Easy Cranberry (Awesome)sauce!

What's your favorite Thanksgiving side dish?

I feel a little guilty asking you that question, 

because if you asked me, I wouldn't be able to choose.

Stuffing...Sweet Potato Pie...Cranberry Sauce...

They are all in my top three,

and I'd be hard pressed to pick my favorite.

Individually, they are delicious, but taken together,

it's side-dish Nirvana, with all of the flavors playing off each other. 

Savory stuffing...
 Sweet potatoes...

Tart cranberry sauce...

To me, they taste best when they're all mushed together on my fork...
nom nom nom.   

Who needs the turkey, anyway?
Frankly, I'd be happy if dinner consisted of those three sides,
and dessert. 
And a glass of wine.
Or three.

There was a time when the only cranberry sauce I knew of 
was the jellied kind that came out of a can, sliced into round, velvety discs.
(Raise your hand if that was you, too).

It's what my mother bought, and it's what came on my plate 
when I ordered a hot open turkey sandwich at the diner.
 I wasn't always the sophisticated foodie that I am now...heh heh!

Somewhere along the way, I discovered whole-berry cranberry sauce from a can.

I think I bought it by mistake, actually.
I didn't like it.

Those hard, splintery berry skins just ruined it for me.
Feh. 

But, it did set off a light bulb that real cranberry sauce didn't grow in a can...
and there were supposed to be actual berries in it. 
Oh.  

I don't remember who introduced me to fresh cranberry sauce,

but once I tried it, there was no turning back. 
It was berry enlightening. 

And so, every Thanksgiving, when I make my fresh cranberry sauce, 
I am thankful for learning this important food life-lesson. 
Mostly, I am thankful that I don't have to go to a cranberry bog 
in Cape Cod to pick the berries...
all I have to do is grab a bag or two in the produce aisle at the supermarket.

Making fresh cranberry sauce doesn't take much more effort than opening a can.

It's as easy as dissolving sugar in water,

 mixing in the cranberries, cooking the berries until they pop, and letting the sauce thicken.
15 minutes, tops.

When it's cooled, I like to mix in mandarin oranges, 
crushed pineapple and chopped walnuts.

Awesomesauce!

Cranberry Awesomesauce, to be exact. 

The recipe makes about eight servings...
or two, if you're me. 

Do you make your own cranberry sauce?
What do you add to make it "awesomesauce?"

 

Linking With:
Wow Us Wednesday
Wake Up Wednesday 
What's It Wednesday 
Home and Garden Thursday
Weekend Social 
Let's Get Real  
Feathered Nest Friday
Home Sweet Home  
Simple and Sweet Friday
Foodie Friday 
Pure Blog Love  
Best of the Weekend
Bouquet of Talent 
Sunday Showcase
Metamorphosis Monday 
The Scoop  
Tweak It Tuesday 
Treasure Box Tuesday 
Happy Holiday Link Party