Youth News: New Englander Prefers Homemade

COLLEEN CURRAN, GB Youth Board

Published: November 18, 2004

Some autumn days make me remember Thanksgiving in my hometown of New Bedford, Mass. It was always cold and chilling, but the smell of all of the foods filled me with warmth, in particular, the homemade cranberry sauce.

After living in the South for nearly 10 years, I have been disturbed to find out most of my friends just buy a 16-ounce can filled with what claims to be cranberry sauce. What is worse, most simply buy the jellied type, not even the whole berry. In any case, the wholesome goodness of homemade cranberry sauce cannot be captured in a tin can.

Firstly, real cranberry sauce is made of only sugar, water, and cranberries. How hard is that? And after it is made, it only requires refrigeration.

However, take a look at what is in canned cranberry sauce. In the whole berry type, the ingredients are cranberries, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup and water. The only difference in the jellied type is that the jellied type contains gelatin, and some different brands also do not include cranberries; rather, they use only cranberry juice concentrate. Personally, I do not even consider it to be cranberry sauce.

Homemade cranberry sauce has been around since the first Thanksgiving. When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, they discovered cranberries and used them in their first feast. Long before the arrival of the Pilgrims, the Indians had also been using cranberries. And the Indians had to know what they were doing because cranberries have been proven to maintain urinary tract health, though canned cranberry sauce does not have nearly the same nutrients that homemade does.

A lot of my friends defend their beloved jellied cranberry sauce with the fact that the can ridges allow the consumer to know where they have to cut it. My problem with that is cranberry sauce is not meant to be cut. It is meant to be eaten as a condiment, or for some people, right out of the bowl with a spoon. To cut cranberry sauce with a knife is just plain wrong.

Anyone who has ever tasted the homemade and canned knows the difference. The canned whole berry type tends to be rather watery, and the jellied has no taste whatsoever. Personally, the jellied type reminds me of cranberry Jello, and both of the canned versions have a tin taste. Why spoil a good thing? Homemade cranberry sauce is both tart and sweet at the same time, and it does not have that syrupy taste that the canned stuff does.

So this Thanksgiving, why don’t you help out your parents and make a simple cranberry sauce from scratch. It takes about 10 minutes to make and a little bit of refrigeration. After you have some homemade cranberry sauce, you will be begging your mom to have it every Thanksgiving.

Honestly though, Thanksgiving really is not all about cranberry sauce or how big the turkey is. It is about being with your family and remembering everything for which you are thankful, including a land that has nearly 1,000 cranberry farmers from whose produce you can make a lovely cranberry sauce.

Family Recipe

If you are having difficulty finding a really good cranberry sauce recipe, I have included the one that my mom has made ever since I can remember.

Ingredients:

1 bag of cranberries

1 cup of water

1 cup of sugar

1 can of mandarin oranges

Directions:

Bring the water to a boil; when boiling, add in the sugar, and allow it to dissolve. Then add in the bag of cranberries, and keep on heat until all berries are popped, usually about 10 minutes. Then add cut up mandarin oranges. Serve as is or refrigerate until ready to use.

Colleen Curran is a sophomore at Blessed Trinity High School in Roswell and attends St. Brigid Church in Alpharetta.