Cranberry Sauce - Now Can Free!

Growing up I was never a fan of cranberry sauce (or juice). But now, as an adult, I've developed a liking for it. This year, as part of my Thanksgiving meal, I decided I'd like to have some cranberry sauce. But me being me, I wanted to make it myself.

Turns out, making cranberry sauce is super easy.

Now I know that we are firmly past Thanksgiving, but thing recipe is a great addition to any holiday meal (Christmas or Easter). It is also a surprising ingredient in other dishes (more on that later).

Orange Cranberry Sauce:
1 12oz bag of whole cranberries (found in the produce section near the berries at my grocery store), washed and picked over
1 small orange or two tangerines
1 cup sugar
1 cup water



Directions: Combine water and sugar over high heat in a medium saucepan. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. When the liquid boils, add the cranberries and diced orange (add some rind if you want an extra orange kick), and return to a boil. Simmer for ~10 minutes. The cranberries will pop and break down as it cooks and thickens. Cool and serve, makes about 2 cups.

If you're like me and enjoy cranberry sauce, but not in huge amounts, make this party pleaser: Cocktail Meatballs

Make up your favorite meatball (or buy them, I won't judge), cook them up, and place the meatballs into a crock pot or saucepan (on low) with 1 cup of the cranberry sauce and 1 cup of bbq sauce. Heat through and serve.

Even cranberry haters will love this dish!

Other assorted Thanksgiving pictures: 

Our HUGE 19lb turkey

Our Thanksgiving Dinner: for 2

Soy Sauce Brined Turkey

Its time for Thanksgiving! Time for pigging out on tons of yummy, tradition-laden, foods.

Funny thing is, until last year, I wasn't really a fan of the Thanksgiving turkey. For most people, the turkey is the highlight of the Thanksgiving meal. For me, well, give me a steak or ham any day. That's not to say that I grew up eating dry, bland, turkey. I didn't! Every year, my dad would pull out the old charcoal webber grill to grill/smoke the turkey. It would always turn out moist with great smokey-ness. While I liked the taste of it, after one or two bites, it was enough for me.

When I had a chance to make a turkey for myself and Chris last year, knowing I didn't have a charcoal webber to use, I had to figure out how to make a turkey myself.

Luckily, I happened to catch this on the food network:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/altons-turkey-brining-secrets/866.html

Ah yes. Alton Brown explaining the importance of brining a turkey. Always good eats, always good science. I was determined to use a brine on my turkey. But then I stumbled upon this:

 http://gastronomyblog.com/2010/11/16/soy-sauce-brined-turkey/

I'm not even going try to pretend I came up with this recipe or pretend that I made enough alterations to allow me to post it myself. Just go to the Gastronomy Blog, follow the directions, and ta-daa! A perfect, juicy, flavorful turkey.

I have used this recipe three times, about to use it again this year. I love it.

I hope you do too!

Let me know what you think!

Thanksgiving for two! Yummm!