Cranberry Sauce Two Ways

Oh cranberry sauce, the underrated thanksgiving side dish that sometimes feels more like obligation than a joy to eat. But it doesn't have to be that way. With a few simple additions, cranberry sauce can go from the unwanted party guest to a side that shines.

Cranberry sauce is super easy to make, and there are so many ways to flavor cranberry sauce that is about a million times better than the canned stuff. This year I made a few different kinds for thanksgiving gifts–one cranberry-orange style, and one red wine and rosemary style.

Red Wine and Rosemary Cranberry Sauce

2 cups dry red wine
2 1/2 cups sugar
24 dried Turkish apricots, roughly chopped
2 6" springs of fresh rosemary
juice from 2 meyer lemons
zest from 2 meyer lemons
1.5 lbs. fresh cranberries

Combine first 6 ingredients in large saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Mix in cranberries. Cook over medium heat until liquid is slightly reduced and berries burst, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Remove rosemary. Cool. Transfer sauce to bowl and serve, cool and refrigerate for up to a week, or can for later use. Yields 3 pints.

Orange-Cranberry Sauce

2 cups orange jucie
2 1/2 cups sugar
Zest from one navel orange
1/8 tsp. cardamom
1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg
2 4" cinnamon sticks
Insides from 1/2 vanilla bean
1 Tbs fresh grated giner
1.5 lbs. fresh cranberries

Combine first 7 ingredients in large saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Mix in cranberries. Cook over medium heat until liquid is slightly reduced and berries burst, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Remove cinnamon sticks. Cool. Transfer sauce to bowl and serve, cool and refrigerate for up to a week, or can for later use. Yields 3 pints.

Market Spice Tea Cupcakes

Does anyone else remember when vegan cupcakes took over the world? I do– it was 2006, I was living in Norfolk, VA, in an apartment that with a dining room that resembled a barn, a big ass kitchen and a porch perfect for southern evening beer drinking. I had quite a few vegan friends, and it seems like there we were, all minding our own business, living our lives, and then: BAM!!! Within the course of a few weeks we had all become masters of the vegan cupcake. There were cupcake clubs at the office. There were personalized cupcakes for everyone’s birthdays. There were 20 different kinds of vegan cupcakes at office potlucks. Sweet Abandon opened. Annie made a super cute batch with gummy sharks riding "butter cream" waves. I made Mexican hot chocolate cupcakes with sugar skulls. The small wonders were everywhere.

So congrats, Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, if your intentions were to have Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the Word (literally), well, in our little corner of the world, you succeeded. Of course, once Veganomicon came out, the cupcake craze died down a little, but I think for all of us in 2006 that used VCTOTW as a springboard for cupcakery, the sweet treats will always have a place in our hearts.

I haven’t made cupcakes in quite a long time, but walking through Market Spice Tea at the market a few days ago, I picked up a new stash of their original (orange cinnamon) tea. It’s the perfect fall tea, with orange and cinnamon and clove, you just can’t go wrong. I also had the idea it might be really good in cupcake form. So I busted out my batter splattered copy of VCTOTW and got to work modifying.

Market Spice Tea Cupcakes