Thanksgiving is 5 Days Away!

 Cranberry Orange/Cherry Sauce

Preparation for Thanksgiving dinner starts on Saturday morning! This morning I made my traditional Keeley/Donaldson favorite cranberry sauce and tucked it away in the fridge until Thursday. This is an adaptation of my mother's original fresh cranberry-orange sauce recipe. All I did was add the cherries. My sons love this sauce, although I wouldn't really call it a sauce. It is very thick, chunky, tart, and a bit chewy with the added dried cherries. Sort of like a cold compote or a conserve. I could sit down and eat the whole bowl it is so delicious!

1 bag of fresh cranberries
1 whole orange (save a slice for garnish)
1/2 cup of dried cherries (add more if you prefer)
3/4 cup sugar (add more if you prefer sweet over tart)

Rinse cranberries and put in a medium saucepan. Zest the entire peel of the orange and add to the cranberries. Squeeze the juice out of the orange and add to the cranberries. Add sugar. Bring to a boil and reduce heat so the cranberries simmer. Keep stirring- the cranberries should start popping and the mixture will get very thick (there is a lot of pectin in cranberries). Stir for about 5 minutes and then add the cherries. Heat and stir for about 5 more minutes. Most of the cranberries will have popped and the ones that are still whole will be soft and add a nice texture. Cool and refrigerate. Serve cold. Makes about 1.5 cups.