cranberries-a-go-go

Cranberry sauce doesn't cause people to moan with joy and excitement, rather it's a simple iconic accompaniment to any Thanksgiving meal. As kids, we usually hated it's sour face-puckering taste. But as an adult, I've come to love it and I always make a few special batches with interesting flavor combinations in case people need a nice gift to bring and share at their holiday festivities, or love the stuff and want it for their own table.

Cranberries are really rad. I verbosely sang their praises last year, but I'll say it again. What are they and where do they come from? Are they only from Cape Cod? Do they grow in bogs? On trees?

They’re a  small evergreen shrub found in acidic bogs throughout the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere (Maine, Massachusetts, upper midwest, etc.). The berry we know and love is an epigynous berry that’s  initially white, but turns a deep red when fully ripe. They’re super nutritious and a powerful antioxidant. In North America, Native Americans were the first to use cranberries as food, but they also used them in dye and medicine (for wounds–remember that, next time your injured near a bog). Native Americans called them "Sassamanash", Canadians call them "mossberry" and Brits refer to them as "fennberry".

This year, batch one is "Cranberry with pomegranate molasses and spices". A grate of nutmeg, a pinch of clove and cinnamon, a hint of orange zest, and you have a delicious flavor punch for your Thanksgiving pleasure! Last year, we finished off two pints of cranberry sauce with our meal it was so good!