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Post by brownrexx on Nov 14, 2019 8:42:05 GMT -5
Cranberry sauce is a traditional part of many Thanksgiving meals.
I actually LIKE that jelled stuff in the can which many people consider to be awful but I grew up with that so maybe that's why I like it. Hubby likes it too.
However we also love cranberry relish and I started making that a few years ago with canned whole cranberry, mandarin oranges and crushed pineapple.
It's odd that I cook most things from scratch and I never use things like canned soups so why am I using canned cranberries? This year I am buying fresh cranberries and cooking them for my relish for the first time.
Do you like cranberries? Do you cook fresh ones?
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Post by pondgardener on Nov 14, 2019 9:30:19 GMT -5
I made an apple-orange cranberry sauce from scratch last year and my wife loved it. This post is a reminder that I need to stop at the store to get a few bags of cranberries.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Nov 14, 2019 9:49:46 GMT -5
I make cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries. The first time I made it I was astonished at how quick and easy it is. Literally a ten year old could do it.
However, at the end of the cooking I do get out the stick blender and knock down the texture a bit - just enough to ensure that there are no big pieces of cranberry skin. With the short cook time of fresh cranberry sauce (about 10 minutes) the skins still have more "chew" than I like.
I have been using bottled orange juice in the cranberry sauce, but I think I may use mandarin orange segments instead this year. I think that flavor would go well. It will be easy enough to cut back the sweetener to compensate for the mandarin oranges being sweeter than the orange juice.
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Post by brownrexx on Nov 14, 2019 10:10:25 GMT -5
I may use mandarin orange segments instead this year. I drain them and then mix vigorously with a spoon to break them up a bit. I don't like whole segments in the finished product. They add a nice orange taste.
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Post by paquebot on Nov 14, 2019 10:34:46 GMT -5
Always from fresh or frozen. At one time in the 1980s, came home to find about 100# on my front steps. Sister-in-law's daughter worked for company in Warrens, WI which is the cranberry capital of the world. It was bog-run so anything that could float was still in it from dead frogs to deer manure. Took two days to sort and clean it all and freeze in 5-gallon square containers. Ate the last of them two years ago.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by paulf on Nov 14, 2019 11:08:55 GMT -5
Growing up I didn't even know what a fresh cranberry was since at Thanksgiving all we had was the jellied stuff. I liked it then and still do. For many years there has been fresh cranberry salads our gatherings and I like that too. Never cared for the salads with walnuts in it but ate it anyway. I like both, I guess.
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Post by brownrexx on Nov 14, 2019 14:12:41 GMT -5
Never cared for the salads with walnuts in it but ate it anyway. I like both, I guess. My cranberry relish recipe has walnuts listed but I do not add them. I don't like the crunchiness in a soft salad.
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Post by bestofour on Nov 15, 2019 18:15:29 GMT -5
My husband likes the jellied can stuff and I open a can every once in a while. Bought a can today. I can eat it but if you bring something made from fresh I'll be happy. I'm just not gonna make it for myself.
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Nov 15, 2019 18:24:22 GMT -5
I don't honestly remember if I have eaten canned cranberry sauce? I know that I personally have never bought the stuff. I'm another one with bags of cranberries in the freezer year round. I will happily sit down and eat homemade cranberry sauce with maple syrup (instead of sugar) as a snack. I also regularly make Apple Cranberry Crisp and Cranberry muffins.
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Post by octave1 on Nov 15, 2019 20:19:31 GMT -5
I only like cranberries in bread and baked goods, and maybe their juice in some drinks. I have a recipe for cranberry-orange bread that is absolutely delicious, and a really nice treat on Thanksgiving.
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Post by paquebot on Nov 16, 2019 0:56:48 GMT -5
I have never bought the canned gel type but have had it. It's a very poor substitute for the real thing. Whole berries are usually so cheap around here that there is no good reason to buy the canned stuff.
There's also the mistaken idea that cranberries are strictly for Thanksgiving and Christmas. There are many who claim that they only go with turkey which in turn would mean that turkeys are just for those holidays. They also go well with ham. I love it when wife asks me to get some cranberries from the freezer and there's not a holiday in sight. And then there's no major prep time. Add water, boil, and mash. Add a little sugar and serve. (Going to try Red's maple syrup next time for 100% Native American.)
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Deleted
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Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2019 1:40:46 GMT -5
I like the smooth canned stuff with pork, turkey or chicken, even with beef. I do like whole or smashed cranberries in muffins, cakes and brownies or blondies. They are also good whole in oatmeal raisin cookies.
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Post by coppice on Nov 16, 2019 7:28:28 GMT -5
I like bog cranberry. It is easy (for me) to get a two-fer out of them. I mash fruit in gallon zip-lock bag. Float off the pulp to use in relish. The seed that sinks goes to seed give away.
I think I would prefer a firing squad to highbush cranberry. Not good. Not food.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Nov 16, 2019 8:25:49 GMT -5
My heathen nephews insist on the canned glop. I made a bowl of excellent cranberry pecan sauce once and it was almost totally ignored.
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Post by daylilydude on Nov 17, 2019 5:03:32 GMT -5
Canned glop for us...
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reubent
Pro Member
Posts: 389
Joined: May 2011
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Post by reubent on Nov 17, 2019 6:26:46 GMT -5
A little sour for fresh eating, but otherwise I love em sweetened a bit. Sometimes I get cranberry juice just for pleasurable beverage. They don't grow much down here in TN but I have seen a rare few on occasion. In traveling in the mountains of West Virginia we came across some wild and had em. I'd be gathering them and blueberries every year if I lived there.
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Post by brownrexx on Nov 19, 2019 18:47:39 GMT -5
Success!!
I have been wanting to try making cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries but I never seem to get around to it. Tonight I did it and I will never go back to the canned stuff except for the occasional can of the jelled cranberry.
Tonight I cooked fresh cranberries in water and some sugar for 10 minutes and Poof! it turned into yummy cranberry sauce. I added a can of drained and chopped mandarin oranges and a small can of crushed pineapple.
Hubby said "I could just eat a big bowl of this". Yes, it was very good and now I will always use fresh cranberries.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Nov 19, 2019 21:12:23 GMT -5
I saw somebody make a good looking cranberry pie on the food network baking contest.
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Tim Horton
Junior Member
Posts: 69
Zone:: 2
Joined: October 2019
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Post by Tim Horton on Nov 19, 2019 23:16:01 GMT -5
We already had Thanks Giving, but I'm willing to do it again in November.....
We make a homemade relish of ground cranberry, naval orange, peel and all. Orange juice if needed Sugar.
To me the secret is make it a day or two ahead and let everything blend together.
I also take about a cup of relish and mix a little cayenne pepper in it.
Most good...
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Post by paquebot on Nov 19, 2019 23:18:43 GMT -5
brownrexx, welcome to the club! Now you have discovered the ONLY way to cook cranberries. I live not far from cranberry country and it is not a gel goop area. Most don't bother adding anything but a little sugar. Some will add walnut or hickory. And when my wife makes a bowl, it's a big bowl and doesn't last long. And, I think that I mentioned that it does not have to be Thanksgiving or Christmas. Martin The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by brownrexx on Nov 20, 2019 7:49:28 GMT -5
Now you have discovered the ONLY way to cook cranberries. I don't know why I never did this before paquebot, It was ridiculously easy and it tasted so good. I liked it plain too but cranberry relish with the oranges and pineapple makes it special for Thanksgiving.
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Post by paquebot on Nov 22, 2019 23:17:27 GMT -5
Out and about to top off grocery needs. One was to lay in some cranberries. First stop was Pick 'n Save where they were 2 packages for $5. With 10% employee discount, bought 2 for $4.50. Next stop was Aldi, 99¢ there and bought 3 bags. Last stop was WalMart which had Ocean Spray berries for $1.49. Didn't need any more by then.
Helpful hint: Aldi will only have them fresh in Novenber and December. Stock up now if your stores are 99¢.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Nov 28, 2019 7:26:08 GMT -5
Haha, last evening there was a post on Facebook by a cookbook auth I follow. She showed how to make cranberry sauce and pack it in a can so that friends and family who like canned sauce think that is what they are eating. She did it for her own family for years but now they know the truth, lol
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Nov 28, 2019 23:15:52 GMT -5
Ha! That's pretty sneaky... Not to mention a lot of effort to go to just to sneak your preferred cranberry sauce on the table!
So, I think I posted yesterday afternoon that I had just realized that I'd forgotten to buy the cranberries for our sauce.
DH was kind enough to brave the store on the way home to look for some, but they were sold out except for some super- expensive organic ones that cost FOUR times as much as the regular berries. He wasn't up for that, so he picked up a couple of cans of cranberry sauce instead.
So we had the canned stuff this year. 🤣 No one really minded...I think I'm the only one in the family that's picky about cranberry sauce.
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Post by paquebot on Dec 21, 2019 14:54:24 GMT -5
Wasn't on any Pick 'n Save sale bills but wife said that she had to make signs for cranberries last night for 50¢ a pound. Didn't mention that there were also 2# bags for 99¢. Bought 3 of the larger bags so far. Her only comment- was ":Only three?" Haven't figured out exact cost as employee Christmas bonus is 3 days of 20% off. Never have too many and don't need a holiday to enjoy them.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Dec 22, 2019 16:15:49 GMT -5
I thought ahead this time - I bought cranberries early so I can make proper cranberry sauce for Christmas.
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