Easy Cranberry Sauce

This weekend is Thanksgiving, and for most of us, that means turkey dinners, replete with stuffing, potatoes, casseroles, pumpkin pie, etc.  For my family, one of the holiday dinner essentials is cranberry sauce- NOT out of a can, but made from scratch.  Considering how easy this recipe is, I don’t think I’m ever going to resort to a canned cranberry sauce again!  (Though some people prefer it- why, I don’t know.  Let me know your opinion in the comments!)

All you need for this recipe is:

• A 340 g bag of cranberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water

Seriously, that’s it.  I’m making a double batch since I’m bringing some to our Thanksgiving-themed lunch at church tomorrow, so my pictures show double the amounts given in the recipe.

Start off by rinsing your cranberries in a colander.

Make sure you pick out any that are squishy or too white, as well as any stems left behind.  In a saucepan, mix together your water and sugar and bring it to a boil.

Once it's boiling, carefully add all of your cranberries.

Return the pot to a boil, and stir occasionally.  Soon your cranberries will start popping their skins- this is good.  So far as I understand, this is what releases the berries’ natural pectin, which thickens the sauce.  Or, more obviously, it lets out all the tasty juices inside!

Make sure you turn down the heat a bit, or you'll get too much of this pink foam developing on the mixture.

If that happens, just stir a lot, and it'll get incorporated back into the sauce eventually.

Let the sauce simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until most of the berries have popped and the sauce starts to thicken.  Once you’re done, transfer the sauce to a heat-proof dish.

It'll be fairly runny, but don't worry...

…it thickens as it cools.  You’ll want to cover it and let it cool completely, which can take quite some time if left out at room temperature (two or three hours, in fact), so I usually stick it in the fridge.

After it's had a chance to cool, take it out and give it a stir.

Let’s just pretend that photo was taken in natural daylight… but I was lucky enough to get to see the Blue Man Group tonight, so my flourescent kitchen lights will have to do!  As you can see, the sauce thickens quite a bit, leaving the berries to stand out and provide texture.  Put it on your turkey, or mix it with a little bit of butter to use as a sandwich spread for those turkey leftovers!