Homemade Cranberry Sauce

This weekend is Thanksgiving here in Canada, and I could not be more excited! This holiday is one of my favourite and is the kick off for a great couple of months of family, good food, and lots and lots of time in the kitchen! I absolutely love Thanksgiving and everything it stands for. Thinking about everything in your life that is good, having a nice big family meal, and the beginning of fall! The past 2 years we have hosted the big dinner at our house, but unfortunately our new place is much too small to have 10 people over for dinner. Sigh. So this year D's parents are hosting, and we are bringing a few items to add to the menu. We have been put in charge of stuffing (my all time favourite part of the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals) and the cranberry sauce.

Happy Thanksgiving, eh?

Two years ago I made and canned my first ever cranberry sauce. Before that, I had only tasted the store-bought canned variety and thought it was just fine. Boy, I was soooo wrong! Once you have tasted homemade cranberry sauce, I guarantee you will never buy it again. My batch two years ago made about 6 or 7 jars and that lasted us until this year. Considering how easy it is to make and can, that is a great time investment! So, today I am making more. Here is the recipe:

8 cups whole cranberries, washed and picked through
4 cups sugar
1 cup orange juice*
3 cups water*
2 cinnamon sticks, broken ( or 1 tsp. ground cinnamon)
6 x 500 mL jars and lids

* you can also just juice one orange and then top it up with enough water to make 4 cups

Place juice, water, sugar, and cinnamon in a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add cranberries and cook until skins have popped and sauce is thick and bright red. Pour into sterilized jars and seal. Process in water bath canner for 15 minutes. Cool for 24 hours and store on shelf.

If you are wondering how to sterilize and seal jars, please refer to my canning tutorial. You can sterilize any sized jar in the oven and follow the same method for heating the lids.

These make excellent gifts and really are one of the easiest recipes to make! Enjoy!

What is your Thanksgiving like? What are your traditional meal staples, if any?

Brenna