Sparkling Cranberry Sauce

My husband and I thought we were going to be alone for Thanksgiving, so our neighbors invited us to join them. We were so grateful for the invitation.  Then last Monday morning I received a phone call from our son in which he told me that his wife, my mom, and he wanted to come for the holiday, if they could work out the details. I spoke with my mom Tuesday morning and found out that they would be arriving Thanksgiving morning. We were thrilled, but I had nothing purchased for a turkey dinner since we were not going to be home, so I did the "Christmas with the Krank's" thing Tuesday and Wednesday evenings to get all the things needed. I got one of the last fresh turkeys in the market. My goodness, things were picked over! I did have cranberries in the freezer from last year so I was able to make cranberry sauce Tuesday afternoon and I got my pie crusts made and in the refrigerator to be filled the next day.

If you have never made fresh cranberry sauce, and only know the sauce from a can, I would highly recommend trying fresh. This recipe is very easy to do and only takes about half-an-hour start to finish. Our family, including our two-year-old granddaughter, loves the stuff. Maybe your family will as well. Blessings...

Recipe:

3/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 12-ounce pkg. fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over
1/4 cup lemon-lime soda or ginger ale

1. Bring water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan.
2. Add cranberries and bring back to a boil; lower heat to simmer.
3. Simmer sauce for about 10 minutes or until almost all of the berries have burst and the sauce has thickened. I smash any remaining whole berries with the back of a spoon because we aren't crazy about the, "blast of sour" from the fresh berries.
4. Remove pan from the heat and set aside to cool slightly. Stir in soda and pour into a serving bowl. Cool completely.

Yield: 2-1/2 cups
1/4 cup = 98 calories
1 gm. fiber

Tip:  Cranberries splatter when they are cooking down so be sure to use a saucepan a little larger than the mixture. You will have less clean up.
Note: The traditional recipe does not have soda in it. That recipe is the one my mom has been making for years and is just as simple. It is simply 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Everything else is done the same.