Brandied Cranberry Sauce and Thanksgiving 2012

This year Thanksgiving dinner was all me.  Step one of dinner was to Turkey Trot - aka run 1 mile, and walk the rest.  Somehow, I can bike 100 miles, but a 5k?  Forget it.  A problem I may tackle another day.  But, I am loving the tradition of doing the Arlington Turkey Trot with friends before cooking up a literal storm (with the help of my awesome sous chefs, my parents.)

Needless to say everything was delicious.  Oven Roasted Turkey; Wild Rice Stuffing; Raw Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing, Walnuts and Pomegranates; Cauliflower Gruyere Gratin, Smashed Sweet Potatoes and Butternut Squash with Maple Syrup; Herb Riesling Gravy; Brandied Cranberry Sauce. And everything topped off with Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Pie, and Irish Coffee (thanks to brother for taking on the coffee making, I was busy sitting at that  point.)  

I was a busy girl but I truly love playing in the kitchen.  I could do that for days.  Dinner this year was me, my parents, my brother, sister-in-law, new nephew, my 'Japanese sister,' her husband, their two kids, and the Best Man from their wedding - all hanging out in the living room in my teencie apartment.  Somehow, it worked.  

I potentially will post all of the recipes I used.  Some of them I adjusted a lot, like this Cranberry Sauce.  I used probably half the sugar most recipes call for, and heard no complaints.  I merged probably 2-3 recipes, so I feel safe to call this one mine.  I love cranberry sauce.  A lot.  I like it even better fresh, with some fresh orange zest, and brandy.  I made this recipe X 3.  Because I wanted leftovers.  Lots of leftovers.  A batch of 3 served 8 for dinner with 2 large ball jars left.  As I type, only 1/4 a ball jar remain.  Tragic.  I love this in my pumpkin oatmeal in lieu of sugar.  It's the best breakfast in the world, trust me.

Ingredients
1 package fresh cranberries

1/2 C brandy

The zest and the juice of 1 orange

3/4 C sugar (more if desired - but I like tart cranberry sauce)

Directions

Rinse and sort cranberries.  Put in a crockpot with sugar, orange juice, and orange zest.  4ish hours on low or probably half that time on high.  Use a spoon to smoosh some of the cranberries.  Wait towards the end to add the brandy.  Voila!  I like serving it in a Ball jar.  It makes putting a lid on it and keeping in the fridge easy.  And it looks pretty on the table.