When I think of past Thanksgivings, there’s a blur in my mind. Particularly the childhood ones. I do remember some very clearly- like the year I was probably around 7, and I was making paper dolls on the living room floor after watching the parade. Or the year directly after that when I was creating some kind of model of Plimoth Plantation (purchased the previous summer while on vacation at Plimoth, obviously). Or the year I was about 14 and after dinner, we left the plates on the table & my father drove us in to see the Christmas windows in Manhattan. I even remember the knit hat and the vintage Levi’s I wore. And the year that I was maybe 18 or 19 and we had dinner at my aunt & uncle’s house, and there’s a picture of me floating around somewhere, an actual tangible photograph, of me wearing a lace apron & blue Doc Martens. And of course I remember last year at my in-laws house, when Jay and I cooked everything for both families all by ourselves. And the year before that, and the year before. But other years, they just blur together to create one large Thanksgiving. One large dinner. One pan of lasagna. One turkey. One memory comprised of all the memories.
And I cannot say I remember any one dish, really. I don’t remember any specific stand-out side dishes, except for the one year I made broccoli and cauliflower au gratin (and I’ve been craving it ever since). However this… this is a stand-out side dish if ever there was one.
Okay. So, Thanksgiving. If there is one thing I can convince you of concerning Thanksgiving, let it be that you DO NOT NEED TO BUY CRANBERRY SAUCE. I know I say a lot of things about how my recipes are “easy” and how you should be making your own pickles or what have you (and that is all 100% true) but cranberry sauce is THE EASIEST THING EVER. I am not lying to you. There is no need to buy stuff chock full of high fructose corn syrup and additives when it’s so easy to make your own. Plus, this time of year cranberries are everywhere, and they’re usually on sale. Stock up and make some homemade cranberry sauce now, enjoy it later.
It doesn’t have to be “canned” or processed either, I just prefer to do so because I make a couple of half-pints (or pints) and I would rather keep them in a cupboard than in the fridge, open. That way, throughout the entire season I have fresh cranberry sauce. From Thanksgiving to Christmas and throughout the winter. For all those roast chicken Sunday dinners, I can pop open a new jar. Cranberries cook themselves, really. And they have so much natural pectin that they just gel together like a dream. It’s a beginners dream sauce!
I used Black Dirt “Apple Jack” apple brandy in mine, because brandy reminds me of my Nana and apple brandy is the only kind I had on hand. But you could use a regular brandy too. Or bourbon, or whiskey. Or you can leave it out completely.
ORANGE RIND & APPLE BRANDY CRANBERRY SAUCE
Makes about 4 pints or 8 half-pints (8 oz.)
Ingredients:
- 8 cups fresh cranberries (basically 2 lbs.)
- 4 cups granulated sugar
- 4 cups water
- the rind of one orange, cut into thin strips with the pith scraped off (the white stuff) – *OPTIONAL OR 1 -2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
- 2 tablespoons – 1/4 cup apple brandy, depending on taste
Directions:
- Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use (only if you’re going to process them for shelf-stability). Otherwise, just clean your jars and make sure they’re dry.
- Combine your sugar and water in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil hard for 5 minutes. Add cranberries and return mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently, adding the orange rind and stirring occasionally, until all berries burst and liquid begins to sheet from a metal spoon, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Add brandy- be careful, it will sputter!
- Spoon the hot cranberry sauce into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot cranberry sauce. Wipe rims and center lids on jars. Apply band until fingertip tight.
- If processing, do so in a waterbath canner for 15 minutes. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed. If they do, refrigerate immediately and use.
This sauce has a more jelly-like consistency to it, not so much a chunky sauce. It is chunky, sure, but not like whole-cranberry sauce chunky. It can replace that god-awful canned jellied cranberry sauce! Or, it makes a great hostess gift. Show up to Thanksgiving dinner with a jar of this, and no one will be mad about it.
Orange rind gives something to cranberry sauce that you can’t quite put your finger on taste-wise, but it’s important. If you opt OUT of the rind, please do add a teaspoon or two of finely grated orange zest instead. I promise you, it’s a needed component. I do happen to think the thick(er) strands of orange rind are cool, myself. But its a taste thing- I get it.
If this particular combo doesn’t appeal to you, perhaps you’d enjoy a pomegranate cranberry sauce, or maybe a more traditional & basic New England cranberry compote? That one has walnuts in it and is a favorite here. Or maybe you’d like an amaretto cranberry sauce? Maybe you’re more adventurous and you’d prefer a Moroccan-style cranberry sauce with cardamom and preserved lemon. Or maybe you’re not into sauce, but you’re looking for an apple-cranberry gingery jam, for your Thanksgiving morning breakfast.
Whatever you decide to make,even if it doesn’t “stand out”, it’ll be a part of a bigger memory. And in the future it will be remembered as a piece of a larger picture, a blur of memories all put together to make one beloved memory of Thanksgiving, and comfort. And joy.
Suggestions for use: Omit the brandy and use bourbon or whiskey, omit the alcohol altogether, serve as a Thanksgiving side dish, serve on a turkey or chicken sandwich for added oomph.
Soundtrack: For some reason, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” was stuck in my head all day!
Sources & Credits: 8-oz. Collection Elite Ball jars; freshpreserving.com, 8-oz. Kerr jars; freshpreserving.com, 8-oz. Ball jelly jars; freshpreserving.com, silver tray; vintage (belonged to my grandmother), silver baby spoon; vintage, Apple Jack apple brandy; Black Dirt Distillery, black Hemsmak labels; Ikea.
I'm Marilla. A 30-something artist, hobby baker, home canning enthusiast, gardener, DIY-er, wife, mommy of a baby boy and dog mom (to another baby boy) from New York. 
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