In the Kitchen: Spiced Cranberry Sauce

If you ask me my favorite Thanksgiving food, I'll tell you it's cranberry sauce, which I know sounds crazy- I mean, what with gravy, and mashed potatoes, and pie and all that? It's true though- I am obsessed with cranberry sauce- but not just any cranberry sauce. It has to be real, from scratch sauce- not that business in the cans. Every time I make this sauce, people ask for the recipe (and tell me they usually hate cranberry sauce, but not this one), so I thought it was about time I shared it!

Spiced Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

1 bag whole, fresh cranberries

Zest of 1 orange

Juice of that same orange, plus enough water to make 1 cup

1 cup sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

Directions:

Rinse cranberries thoroughly, picking out any super squishy ones, and picking off any stems.

Zest and juice orange.

In a non-reactive saucepan, bring water+juice mixture to a boil, add sugar, spices, and cranberries. Reduce heat to med-low until berries start popping and the sauce has thickened.

Remove from heat, cool to room temp, then cover and chill in fridge.

You can make this ahead of time, and to make a bigger batch, just multiply everything except the liquid, which you'll only need an extra half cup of per extra bag of cranberries. Super easy, super good. I'm going to sneak a spoonful right now actually.

Happy Thanksgiving friends! I hope you have a wonderful time with people you love.

Homemade Cocktail Cherries

Years ago, while celebrating my birthday at a spot in Seattle where a friend was tending bar, the Luxardo cherry entered my life and cocktail cherries have never been the same for me. Old Fashioned's have long been 'my drink', and while I once subscribed to the idea that cherries had no place in one, that tiny little Luxardo gem won me over. 

Neon red, almond flavored, sickeningly sweet, cherries, these are not. The Luxardo cherry tastes (and looks) like a real cherry, with the added complexity of the maraschino flavor from the Luxardo. Perfect in any drink that calls for a cocktail cherry, or even as an ice cream topping, their only downfall is that, at nearly $20 for a 14 ounce jar, there is no room for them in my budget. Good thing I'm not afraid of a little r&d in the kitchen, eh? Affordable version, here we come!  

The key to these is the cherry- a sour cherry. If I lived in Italy, I'd use marasca cherries, like Luxardo does, but sour cherries are the best option in the US. If you don't live somewhere sour cherries grow, you can usually find sour cherries in the frozen fruit section of nicer grocery stores or

order them online

. Although they don't grow well in Southern California, I lucked out and found fresh ones at a tiny little Armenian market, where I considered buying everything they had in stock.

If you're using fresh cherries, you'll need to pit them. My favorite cherry pitting tool is

this little contraption

that attaches to any mason jar. It's easy to use and keeps the mess contained, all for under $10.

After pitting, freeze the cherries. I find they absorb more flavor this way, and freezing them also means you can keep some on hand for future cocktail cherries. To flash freeze, arrange cherries, so they're not touching, on a parchment lined baking sheet and place in freezer for about 24 hours. Transfer to container or zipper bag and store in freezer.

When you're ready to make the cocktail cherries, you'll need:

1 pound frozen sour cherries

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water or cherry juice

1 cup

Luxardo maraschino liqueur

Juice from 1/2 a lemon

1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar, water, and lemon juice in medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stir and continue to simmer until sugar has dissolved.

Add vanilla, Luxardo, and cherries. Simmer 5 more minutes.

Cool to room temperature. Pour equal parts cherries and liquid into clean jars and refrigerate 3 days before using. Store in refrigerator up to 2 months.

Original recipe, styling, and photography by Danae Horst for Gather and Hunt.