We Canadians celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday in October. Unlike our Southern Neighbors we like to spread out our holidays, especially those that involve eating large quantities of Turkey. Our Thanksgiving is a celebration centering around giving thanks for the harvest. Oh yes, there is the harvest of corn, soybeans, pumpkins and so on but the real harvest is the Glorious Cranberry. That is the one we really give thanks for. The cranberry fields are flooded and the ripe cranberries rise to the top of the water ready to be harvested.
I know the Cranberry has a sharp taste and it does need to be tempered with the juice of a sweet fruit such as apple or a combined with a drink such as Ginger Ale. But the ultimate presentation of the cranberry is Cranberry Sauce. This is the real reason why people eat turkey at Thanksgiving and Christmas. They have an excuse to eat Cranberry Sauce.
First you wash the cranberries. Are they not the most beautiful of berries?
Then you prepare a syrup of equal parts sugar and water. Oh yes, I can hear all the anti-sugar brigades muttering and shaking their heads . Well, I’ll have none of that. Sugar does come from a plant after all and is perfectly healthy! When the syrup is ready the Cranberries are added.
Then they are boiled for five minutes
Allowed to cool.
Once they have cooled the sauce can be served warm or cold.
Cranberry Sauce was my contribution to this years’s Thanksgiving meal with our daughter and son in law and their family. I always make double so I can keep some at home as well. It is delicious and looks so beautiful. Every year I give thanks for the Glorious Cranberry.
And just a reminder that the term Minstrel is from Medieval times and denotes a person who entertains with songs, poetry or buffoonery. I hope you have been entertained and I will get back to writing about horses in a day or two.
I love cranberries! I eat dried ones every day.
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Cranberries are indeed very beautiful! My favorite recipe for cranberry sauce has honey instead of sugar, and orange zest. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! I hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving.
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I also use orange zest and I think it gives it a little bit of something extra. Thanks for your comment and We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
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Wonderful 😊
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I love cherries. We have some pie cherry trees in our yard. If we don’t pick them, then the birds enjoy them.
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Happy Thanksgiving, Anne! I love making (and eating) cranberry sauce. We have to wait another month for our celebration. 🙂
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I am delighted to know you are a cranberry sauce fan! thanks for commenting Patti.
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Sounds and looks, AMAZING!!!! Happy Thanksgiving!!
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Thanks Jeff!
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nice post…thanks for share
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Happy thanksgiving – that looks delicious!
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Happy Thanksgiving to you! When we lived in Canada we would always go for a walk to enjoy the fall color over the holiday weekend.
Cranberries, fixed as you do, are a staple over the holidays in this house.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
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thank you!
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I love cranberries and they look luscious in that first photo. The sauce you made looks equally testing. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving period.
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They are very beautiful berries and the sauce is delicious. Thanks for commenting.
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Love this post!! I’ve never made fresh cranberry sauce, I think I will do just that this year as you’ve really inspired me!! 😀
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Go for it. It is easy and well worth it.
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Happy Thanksgiving dear Anne and your cranberry sauce looks delicious! It’s one of my favourite fruits and when I was a lot younger we used to have cranberry tea and jam too 🙂💖 xxx
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Nice you paid tribute to cranberries. Love the taste, and I often mix cranberry juice with sparkling water.
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That would be an excellent drink. Thanks for sharing that.
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Ooo! All of my family love cranberry sauce. My eldest Granddaughter once called it; “chicken jam” and the name has stuck! We also enjoy it with ham, cheese (especially Brie) and in its own in a sandwich.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday and most of all, your time with family and friends 😘
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Thank you for this wonderful comment . I also live the sauce with cheese.
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Looks so beautiful & delicious!
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They are very beautiful. Thanks for commenting. Do you have them in your part of the world?
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We could get dried cranberries, but fresh cranberries are hardly available here.
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Sounds like you had a yummy Thanksgiving. 🙂 I saw cranberries in the store for the first time this year, last Tuesday. I bought the biggest bag, 2 lb, washed them, and froze them. I use a 1/4 cup in my breakfast smoothies.
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Excellent idea! Thanks for sharing that .
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🙂
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Great blog post, Anne, I love cranberries so much I eat them year round, whether the dried, rehydrated or the canned whole, those berries are just about the best. Happy Thanksgiving.😊
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Thanks for commenting.
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Happy Thanksgiving! The berries really do have a great color – I drink the juice all the time, and the color is part of its appeal. I’d like to visit a cranberry farm sometime, and see them flooding and harvesting. We still have 45 days until our (U.S.) Thanksgiving.
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There is a place in Quebec where you can watch the harvesting. I’m afraid I do not know exactly were but you might be able to google it.
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Happy Thanksgiving! Every time I see fresh cranberries at the supermarket I’m really tempted to buy them as looks so pretty 😉
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Making the sauce is super easy and it tastes better than the tinned version. So why not give it a try!
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