 |
| Photo by Julie Rothe courtesy of Pixabay |
With Thanksgiving on the horizon, fresh cranberries have shown up at the supermarkets. They will be used for sauce to be served with turkey, for desserts, and for decorations. Unlike many other fruits, cranberries are native to America. The first written reference by a European to cranberries being used by Native Americans was in 1550, decades before the permanent English settlements in the New World. Historians believe that cranberries were probably part of the first Thanksgiving.
Native Americans used the berries as a dye and a food. A 1672 book describes how cranberries were used in cooking: "The Indians and English use them as mush, boyling [sic] them with sugar for sauce to eat with their meat; and it is a delicate sauce, especially with roasted mutton. Some make tarts with them as with gooseberries."
Sauces and desserts remain the primary uses of cranberries, but only about 2% of the cranberries harvested are sold fresh. The rest are commercially canned, bottled as juice, and dried.
 |
| Cranberry harvest, New Jersey, public domain USDA |
CRANBERRY TRIVIA--Scroll down for the answers
1. Which state in the US grows the most cranberries?
2. When were cranberries first canned? 1880, 1912, 1928
3. When did canned jellied cranberry logs first appear in stores? 1900, 1932, 1941
4. Which member of Mystery Lovers' Kitchen writes the Cranberry Cove Mysteries?
A selection of cranberry recipes from the MLK archives
Vicki Delany's Cranberry Orange Scones
Libby Dodd's Fresh Cranberry Relish
Peg Cochran's Cranberry Apple Cake
Maya Corrigan's Cranberry Tart
CRANBERRY TRIVIA ANSWERS
1. Though people often associate cranberries with Massachusetts, Wisconsin produces the most cranberries.
2. Cranberries were first canned in 1912.
3. Though the berries were first canned in 1912 for sauce and juice, the jellied cranberry log did not appear until 1941. That was also the year my parents got married and perhaps that explains my mother's love for that log. Though most of my family preferred made-from-scratch cranberry relish, we always had to offer the jellied log if my mother was at the table.
4. Peg Cochran is the author of the Cranberry Cove Mysteries.
What is your favorite cranberry dish?
📚
Maya Corrigan writes the Five-Ingredient Mysteries featuring café manger Val and her live-wire grandfather solving murders in a Chesapeake Bay town. The 8th book in the series, Bake Offed, comes out in November 2022. Maya lives in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. Before writing crime fiction, she taught American literature, writing, and detective fiction at Northern Virginia Community College and Georgetown University. When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, travel, trivia, cooking, and crosswords.
- Visit my website for easy recipes, mystery history and trivia, and a culinary mystery story.
- Sign up for my newsletter. One subscriber wins a free book each time I send a newsletter.
- Follow me on Facebook.
Coming Nov. 29, 2022-Pre-order now!
.jpg)
Gingerdead Man: A Holiday Cozy-Available Now!
📚
What's your favorite way to eat cranberries?
I prefer cranberries in juice form.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Dru. I love cranberry juice too.
DeleteCranberry Orange Relish with walnuts. It's a must on the holidays.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Dianne. I haven't tried adding walnuts to cranberry orange relish. It sounds good.
DeleteMy favorite has to be the dried cranberries. I eat them in my cereal at least 2-3 times a week. Last night I added them to my chef salad too.
ReplyDelete2clowns at arkansas dot net
I like dried cranberries in salad and cookies. Thanks for your comment, Kay.
DeleteRegular cranberry sauce, or a cranberry apple salad we make.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Alicia. Cranberry apple salad sounds like a winner.
DeleteWelcome today. I love cranberry sauce made from real/fresh cranberries. I love dried cranberries (dry them myself) and put them in salads etc. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Lori. I never thought of drying cranberries myself. Mostly, I freeze the fresh ones and use them for sauces.
DeleteI like cranberry juice at first couldn't stand it but now have drank it many years and got used to the taste. At Thanksgiving with turkey my hubby opens the can and gets the jelled one for me! ptclayton2 at aol.com peggy clayton
ReplyDeleteI drink a lot of cranberry juice, usually mixed with seltzer. Thanks for commenting, Peggy.
DeleteCranberries are in our household all year-round. They are delicious dry, added to cereal or any pastry. My favorite use of cranberries is Cranberry Orange Pecan Scones. So delicious, especially with a warm cuppa when reading a cozy mystery. A blessing! Thank you for sharing your writing talent with us eager readers Maya! Luis at ole dot travel
ReplyDeleteCranberry orange pecan scones! Yum!
DeleteMy mother had a fruit cake recipe that called for maraschino cherries. We all think they are gross and tried many substitutes, looking for the color and flavor blast. Fresh cranberries proved to be an excellent substitution.
ReplyDeleteI use my fresh cranberry relish daily in sandwich wraps. Hurray for freezers.
I share your opinion of maraschino cherries. Great idea to substitute cranberries. Thanks, Libby.
DeleteIn a Cosmo cocktail, of course!
ReplyDeleteCheers, Leslie!
DeleteFresh uncooked cranberry orange relish with pecans. I can't stand the canned stuff!
ReplyDeleteThat's a favorite in our family as well!
DeleteCranberry Chutney is the favorite in my family. Fresh or frozen cranberries, whole orange, Granny Smith apple and a pear, 1/3 cup honey and a few drops of orange essential oil pulsed in the food processor to a relish like finish. Best if made a few days before eating and stored in the refrigerator. YUM!
ReplyDeleteThe cranberry chutney sounds delicious. thanks for sharing the ingredients.
DeleteI like cranberry juice added to my water for flavoring. I will use cranberries sometimes in a smoothie for my husband. I am always blown away by the picture of cranberry bogs! hsdh1525@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Heather. I'm going to look for cranberry smoothie recipes.
DeleteMy favorite dish at Thanksgiving from childhood is raw cranberry relish, I add less sugar and a touch of grated fresh ginger and cinnamon - yum! My mom used a hand crank meat grinder which I have but will usually use a blender or food processor.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. I also like raw cranberry relish and will have to try adding grated ginger and cinnamon.
DeleteI love cranberry orange relish and usually make a double batch so I can leave some at home, just for me. I found a recipe for a apple pear and cranberry tart tatin that I love. I kept failing at making the healthy crust with oatmeal so I use puff pastry instead. Deana
ReplyDeleteI like to make a cranberry tart with orange zest and nuts.
ReplyDelete