Cranberries in the crannies

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Cranberries are in season right now, and plentiful at local farmer’s markets.  If you look hard enough, you can even find the white variety (shown here).

If you’re like me, the first thing you think of when you hear the word ‘cranberry’ is cranberry sauce.  I cook a full Thanksgiving dinner every year, and cranberry sauce is always on the menu.  Rather than settling for that crappy canned stuff, I always opt to make my own.  It’s easy and way, way better.  Last year I made a fantastic bourbon cranberry sauce.  This year I’m making cranberry sauce with blueberries.

That said, there are about a billion other things to do with cranberries.  In that spirit, below is a list of five things to do with cranberries that doesn’t involve cranberry sauce:

1. Cranberry Milk Chocolate Truffles (recipe).  There is nothing I like better than the combination of cranberries and chocolate. Yum!
2. Cranberry Pancakes (recipe).  The addition of tart cranberries in your pancakes is sure to wake you right up!
3. Cranberry liquer (recipe).  Old grandpappy would be proud if I made my own bootleg liquor!  Well, maybe it’s not quite like that, but you’ll be able to offer guests something unique.
4. Cranberry Orange Bread (recipe).  I just love quick breads, and this one is lovely and flavorful!
5. Cranberry Granita recipe).  Think of this as high class water ice, yo.