also had to improvise when I couldn’t find any coriander in the huge collection of spices. I thought I’d find it for sure, I would just question whether or not it was old enough for camera time on the antique roadshow. As I said, I improvised. I used approximately 3/4 teaspoon of cardamom in place of the 1 1/4 teaspoon of coriander. I did find whole nutmeg and that was surprising and delightful (I haven’t been much of a fan of nutmeg before either, but freshly ground made a world of difference). Well the pie was simply wonderful. The crust was so fabulously flaky and had a nutty crunch that was like the world’s most exquisite shortbread. My sister is a convert!!! The pie filling was so creamy and crazy good. I am now obsessed with your Dad’s Perfect Sweet Potato Pie too. I think I’ll make it sometime soon following your recipe but for sure I love the improvised pie too. Cardamom? Who knew? Thanks again! You’re a treasure!!

    Reply
  7. sheila @ Elements

    November 27, 2010 at 9:51 pm

    You’re such a great story-teller, Joy…both with words and in photos! I enjoyed this post a lot! :) Cheers! sheila

    Reply
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Trackbacks

  1. Joy the Baker – Cranberry Brie Grilled Cheese says:
    April 1, 2013 at 4:58 pm

    […] if you don’t have cranberry sauce, there’s a recipe here.  Don’t fret though… a chunky cherry or fig jam would also be most […]

    Reply
  2. Giving Thanks « Sounds De-Lish says:
    February 5, 2013 at 11:34 am

    […] used recipes from The New York Times, Joy The Baker, and Epicurious. These are some of my go-to sites for recipe reading and inspiration. I like to […]

    Reply
  3. Tart Cranberry Thanksgiving Side « Sounds De-Lish says:
    February 5, 2013 at 11:32 am

    […] followed Joy The Baker’s recipe for Orange Zest Cranberry Sauce. It uses fresh zest and juice from a fragrant orange, […]

    Reply
  4. christmas eve menu « M.i.U.S. Blog says:
    December 24, 2012 at 5:24 am

    […] we are also having mushrooms and rolls.  and homemade cranberry sauce […]

    Reply
  5. Thanksgiving, Unbound: A Midwesterner Bucks Tradition | Eat with Pleasure says:
    December 1, 2012 at 5:01 pm

    […] past week. (The recipe makes enough for 8 people.) It was especially good with Joy the Baker’s cranberry sauce: I cut down the sugar a bit, skipped the orange zest, substituted vanilla extract for the vanilla […]

    Reply
  6. 60 Thanksgiving Side Dishes To Make Absolutely Everyone Happy | PurpleWig says:
    November 19, 2012 at 3:07 pm

    […] 1. Cranberry Sauce […]

    Reply
  7. Post-Thanksgiving equals salad | BookLoverCook says:
    December 1, 2011 at 11:42 am

    […] and Parmesan, garlicky green beans, ginger-spiked mashed sweet potatoes topped with pecans, and vanilla cranberry sauce. I can never make enough of those brussels sprouts, they are a huge favorite of ours. And the […]

    Reply
  8. The holidays are coming, the holidays are coming! | BookLoverCook says:
    November 17, 2011 at 11:33 am

    […] Vanilla Cranberry Sauce […]

    Reply

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