Kick-Ass Cranberry Sauce

I know you're nostalgic for that gloopy cylinder of purple jelly that used to pass for "canned cranberries" at Thanksgiving. But for the love of all things delicious, please upgrade to homemade -- it requires little prep and about 15 minutes of cooking time.

This is a great sauce for a holiday turkey, but also any time to accompany chicken, pork tenderloin, ham and such.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1/2 cup tawny port wine**

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/2 cup tart dried cherries

1 package (12 oz.) fresh cranberries

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

**TIP: You'll be tempted to buy a cheap, huge bottle of port, thinking "it's just for cooking." But you will have A LOT left over. So buy a port that's drinkable. (The cheap, huge bottles aren't!)

Preparation

Measure your ingredients - and that's it. Don't add the almond extract until after cooking.

Cook & Serve

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Add cherries and cook 1 minute. Add cranberries and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes until cranberries pop. Stir in almond extract. Cover and chill.

If you prefer a smoother sauce, you can give this a spin in the food processor for a few pulses.

Can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for a month. Also makes a nice holiday gift in a mason jar with a bow!

A Little Backstory:

Changing holiday cooking traditions can be difficult, right? I took over cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my family and extended family years ago (I think our record one year was 26 people and 5 dogs!), changing over the old annual recipes to new favorites and more modern fare. And now I'm lucky to have the next generation in the kitchen, moving from my sous chefs to full-fledged cooks. The first time I handed over this recipe to my niece Randi Kay for Thanksgiving, I checked in to see how it was going ...

"You'll have wine leftover," I reminded her. "You can use it in a roast."

"I drank it while I was cooking," she said, "Straight from the bottle."

Some family traditions just keep rolling along.