Cranberry Thanksgiving
Confession: I’m not a pumpkin spice gal. (I’m also not a fan of peppermint mocha, if you’re thinking coffee.) I do love cranberry, though, especially breads with fresh cranberries, and cranberry tea (Celestial Seasonings has a delightful holiday tea that I stash to drink all year long).
Seeing bags of fresh cranberries in the stores makes me so happy, because it’s finally time for all things cranberry!
I stumbled upon this story last year, when I was looking for delightful and worthwhile picture books for Thanksgiving. Christmas gets all the love for picture books, you know? There really ought to be more Thanksgiving books, and not just Pilgrims and Native Americans stories.
Cranberry Thanksgiving is a sweet story about a Grandmother and Granddaughter, and their guests on Thanksgiving. Grandmother always things someone is out to steal her famous cranberry bread recipe. She believes it to be her granddaughter’s guest on Thanksgiving, but it turns out she was mistaken. I like the twist in the story, the theme of sharing with others who would be left out for the holidays, and also a story of forgiveness.
This recipe is on my “to-bake” list this week. I’ll be making it gluten-free, as usual. If you are gluten-free, have you tried the King Arthur All-Purpose Gluten-Free Mix yet? It hasn’t failed me yet. I highly recommend it.
And cranberry sauce! Oooh, I love cranberry sauce. Fence does, too. We found a recipe during our first year of marriage, and tried it. I don’t remember liking cranberry sauce as a kid, but this recipe has 2 cups of Cabernet (or any dry red wine) so we had to try it. By request, I’m sharing here!
- 2 c Cabernet
- 1 c granulated sugar
- 1 c brown sugar
- 1/2 c apple juice
- 6-12 whole cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 t ginger
- 1 orange, sliced
- 1 lb fresh cranberries
- Combine all except the cranberries in a medium pot and simmer until reduced to about 2 cups. This will take about 15 minutes. Strain, then return to the pot and medium-low heat. Add the cranberries, and stir while they pop. Simmer a little longer, then cool. Mash the mix if you choose. Store in the fridge.
I made my cranberry sauce last night, and I can’t wait to serve it. Tomorrow we’re celebrating an early Thanksgiving with my parents, and we’ll have this sauce with pork tenderloin. We’ll have it with turkey on Thanksgiving Day. It’s also delicious with sandwiches and leftovers.
Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I’m so grateful for your support this year. May God bless you and your family.
Mr. Whiskers for the win! Thanks for sharing your recipe. 🙂
Did you use the recipe? Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Advent!