I love Holidays. I love the food, the togetherness of family and the stress too. 😉 Aaron is not happy when I try new recipes on company, whether it be family or friends. He likes me to have tried the recipe out first. Typically I agree, but I had faith in a few of the things I was trying and didn’t bother. One of those recipes was for Homemade Cranberry Sauce. I looked up some recipes on allrecipes.com and used parts of some that I found there with what was printed on my bag of fresh cranberries. The result was amazing. I can’t believe I have been eating the jellied, canned cranberry sauce my whole life! I have tried other cranberry sauces, but have never been fond of them. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is still a place in my heart for the canned cranberry with the ridges in the side from the can. 🙂 In my opinion, the canned & the homemade aren’t even comparable. That is like comparing apples to oranges. Totally different food/side dish. In fact, I had both on my plate!

The only thing I would change, might be cooking it a little longer to get it a little thicker. But, I just had some for dinner, 3 days later and it has thickened up even more.

Cranberry Sauce (Naturally Gluten-Free)

1 bag cranberries (12 oz)
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 cup OJ (I used Tropicana Kids with the added Calcium & vitamins)

1. Heat OJ and sugar in pan over medium heat until sugar dissolves.
2. Add cranberries, stir and cook until the cranberries start to pop, about 10 minutes. Cook a little longer for thicker sauce.
3. Pour into bowl and cool. Sauce will thicken as it cools.

This is a new tradition that will be served with every Holiday meal from here on out.

In addition to homemade cranberry sauce, I also made Cranberry Glazed Carrots! I think the theme of the meal was cranberry, I just forgot to tell everyone! I had also wanted to make Cranberry Cornbread to serve on the side, but I ran out of time. We will do this for Christmas with our ham for sure. The Cranberry Glazed Carrots were a wonderful compliment to the turkey, stuffing and potatoes. I actually found this recipe in my email one morning! How is that for convenient?

Cranberry Glazed Carrots

2 lbs. fresh baby carrots (I used whole carrots, chopped into rounds)
½ cup jellied canned cranberry sauce (I used Ocean Spray)
¼ cup butter or margarine
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt

Place about 1” of water in a large saucepan; add carrots. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until tender. Drain in a colander and set aside.
In the same pan mix the cranberry sauce, butter, brown sugar, lemon juice and salt. Cook on medium heat and stir until cranberry sauce is melted and mixture is smooth. Add carrots; stir to coat and continue to heat until carrots are hot. Serve immediately.
Makes 6 servings

Just for kicks, here is a picture of our turkey as it was being sliced by my brother-in-law:

It was very tender and juicy. I have to share how I have been making my turkey for the past 5 years or so.

Turkey
Orange Juice
Salt & Pepper
Butter
Poultry Seasoning
Turkey Size Oven Bag
1 TBSP Gluten-Free Flour or Flour Mix

1. Heat oven to 350. Read directions in the box for your size bird. Add 1 TBSP of GF flour to bag & shake well.
2. Get your bird ready; season rub with butter, stuff if you stuff your bird, season with salt, pepper & poultry seasoning.
3. Put bird in bag & pour about 1/4 cup of OJ over the bird.
4. Close bag & cut 6 slits in the bag to vent.
5. Place bird in oven and set timer for the amount of time for the weight of your bird. I use a digital thermometer to monitor the temp & cooking time throughout the whole roasting process.