I make most things from scratch.  The only thing that I’ve never considered making from scratch is cranberry sauce.  I was always satisfied with my lovely congealed, ribbed, cylinder that came from the can.  That is, until now…With it being the holidays, I’m seeing so many recipes for this stuff.  From Martha Stewart to the food section in my local community paper, everyone has a recipe for fresh cranberry sauce.  Everyone, except me and I was feeling left out.

Since I’d never made it, I reviewed tons of recipes online.  After comparing a few that I thought sounded good, I settled on the recipe from SavorySweetLife.com as a blueprint and tweaked it to create something to my liking and it turned out great!

Fresh Cranberry Sauce
Makes about 2 cups

1-12oz. bag of cranberries
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup orange juice
1 oz orange liqueur, I used Grand Marnier
½ teaspoon vanilla extract.

Rinse cranberries and discard any soft or bruised berries.  Place cranberries and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan.  Cook on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until boiling and cranberries begin to break apart.  Turn heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened.  Remove from heat and allow to cool before serving.  Or, refrigerate until ready to use.