Pick of the Season:
Cranberries
Written By Diane Forley Otsuka
print
Let's get bogged down.
Standing over a 5-gallon pot of stewing, popping, tangy-smelling cranberries is like inhaling the holidays. My husband and I are both chefs (hence the 5-gallon pot), and we disagree about the best uses of the fruit. So do my kids: Adam, 2 1/2, insists that cranberries are at their very best when they're in a jam or dried and rolled in chocolate. Olivia, 5, prefers to use them as a mosaic "ingredient" along with other favorites like marshmallows and popcorn. But we all agree on hot, mulled cranberry-apple cider.
Recipes
- Chocolate-Covered Cranberries
- Cranberry Jam
- Dried Cranberry and Maple Granola
- Hot Mulled Cranberry-Apple Cider
Fun Facts
- Ripe cranberries bounce, a property noticed in the 1800s by John "Peg Leg" Webb when, instead of carrying berries from his loft, he poured them down the steps. Only the ripest bounced to the bottom.
- John Lennon confirmed in a 1980 interview that he repeated the words "cranberry sauce" at the end of "I Am the Walrus."
About the Author
Diane Forley Otsuka was chef and owner of Verbena in New York City.
