So around the end of November the cranberries, that were previously about 4 bucks a bag, have dropped to 99 cents a bag. At this point I gather up a bunch. They can be frozen for use another time, or you can turn them into some tasty treats that will last you through the winter.

I made two batches of cranberry tastiness in order to try out a couple different recipies.

First I made some cranberry sauce for my affected kiddos.

Dump 4   12oz bags of cranberries into your pot, making sure to pick out any that are too soft. Dump in 1/2 cup of honey or natural maple syrup,  and 2 Tbsp lemon or lime juice. Turn your stove to medium high and stir to coat the cranberries in honey and to keep the honey from burning to the bottom of the pan.

The cranberries will shortly start popping from the heat. Cook until most or all of the cranberries are popped. Then remove from heat.

Next, dump the mixture into your blender and puree.

Pour it back into your pot and return it to cooking for a few minutes or until thickened. Give it a taste to check it’s sweetness. Cranberries can be very tart, and may need some extra honey, maple syrup or monkfruit.

Once it is sweetened enough for your liking and thickened, pour it into jars for safe keeping. This can be canned or simply stored in the fridge.

Each recipe filled 4 pint jars.

Now I also happened to have a pint of raspberries in the fridge that needed using, so I figured, why not, let’s make some jam.

I started out the same. 4 bags of cranberries, plus one pint of raspberris, 2 Tbsp of lemon juice, 1/2 cup honey, or maple syrup,  or in this case I used 1/2 cup natural brown sugar.

Cook until they pop and blend.

Again, give it the good old taste test, add more sweetener if needed and cook for a bit longer to thicken.

Pour into jars for storage. Can or refrigerate.

These were a big hit with my intolerant kiddos. We went through nearly 2 jars in the first week. They spread it on pork chops and muffins and stirred it into oatmeal.