About 11 years ago, I wandered into a small, family-owned sandwich shop and ordered a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce on a hearty stone-ground wheat bread.  Wow, that was some homemade goodness.  I have to admit I’m a cranberry sauce addict.  Nothing against my friends at Ocean Spray…in a pinch I’ll get out the can opener and dive into a can of their cranberry sauce (might add some chopped orange just for good measure), but if you have a few minutes and I do mean just a few, you can make your own. 

I wanted to share a recipe I’ve been using for about 12 years.  It’s really very simple, so head to your favorite grocer and pick up the few ingredients you’ll need to make this traditional sauce.  By the way, it will keep in your fridge for  a couple of months, so any leftovers from Thanksgiving can be used for several more weeks.

The ingredients are tossed in the pot.

Recipe

2 bags of cranberries (I used Ocean Spray; they come in 12 oz bags)

3/4 Cup cranberry juice

3/4 Cup orange juice

2 1/4 Cups sugar

zest from one orange

Method

Wash and pick through fresh cranberries.  Add cranberries and the remaining ingredients to heavy-bottomed stock pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and boil gently for 10 minutes, stirring gently.  You’ll see the cranberries “pop.”  Skim foam off top of pot.  Pour sauce into container and cool completely.  Cover and refrigerate for up 2 months.