Time for Recipes

Hi Internet People,

I thought that even though I didn’t make any brains this week I would share some of my favorite holiday recipes. Most people I’m sure eat cranberry sauces on Thanksgiving, but in my family we only have them on Christmas and making two different versions has been my job for the past few years. These are sort of family recipes, but we didn’t invent them ourselves. So today I will share my two cranberry sauce recipes so that if you want to add them to your holiday table you can.

The first recipe is super easy and literally comes from the back of the Ocean Spray Cranberries bag. This is my dad’s favorite version of cranberry sauce so I try not to mess it up. All you need is one cup of water, a 12 ounce bag of cranberries, and a cup of sugar (I always use Splenda or off brand fake sugar instead of actual sugar). You boil the water and sugar and then add the cranberries. After that you bring it back to a boil and after that you reduce the heat so it’s at a gentle boil and keep it like that for ten minutes. Once the time has passed you remove it from the stove and put it in a medium sized covered container and put it in the fridge to cool. I always make it on Christmas Eve night and then leave it in the fridge until our dinner on Christmas Day. One year I forgot to make it in advance we had to put our sauces out on the front porch in a snowbank to cool, which isn’t possible every year, especially this year since it hasn’t snowed at all.

This second cranberry recipe is my favorite and honestly I eat way more of it than I should on Christmas Day. My maternal grandmother found this recipe for Cranberry Chutney in the paper years ago and shared it with my mom. I actually use the photocopy she sent us every year when I make it, we keep it on the fridge year round on an industrial clip so that we don’t lose it. What you need is a 12 ounce can of chunked pineapple in juice, 1 and a half cups suger (I use Splenda in this one too), a 12 ounce bag of cranberries, 1 cup of golden raisins, a half teaspoon cinnamon, a fourth teaspoon ginger (the ground kind not the fresh kind), and a fourth teaspoon allspice. You can also add a three-fourths cup coarsely chopped walnuts, but I don’t like it with walnuts and have never added them when I make it. You can also leave out the raisins if you want, we accidentally didn’t buy them one year and it was still tasty.

You need to drain the juice from the can of pineapple into a pot on the stove and add the sugar, cranberries, raisins, and spices. You then cook them for 15 minutes, or until they start boiling. Once it comes to a boil you need to reduce the heat, but keep the chutney simmering for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cranberries look tender. Then you turn off the burner and add the pineapple. You need to stir it all in so that the chunks get fully mixed in. This is when you add the walnuts too if you want them. Then you need to chill it in your fridge until at least 4 hours, again I always let mine chill overnight.

I hope you like these recipes or if you already make them or make similar recipes I’d love to hear about them. You can comment below or tweet them at me. If you try out the chutney you should definitely tell me what you think. I have Christmas videos up over on my YouTube channel. You can also find articles I’ve written over on The Nerdy Girl Express. There are tons of amazing things you can read over there by some amazing people.

Talk to ya tomorrow,

Katherine