Last weekend Ross and I went up to Auburn, Maine to do a little apple picking with his Mom. We went to Wallingford’s Fruit House – such a cute place! They’ve got a huge orchard, a country store, CIDER DONUTS, goats (though one did bite me), and sassy older gentlemen to drive you around on tractors. Also known as Awesomeville.

After picking 15 pounds (whoa!) of apples, we made our way into the store, on the hunt for donuts (no pictures because I wolfed it down to fast). On my hunt, I noticed a bag of local cranberries and couldn’t resist picking it up. Given an abundance of apples and cranberries I went for the safe bet – a versatile and delicious cranberry apple compote.

I was craving warm flavors so I included the usual suspects, cinnamon and allspice, but also threw in a couple of curve balls – garam masala and black pepper. These two components add plenty of flavor, and a touch of warmth without being spicy-hot. So far I’ve heated some up to serve with roast chicken and veggies, put a spoonful on top of oatmeal, and even mixed it in with some Greek yogurt. It would also be great as a cranberry sauce stand in at Thanksgiving.

Ok, come on, let’s all dive into autumn – get your apples ready!

Cranberry Apple Compote

Ingredients
5 small – medium apples (I used macs)
2 cups of fresh, raw cranberries
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. garam masala
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. black pepper
pinch salt

1.) Peel and core apples. Cut into 1/2-inch chunks. Rinse cranberries under cold water and pick out any bad ones.

2.) Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring heat to medium-high until it reaches a boil. Lower it to a simmer and cook for about 10-15 minutes. You want the cranberries to pop, but don’t want the apples to turn into apple sauce.

3.) Once cooked, serve hot, room temperature or cold. Keep in the fridge in a covered container for up to two weeks.