Basic Cranberry Sauce

I haven't in the past even given the cranberry sauce at the Thanksgiving buffet table a passing glance. This year however for Thanksgiving I wanted to have some on our menu as it is a favorite of my MIL. I found this recipe here and tried it out. It was so good and will now be a staple to our Thanksgiving dinner!

• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar $
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice (about 2 oranges) $
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 (12-ounce) package fresh cranberries
• 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick

Preparation

• Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 12 minutes or until mixture is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Discard cinnamon stick; cool completely.

Note:

Make up to two days ahead and refrigerate.

Homemade Syrup

I grew up with homemade syrup. I now can't stand store bought syrup. Homemade syrup is so good and it isn't that hard to make. The best thing about it is that it makes a lot so it will last you. This is my SIL's recipe who is a contributor to this blog. I hope she doesn't care that I shared it, I just couldn't stand knowing that all of you out there reading this blog didn't have this recipe!

4 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 TBS corn syrup
2 c. water
1 TBS vanilla
1 tsp maple

Combine everything except vanilla and maple. Bring to a boil and cover, boiling gently for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool a little, add vanilla and maple.

See not hard at all! So much better than anything you can buy!

Chocolate Syrup

Inspired by Emily's many recipe posts, I'm going to add my first recipe to the blog!

Chocolate syrup for Ice Cream. It was a sauce my Mom always made for ice cream. I don't think I ever tasted store bought chocolate sauce. How lucky, because that stuff is... well so inferior to the homemade variety. I have to try the fudge sauce Emily posted. That stuff looks good!

On to the recipe.... (sorry no yummy picture)

chocolate Sauce

2 Cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 Cup hot water
1 can sweet & condensed milk

Dissolve sugar,cocoa and water in a saucepan. Add milk and cook 8-10 minutes. Makes 1 quart. (we always make this in a double broiler.. basically a water bath cooking method. If this doesn't make sense, just do this and be careful of the heat. It will work! And you might be eating it by the spoonful.

Caramel Popcorn

One of my favorite memories from growing up is my mom making a huge batch of caramel popcorn on a Sunday evening any my family all sitting down to watch some old Disney movie together. It is a tradition that I have carried on with my kids.

This recipe is a little different from the others as it isn't an exact science...I looked and looked for microwave popcorn that is unbuttered and unsalted, but it is hard to find so I make my own. If you have a popcorn popper (what in the world are those things called) all the better. As I don't have one I just make it in a large stock pot with a lid as my mom did. you cover the bottom with oil, just enough to coat the bottom, not a ton over medium or medium/low. Place ONE popcorn kernel in the pot and put the lid on. When that kernel pops you know the oil is hot enough. I then poured in enough popcorn kernels to just cover the bottom of the pan. Do not dump them in or you will have popcorn out your ears. In order to not burn the popcorn I take hot pads and shake the pot back and forth over the burner so it doesn't sit in one place too long. It really isn't that big of deal, but is harder than the other methods.

Once the popcorn is done I place it in one big bowl or two medium bowls depending one how much I made/want

Then you need a recipe for caramel. I usually use my good old Betty Crocker recipe. The same one that I use to actually make caramels at Christmas. Here it is for all of you who need a good recipe, and it is I assure you.

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter or stick margarine
2 cups whipping (heavy) cream
3/4 cup light corn syrup

Heat all ingredients to boiling in 3 quart heavy saucepan (I have had this overflow on my burner before so I use a stock pot) over MEDIUM heat, stirring constantly. Don't be tempted to turn the burner higher because it will burn (yes I know that from experience).

I don't cook this recipe as long as it says because I want a thick caramel sauce (not as thin as an ice cream sauce recipe), not caramels. The recipe says 35 minutes, I cook it for about 20 minutes, until dropping a little bit in a bowl of cold water forms a soft ball that loses it shape when out of the water.

After your caramel is done you pour in a thin stream onto the popcorn while someone else stirs it in until it is all blended. How carmely it is depends on your taste, for me it is drenched in caramel!

It really isn't as hard as it may sound, I make it quite a bit and it gets easier the more you do it.

Hot Fudge Sauce

My mom made most things we ate growing up from scratch. Let's be honest, things from scratch are so much better than store bought (usually). Due to time however, I can't do as much from scratch as I would like (homemade bread is a rare treat at our house these days). Ice Cream toppings however I HAVE to have from scratch. Okay I don't have to have them from scratch, but I really really like them better homemade, like way better).

Another one of my go to cookbooks is Betty Crocker. I LOVE that cookbook. It has a lot of really good basics and some more daring recipes at the same time. I tried out this fudge sauce the other day when my brother and his family came over and we all went crazy for it! I mean like "have a little ice cream with your hot fudge" crazy. So good!

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cups sugar
1 TBS butter or stick margarine
1 tsp vanilla

1. Heat milk, chocolate chips and sugar to boiling in 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly; remove from heat.

1. Stir in butter and vanilla until mixture is smooth and creamy. Cool about 30 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken. Serve warm. Store remaining sauce covered in refrigerator up to 4 weeks.

Cheese Sauce to Die For

Tonight we had a less than spectacular dinner (does Dino-nuggets even count for that much?) I wanted to make something that could spruce it up a little. I made this broccoli with cheese sauce on it and it was pure HEAVEN! I was even eating the cheese sauce by itself...just thought I would share in case you haven't made it before.

Cheese Sauce:

2 TBS butter or margarine
2 TBS flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1/2 c. cheddar cheese
1 c. milk

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, ground mustard, and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; take off heat.

Gradually stir in milk. Put back on burner and heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute and then add cheese.

I poured over steamed broccoli, but it would be good over anything. I think it would even be good over macaroni for homemade macaroni and cheese.