Cranberry Sauce

Since I won't be able to see my friend, Colleen, at Thanksgiving this year, we had a "Friendsgiving" this past weekend. It was my job to bring dessert and cranberry sauce. I'd never made cranberry sauce. After doing research, I realized it is so easy to make. The idea of canned cranberry sauce is about as criminal as whole canned chicken. Look it up. It's a real thing. I refuse to show you myself. You can't make me. Oh okay, here it is.

In all honesty, it took me 15 minutes and tastes way better than the gel you need to cut up into cubes. Trust me on this and just try this recipe. Aldi has 12 oz bags of cranberries for $0.99. I'm fairly certain that's the same price as a can and you will get twice as much sauce that is not in the shape of a ribbed cylinder. For the sake of your guests, just try it. Buy a can of sauce if you want backup, but trust me, you'll just end up throwing it away.

Look how pretty! This is when they start to pop.

You need:

1 c sugar
1 c water
12 oz bag cranberries, rinsed
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
2 tsp grated orange peel, optional

Dissolve the sugar in water over medium high heat. When the mixture is clear, add the cranberries. Stir the berries until they start to pop. You will hear the crackle sound.

Add the cinnamon, cloves, and orange peel. The measurements were an estimate. It is really to whatever taste you are comfortable.

Continue stirring the berries until they have all popped. I smashed a few spoonfuls against the side of the pan after they popped to make a smoother sauce, but I still wanted whole berries in there.

Some bubbling cranberry sauce

Pour the sauce into a heat resistant bowl to cool. Store in the refrigerator until serving. The sauce will thicken as it cools.

Silky, sweet and tart

Pumpkin Spice Cake with Apple Cider Glaze

As much as I hate to admit it, some people just don't like pie. As Thanksgiving is such a pie heavy holiday, here is a recipe to keep those blasphemers happy when everyone else is enjoying true pie bliss. That isn't to say this cake isn't good. It won the popular vote in a cake contest. I'm also not embarrassed to say the key ingredient is a cake mix. A tasty cake is a tasty cake, and this my friends, is the tastiest.

When I am old, rich and eccentric, I will have a built in bookcase wall devoted to bundt pans.

You need:

For cake:
1 box spice cake mix
1 box vanilla pudding, instant
1 can pumpkin puree
3 eggs
1/2 c oil
1/2 c water
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

For glaze:
1 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 T apple cider

Mix the spice cake mix with the vanilla pudding. Add the rest of the ingredients for the cake and mix until smooth. Pour the batter into a greased bundt pan and tap the pan gently on the counter to even out the batter.

Bake at 350ºF for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the thickest part comes out clean. Let the cake rest in the pan for 10-15 minutes. Turn the cake out onto a cooling rack to continue cooling.

Once the cake is completely cool, whisk the powdered sugar, pumpkin pie spice and cider until smooth and drizzle over cake. For a thicker glaze, use less cider.

A note on bake times:

Not all pans are created equal. The time it takes for a bundt cake to bake is much longer than a 13"x9" pan. If you are using a 13"x9" reduce the time to 35 minutes and the same for two round 8"x8". Two 9"x9" should be around 30 minutes and cupcakes should be around 20-25 minutes. As always, check the center of your cakes with a toothpick to be sure. Bake times can vary greatly.