Cranberry Classic

So, in deciding what to write for my first food post, I figured I should do my favorite Thanksgiving recipe, since it's almost that time!  I got married last summer and moved across country, so I had to do Thanksgiving dinner solo.  We had a friend over - he made the turkey (as you might have read, I don't do anything with bones) and I made everything else.  The hit of the night was my cranberry sauce.  I grew up with what we called "the real kind" aka the canned kind, but wanted to make my own.  I found this recipe in The Easy-to-Use Beginner's First Cookbook and will be making it every year from now on!  (In fact, my husband and his friend have even requested it throughout the year!)  It's super easy and is sure to be the talk of Turkey Day.  Here it goes:

Cranberry Sauce
Serves 6
(Cal: 178; Sug: 46.8g; Fat: 0g; Sod: 5mg)

1 orange
8oz cranberries
1 1/4 cups sugar

1.  Pare the rind thinly from the orange.  Remove any pith.  Squeeze the juice.
2.  Place the orange juice and rind into a medium saucepan.  Add the cranberries, sugar, and 2/3 cup water.
3.  Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
4.  Remove the rind and allow to cool before serving.

I made a second batch of this (with less orange, and 2 cinnamon sticks added while cooking) after the holiday weekend, and used it in muffins.  I mixed up a basic muffin mix from scratch and filled the cups 1/3 full, then placed some of the cranberry mixture, another layer of batter, and topped with some homemade cinnamon granola.  Delish!

Let me know how much your family loves this recipe this Thanksgiving!!