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.

Brining a Turkey

My parents gave me a coupon for a free turkey. Since I never have a chance to make a turkey when it doesn't matter, I decided that I wanted to try a new turkey cooking procedure. I wanted to attempt to brine a turkey. My SIL Amy gave me the basics and they are as follows

1 c. salt
2 gallons of water

That is it...easy huh? She added some dried basil and oregano to hers and she mentioned that if you are brining a chicken you should also add 1/2 c. of sugar.

The trick is finding a pot big enough to cover your turkey in the brine. I have seen it where people used a huge cooler with ice in it (you have to keep the turkey cold. At least at refrigerator temperature). I decided to use my sink and kept ice in it. It was a lot more work than some methods because I had to be around it and adding ice all day...lame.

It is recommended that you brine your turkey at lease 6 hours and max of 12 (although I have heard of longer). I actually brined my turkey for 4 hours since that is all I had.

The purpose of brining a turkey is to allow it to keep is juices while cooking. Nobody likes a dry turkey right? Well, even with only brining it 4 hours there was a huge difference. I have been thinking about getting a small turkey (my original turkey was 13 lbs) and trying different methods out. I would love to try deep fry a turkey (so good!) or brine one for the full amount of time. Good luck! Let me know if you try this and how it turns out!