This is Not Your Mother's Canned Cranberry Sauce.

I love my mother, but I really have to try hard to enjoy her cooking. In all fairness, she is a busy lady & sometimes holiday dinners are not her biggest priority. (There are times I am happy to be vegetarian.)

So I pitch in & try to make something nice. My contribution is usually cranberry sauce. Last year I made it spicy with Grand Marnier in it. It went really well with sharp aged cheddar & wine! This year I canned a honey tangerine cranberry jelly. It turned out really well. Here is how I did it.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 bags of fresh cranberries (12oz bags)
- 3 cups of sugar (or you can substitute Splenda)
- 1 cup of fresh orange juice (or tangerine juice as I used)
- 2 teaspoons of ground allspice
- 2 big Honey Tangerines

PREPARE YOUR WATER BATH FOR CANNING!
- make sure all your jars are washed out first & sterile
- make sure you have all your tools & lids before you start canning.
- put a small plate in your freezer to test for jell later on.

BRINGING IT TOGETHER:
- Start by boiling your honey tangerines. It helps to release the skin from the inner orange & mobilises the juice. It makes it a lot easier to extract the juice this way. It only takes two or 3 minutes & they will not burn you when you remove them.

- Cut the tangerines in half & extract the juice with a big spoon. Save the rinds & use a zester to get about a tbsp of zest to add to the sauce.
- Put all the ingredients into a wide 6 to 8 quart serving pan (I use my Teflon wok because I do not posses nice cookware)
- Bring to a boil over high heat. If the cranberries are fresh they will make a POP sound while cooking.
- When the boil is roiling, bring it down to an active simmer & stir frequently as you don't want your berries to burn.

- Keep stirring for roughly 15 minutes. The liquid in your pan should reduce during this time your berries will go from being firm & shiny to resembling something a lot closer to traditional cranberry sauce.
- Take a bit of the sauce out & put it on your freezer plate & set it in the freezer for about a minute. (The sauce should wrinkle when you nudge it to let you know it jelled correctly.)
- At this point in time your jars & lids should be ready to go. Ladle the sauce into your canning jars & leave about a finger of head space at the top of each jar. Lid, seal & process as usual.

- Try not to move the jars around & fiddle with them. This is a great temptation when you are a new canner.
- Listen for the POP when your lids seal. You can also check this by pushing on the lid. If it doesn't move, they you have sealed your sauce correctly. (If your lids don't seal the canned cranberries need to go into the fridge immediately.)

While you enjoy your sauce you can realize these historical facts about cranberry sauce:
1. Cranberry Sauce was first served to US Troops by Ulysses S. Grant who ordered it served to the troops during the Siege of Petersburg in 1864.
2. Cranberry Sauce was first commercially available in 1912 & made by the Cape Cod Cranberry Company (Ocean Spray)