Simple Cranberry Sauce

My husband is one of those people who loves that canned jelly style cranberry sauce.  In fact he requested it for Thanksgiving and like the dutiful wife I simply said "no".  Don't get me wrong, I eat it, I will eat it, I have eaten it.  Here's the thing.  Why on earth would I make a completely homemade Thanksgiving dinner and then buy canned cranberry sauce?

OK, so now that I've politely told my husband he can't have his canned cranberry sauce I was nice enough to include him in the picking out of the perfect recipe.  He wanted simple. Check.  He didn't want any chunks of other fruits other than cranberry. Check.  He didn't want any strange spices. Check. 

Here's how you make it.  It's very complicated so pay close attention.

Dump 1 Cup of orange juice in a sauce pan with 1/2 Cup of sugar. Cook until the sugar has dissolved.

Add one bag of fresh or frozen cranberries.

Cook over medium low heat for about 15 minutes until the cranberries have popped and the liquid begins to thicken.  Turn the heat off and add up to another 1/2 Cup of sugar.  Start with just a little (or non at all) and keep adding until you reach your level of desired sweetness.

Let cool in the sauce pan.  The sauce will thicken as it cools. You can either serve while warm or refrigerate.

I'm really happy with this recipe.  You can taste the slight orange background but it's very mild.  Perfect amount of sweetness/tartness.  Just delish. 

Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

1 C orange juice
1/2 C sugar
1 bag cranberries - fresh or frozen

Heat the orange juice and 1/2 Cup sugar over medium low until the sugar has dissolved.  Add a whole bag of cranberries and cook until all the cranberries have popped.  About 15 minutes.  Turn off the heat and add up to another 1/2 Cup of sugar until you've reached your desired sweetness level.  Serve warm or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.