I know, I know--you're burnt out and super busy, stressed to the max and here I am with a recipe for homemade cranberry sauce, as if you had all the time in the world and the canned kind you've been eating your whole life isn't good enough. I get it, but still...you should make this. Trust me. First and foremost, because it's absolutely delicious and once you've experienced the deliciousness of it, you'll be hooked for life. I mean it.  It's intensely flavorful and really tastes like cranberries in a way the jellied stuff just can't compete with. I could eat it by the spoonful!

The second reason you should embark on this cranberry adventure is that it literally takes 20 minutes from start to finish and only about 2 of those minutes are hands on. Really. All you do is put cranberries, water, brown and granulated sugar and salt in a pot and boil it up until the mixture thickens. That's it. Literally, you could make this Thanksgiving morning--even doubling or tripling the recipe and emerge from it cool as a cucumber. How great would it be to show up at a Turkey Day celebration with a jar or two of this?!!

And lastly, you need to make this because I will be posting an awesome cranberry pound cake tomorrow, the central part of which, is this awesome homemade whole berry sauce. So off to the store, pick up a bag or two of fresh cranberries (or more, they last for months in the freezer) and whip up a batch of this sweet tart stuff so you'll be ready for all the Thanksgiving goodness to come!

Homemade Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce

Makes about 2 cups but can be easily doubled or tripled

Prep Time:  20 minutes

Ingredients

• 12 ounces fresh or frozen (don't thaw) cranberries
• 3/4 cup water
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

The Recipe

1.  In a heavy weight medium saucepan, combine all the ingredients and cook over medium-high heat for about 15-20 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and much of the liquid has reduced. Let the sauce cool completely, then transfer to a mason jar or an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Enjoy!

Note:  Recipe adapted from Cake Simple by Christie Matheson.