Wild Cranberry Sauce

Sauce for the goose

It’s been a while since I posted a food blog. With Christmas coming up, I wondered whether some of you might be cooking turkey or goose. Cranberry sauce makes a great addition and is surprisingly easy to make.

A friend often tells me of a bog where she picks wild cranberries, and the cranberry sauce she makes. Sadly, I don't have a bog so I have to buy my cranberries at the grocery store. But cranberries are cranberries (I hope), and I think this will work whether your cranberries are wild or tame.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups (wild) cranberries
• 1 cup apple juice and water, mixed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 pears (or apples), cored and sliced/chopped
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• orange zest (optional) or cinnamon (optional)

Rinse the berries in a colander and remove stems and any bad berries. Bring juice/water and sugar to a boil in a medium-sized, heavy saucepan. Add cranberries, pears, raisins, and nuts and bring the pot back to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While simmering the berries, additional ingredients can be added for more flavoring such as orange zest or cinnamon.

Take the sauce off the heat at this point, or simmer it down to the desired thickness. Remember the sauce will thicken a little more while cooling.

Chill the sauce completely (a few hours) before serving.  Leftovers will keep well in the fridge for a week or more.

If you try this recipe, or plan to, let me know by leaving a comment!

Thanks for reading!  If you enjoy this blog, please +1 it below, share it on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter, or suggest it to your friends .  More readers will drive more discussion.