Cranberries... Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!!

With the holidays right around the corner, that means a busy time for many including the 2 Prickly Pears.  We are going to take a little break during the holiday season but before we do we wanted to wish everyone the best during this time and to share one of our more popular blogs for the holiday season.

From our kitchen to yours we wish you a Merry, Christmas, Happy Holiday and Happy New Year.   May 2016 be a joyous year for everyone.

See everyone again in 2016!!!

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With Halloween over and the two biggest holidays approaching, we thought we spend a little time talking about the classics of these cooking season.  Let's start with Thanksgiving.  Over the next few weeks we will look into the true history of Thanksgiving and the foods that are so familiar with the traditional turkey dinner.

Fresh Cranberries

Today's post is all about the cranberry.  Can you guess what cranberries have in common with blueberries and concord grapes?  The three are native fruits of North America.  And long before the settlers took over the shores of what we now know as the United States, Natives of the land used cranberries as a food source, medicine and dye.  

It's easy to imagine the first convenient food ever made was a mixture of deer meat and mashed cranberries.  It was called pemmican.  Pemmican kept for long periods of time and was great for long travels.  As for medicine, cranberries were used in poultices that would draw poison from arrow wounds. And the juice of the berry was used to dye blankets, rugs and clothing.  The Delaware Indians of New Jersey used the cranberry as a symbol of peace.

East coast people called the red berries sassamanash.  The Pequot and Leni-Lenape tribes called them ibimi. And the Algonquin tribe of Wisconsin called them atoqua. The versatile berry was introduced to the English settlers in Massachusetts, which helped stave off starvation.  The truth of the matter is that the settlers only survived with the help of the native population.

The English named cranberries after the plant's flower, which resembles the bill of the Sandhill Crane.  Crane-berry morphed into what we recognize today as the cranberry.

Flooded bog

Contrary to popular belief , cranberries do not grow in water.  They do grow in bogs that are made up of mostly of sand and clay.  Once the berries have acquired their family color, the bog is flooded with about 8 - 10 inches of water, making harvesting easier.  But it turns out that this method of harvesting actually adds health benefits to the cranberries.  It is the berries exposure to the sun that develops its nutritional value.  Cranberries are naturally high in antioxidants, as well as vitamins C, A, & E.

Cranberries float as there are chambers in the the berries.

In case you were wondering, Wisconsin is the largest grower of cranberries in the US growing more than half of the berries available, followed by Massachusetts.

More interesting facts about cranberries:

• Sailors on the days of wooden ships carried cranberries as they were loaded with vitamin C which fought against scurvy.
• Dennis, Massachusetts was the site of the first cultivation of cranberries in 1816.
• It takes one ton or more of cranberry vines to plant a bog.
• Recipes using cranberries date back to the late 1700's.
• During WWII, American troops required about 1 million pounds of dehydrated cranberries per year.
• In 1996 200 billion cranberries were harvest, about 40 for every man, woman and child on the planet.  In that same year, growers harvest 4.84 million barrels of fruit.  If the berries were set end to end they would span 1.75 million miles.
• 440 cranberries make up one pound.
• It takes 4,400 cranberries to make a gallon of juice, and there are 440,000 cranberries in a 100 lb barrel.

Now that we have a better insight into the make up of cranberries as an industry, let's talk about it's place on the Thanksgiving table. We will talk more about the history of Thanksgiving in coming posts.  For now, sufficed it say, it is safe to speculate that cranberries were cooked up and served at the first Thanksgiving.  And certainly cranberries enjoy a familiar presence on today's table.  But before we get to our recipe, lets have a short talk about canned cranberry sauce.

  

We are all well aware of the smooth, jello-like cranberry sauce that slides out of the can. There is a large population that is completely offended if the canned sauce is not on the table each year.  We respect the need for tradition.  And if canned cranberry sauce is your personal preference, then we bid you enjoy every bite of it.  If, on the other hand, you want to venture out and make your own cranberry sauce, we have a recipe for you that is easy-breezy and can be made up to a week ahead of time.  And if there are left-overs, feel free to freeze your sauce in an air tight container.

Here is the 2 Prickly Cranberry Pear Sauce.  This is also known as chutney.

Cranberry Pear Sauce (Chutney)

What you need:

3/4 cup water

1 cup sugar**

1 pear, peeled and chopped

12 oz bag of of whole cranberries ***

Zest of 1 orange

What you need to do:
In sauce pan combine sugar, water and orange zest.  Heat until sugar is dissolved.  Add cranberries and pear, bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low and cover.  Simmer chutney until the berries burst and the fruit is soft, approximately 15 minutes.  This will actually depend how chunky you like your chutney. Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

** add a bit more if you like your sauce sweeter.
*** if you can't get fresh cranberries, dried berries work just as well.  You'll likely need a bit more water in your recipe.

That's it!!  Easy, tasty, convenient and no can opener.

We know that holiday dinner can be hectic.  We wish yours to be peaceful and filled with good things to serve your family and friends.

Now, go out and make something good.