Thanksgiving is almost upon us. Truth be told, I am not a huge fan of roasted turkey. It’s just kind of boring, a slab of white meat on a plate? Not the worst thing in the world, but not the most exciting.

The sides on the other hand, I LOVE. Green bean casserole (make it with the canned soup and fried onions, no homemade for me), stuffing (I’ll post my ciabatta stuffing with sausage tomorrow), mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce – yes please. I grew up hating homemade cranberry sauce, until I made it for the first time last year. Um, hi. It’s delicious and so easy to make.

This stuff also smells amazing. Have you been tempted to buy some sort of seasonally frangranced candle this year? Don’t. Make this cranberry sauce and your house will smell like a sugar plum fairy exploded in your kitchen. Yep, that good.

Cranberry Sauce with Orange and Red Wine

Ingredients
1 bag cranberries
Juice and zest of 2 oranges
1/4 red wine (I used cabernet sauvignon – use whatever you have)
1/2 cup brown sugar
A few tablespoons white sugar (if needed)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1.) Combine all ingredients except for white sugar in a small pot. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer.
2.) Cook until the cranberries have popped and the sauce has thickened. I cooked mine for about 10-15 minutes.
3.) Taste the cranberry sauce and if too tart add a bit of white sugar. I added about 2 tablespoons and it was perfectly tart.

AND! The winner of the Crocheted Flower Headband is Elle from Elle Sees! Yay – Congrats Elle!