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Buy More Cranberries!

© Pier Jones

How many bags of cranberries do you usually buy in November? One? Two? Enough to get you through Thanksgiving, and maybe Christmas dinners? Well, think about this: Cranberries are good, and good for you---they are a good source of vitamin C, and a nice change from morning citrus juices----and can be made into much more than Cranberry Salad and Cranberry Sauce.

Some of you may remember my article on juicing apples and pears, and the gadget I used, the "http://www.suite101.com/page.cfm/18359/m..." Mehu-Liisa. Well, here is yet another use for it. Make your own unsweetened Cranberry Juice to have on hand (you can freeze it) if you suffer from occasional urinary tract infections. Cranberry juice also makes a surprising, tangy addition to any jelly you might be making. I like to add it to grape, apple, and sand plum jelly, for the lovely red color it imparts.

After juicing the cranberries, you can run the remainder through a food mill, separating the pulp to make Cranberry Butter ; just follow the basic directions for "http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/1068..."Apple Butter, substituting Cranberry pulp for the apple.

Have you ever tried the dried cranberries that you can buy like raisins? Well, those Cranberry Raisins are expensive, and can be made at home. Here's all you do:

Rinse and pick over your cranberries, then put them in a saucepan and just barely cover them with water. Cover and bring to a slow boil, and continue to boil, stirring, just a few minutes, until all the berries have popped. Drain the water off, and put the berries in a skillet with a little butter and some sugar (white or brown) and honey. Saute over low heat for a few minutes, then allow to cool in the juice. Then dehydrate them. Remember, they will shrink considerably.

If you like to make and use flavored vinegars, Cranberry Vinegar is a beautiful ruby- red, and makes a lovely gift. Just pour hot white wine vinegar over the cranberries, and some orange peel that you have combined in a canning jar. Adding a little honey doesn't hurt a bit, either! Cover the jar and let it set a couple of weeks. Strain off the liquid, and pour into clean, decorative bottles for gift-giving; garnish the vinegar by adding a twist of orange peel and one or two cranberries to the bottle before sealing.

Cranberries aren't just for the holidays! Preserving them by one of the methods above allows you to enjoy them all year long. For more recipes using cranberries, check out "http://sunsite.auc.dk/recipes/english/ca..." Morton's Recipe Collection and "http://www.kitchenlink.com/search.html" The Kitchen Link.