A Cranberry Thanksgiving Sauces, Relish & Cooking Tips
What would Thanksgiving be without the cranberries?
Thanksgiving and cranberries in the USA date back to 1621 when Pilgrims and Native Americans feasted together to celebrate the fall harvest and reflect upon
their blessings. That's when the early settlers first learned all about the fruit that was native to North America -- which was harvested for generations before Europeans first "discovered" America!
Fact is, cranberries were already a traditional staple in the diet of local Indian tribes. The juice was also carefully reserved for making colorful dyes for clothes and blankets. Maybe more importantly, cranberries' health benefits (cranberries are high in vitamin C and chock full of cancer-fighting antioxidants) were recognized by Indian tribes long before modern science stumbled upon the information.
Thanksgiving
has changed over the years, but the essence of giving thanks
for our blessings and the commemoration of the Pilgrim's
landing in Plymouth, Massachusetts still remains.
Food has
been, and still is, the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Since the very first Thanksgiving in 1621, cranberries have been
on most American's holiday menus and steeped
in this country's heritage.
This Thanksgiving,
feel good—and healthy too— about eating plenty
of cranberry goodies.
Tips for cooking with cranberries
A 12-ounce
bag of cranberries equals three cups.
Leftover
cranberry sauce can be refrigerated for several days or it can
be frozen in an air-tight container up to a year.
Fresh cranberries
will stay fresh and retain nutrients frozen for nine months
to a year. Place bags of fresh berries directly into the freezer
in their original bags.
Boiling
cranberries is essential to release natural pectin inside the
cranberry for gelling. You must boil the berries long enough
to ensure the release of appropriate pectin. (Cook for at least
10 minutes.)
To add
zing and texture to your bread or grain-based stuffing, add 1/2 to 3/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries to your
recipe.
Fun facts about cranberries:
• Early European settlers named the fruit "crane berry" because they thought the cranberry blossom looked like the head of a crane.
• Henry Hall, a Revolutionary War veteran, planted the first commercial cranberry bed in Dennis, Massachusetts in 1816.
• The first commercial canned cranberry sauce was marketed by the Cape Cod Cranberry Company in 1912.
• It's a common myth that cranberries actually grow under water. In reality, they grow in cranberry fields on woody vines. Water is used to "float" the fruit for easier harvesting.
• More than a billion pounds of cranberries are produced each year by leading growers in the United States, Canada, and Chile.
• Cranberries score among the highest of all fruits in antioxidants.
• Only 5% of cranberries are sold fresh. The remaining 95% are turned into cranberry juice, cranberry sauce, and other cranberry products.
What would Thanksgiving be without the cranberries?
Tips for cooking with cranberries
• Early European settlers named the fruit "crane berry" because they thought the cranberry blossom looked like the head of a crane.
