Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Growing up, we always had the canned cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving.  I never cared for it and I still don't.  Enter homemade cranberry sauce--simple and much more tasty--and I'm hooked!  Not to mention, the homemade stuff is so pretty, too!

Ingredients:

Large bag (I used 32 oz.) of fresh (or frozen) whole cranberries--reserve 1 c. of berries
3 c. white sugar (you can reduce the amount if you wish)
1/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. lemon juice (can use orange juice for a sweeter taste)
pinch of salt, pepper, and cinnamon

Simply place all but the 1 c. of cranberries into a large pot. add the sugar and the lemon juice, and stir it up well.  Make sure that no dry sugar remains on the bottom of the pan so it won't burn.  The sugar will still be fairly dry, but it should have a slight coating of moisture from the citrus juice.  Turn the burner on to a low setting and allow the berries to become soft, approximately 10 minutes, continuing to stir every so often.

Once the berries have begun to soften a bit, turn the heat up to medium for at least another 10 minutes. As the berries heat up, they will burst--I love the little popping sound they make!  Continue to stir the mixture with some frequency.  It's fine if you want to press the berries up against the side of the pot to hasten their explosions. :)  By the end of those 10 minutes, the berries will have released most of their juice and you will have a nice, soupy mixture on your hands.

At this point, you want to add those berries you reserved in the beginning so you have a little contrast with whole berries versus the disintegrated ones.  Remove the pot from the burner.  The whole berries will soften up in the hot cranberry sauce; some of them may even pop as well, which is fine.  You can also add in the salt, pepper, and cinnamon.  It sounds strange to add salt and pepper, but it gives it a more full flavor. The sauce will begin to thicken as it cools.

Next, simply pour the berries from the pot into a serving dish, allow to cool, and serve when ready.  If storing overnight, I would suggest covering with plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out and place it in the refrigerator.