Simple Cranberry Sauce

Cranberries, these bright red berries come into season in the Autumn and start appearing in bags in the shops.  They must be an amazing sight on the bushes, the bright red making lovely splashes of colour against the wetlands where they grow.  One of the memories I always have of Christmas is helping my mum to make Christmas dinner. I was always in charge of making the cranberry sauce. As a child it made me feel I had successfully contributed to the meal. Now I am older I can see why my mum let me make it, it is so simple and easy to make that she could get on with the rest of the cooking. It is always a feat of great timing getting the Christmas dinner all ready and on the table at the same time. There are so many dishes to juggle and limited space in the oven.

Last year I made my own Cranberry Sauce and I was really pleased with how simple it was. My son helped and he was fascinated as the Cranberries popped and turned into sauce.

I have to say that home made Cranberry sauce tastes so much nicer than shop bought. It is richer in taste and complements a turkey dinner perfectly. There is also the sense of achievement that my son bought to the table, he kept asking everyone to have more as he had made it. I am planning to get him more involved this year, I think he would love to make stuffing and bread sauce. These are all things that can be made in advance and just cooked on the day.

Simple Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 225g (8 oz) fresh cranberries
• 200g (7 oz) caster sugar
• 100ml (4 fl oz) water

Method

1. Wash the cranberries and place them in a pan.
2. Add the sugar and water
3. Warm gently, as the water heats the cranberries will start to pop and turn into sauce.
4. When all the berries have burst take it off the heat and transfer to a serving dish.

Serve alongside a roast turkey dinner, with roast gammon or in sandwiches.