Are you starting to think about holiday recipes? No…well you should be! Canadian Thanksgiving may be over, but American Thanksgiving is yet to come, and also I firmly believe that cranberry sauce should not just be saved for holiday dinners. It’s a perfect side to pork, ham, and of course turkey and chicken. Hot chicken sandwiches are a regular in my dinner rotation this time of year, and it just elevates it a bit with some lovely cranberry sauce to spread on top of the chicken. Yum!

Cranberries

Remember those cranberries from Indian Garden Farm? Well this is the time to get some wonderful fresh local berries and in no time at all make your own cranberry sauce! What a beautiful dish to bring as well if you are invited to dinner over the holidays. If people haven’t made it before, chances are, they will be impressed! The truth is this recipe is so easy, you’ll wonder why you’ve been buying canned all these years.

Photo Credit- Heidi Jirotka Photgraphy

Spiced Cranberry Sauce

2 Cups of water
2 Cups of sugar
4 Cups of fresh cranberries
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
dash of nutmeg

* The spices are optional. Feel free to leave them out for a more traditional cranberry sauce.

Before you begin, go through your cranberries taking out any that are not fresh, pick off any stems, etc. In a medium size saucepan bring the sugar and water to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil hard for 5 minutes. Add cranberries and spices and return mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally until all the berries burst about 15 minutes.

This sauce will thicken as it sits and cools. This will stay good in the fridge for several weeks.

See how easy that is! Now I want a chicken sandwich. 😉 Be sure to check out our post on Brandied Orange Cranberry Sauce!

Have you ever made your own cranberry sauce? What about spiced cranberry sauce? Anybody pick their own cranberries? Leave a comment and let us know!