AMAZING Cranberry Jello Salad Recipe - The perfect Holiday Side Dish (2024)

FAQs

What are the two types of cranberry sauce? ›

Cranberry sauce can be served either as a gooey liquid or as a solid jelly. The jellied version is solid enough to retain the shape of the container in which it's placed whereas the sauce version is much more fluid. The difference between the fluid sauce and the jelly versions comes down to pectin.

Adding a teaspoon or two of fresh lemon or orange zest, a tablespoon of chopped candied peel, or even a splash of juice to your canned sauce will brighten flavors and bring in some homemade flavor.

Glittery, ruby red cranberry sauce is an essential part of any Thanksgiving meal. Not only does its color shine among the browns and beiges of side dishes like stuffing and mashed potatoes, but its sweet-tart flavor offsets the richness of roasted turkey, macaroni and cheese, and buttery yams.

Cranberries have been consumed at Thanksgiving dinners since the first feast prepared by the Pilgrim Fathers. Their Christmas casting was a later add-on. Ocean Spray is synonymous with the fruit.

The major variation you're likely to come across is "whole berry" versus "jellied." The only difference between them is that the jellied sauce is cooked until the berries have completely broken down. They both slide out of the can as a wobbly red cylinder.

Nutritional Facts Face-Off

The homemade cranberry sauce has nearly half the calories, carbohydrates, and sugars compared to the store brand. It also has more fiber as well as potassium!

One possibility is that you may not have used enough sugar: Sugar helps the sauce firm up, so be sure to use the full amount called for in a recipe. Another possibility is that the cranberries need to boil for longer, releasing their pectin and ensuring a jelly consistency.

Serve warm, room temperature, or chilled. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

Health Benefits

Cranberries are also rich in vitamin C and fiber, as well as the metabolism-boosting mineral manganese. And yes, you reap all these benefits whether the cranberry sauce on your holiday table is homemade or canned, jellied or whole-berry.

When it comes to dessert at the first Thanksgiving celebration, there's no documented evidence of what the pilgrims and Native Americans may have had (if anything). But it's pretty clear they did not have pumpkin pie or any pie for that matter. The colonists lacked wheat flour and butter necessary for making pie crust.

What is white Thanksgiving? ›

Another definition of a White Thanksgiving can mean the presence of snow cover on the ground (with or without snowfall that day). Only 4% of Thanksgivings in Grand Junction's recorded history have seen measurable snow on the ground. Only 5 days had an inch or more of snow on the ground on Thanksgiving Day.

Purple sweetpotatoes are high in beneficial phytochemical nutrients called anthocyanins. ARS and North Carolina State University researchers found a way to preserve anthocyanin content during processing into juice or natural colorants.

Cranberry side effects

Kidney stones are commonly made of calcium oxalate. Cranberries contain high levels of oxalate. Also, those who take blood thinners should limit their consumption of cranberries due to their amount of vitamin K, which can interfere with the medication.

Native Americans used cranberries in a variety of foods, the most popular being pemmican, a high-protein combination of crushed cranberries, dried deer meat, and melted fat. They also used it as a medicine to treat arrow wounds and as a dye for rugs and blankets.

No, although they contain the same main ingredient, cranberry sauce and cranberry jam are different. Cranberry sauce is usually not as thick and does not contain as much sugar as cranberry jam. Jam usually has a more spreadable consistency and is eaten with bread or used to fill cookies or tarts.

Best Whole Berry: Ocean Spray Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce

For those who prefer a whole berry sauce, Ocean Spray was the clear winner. Not only did editors love it for the freshness, texture, and flavor, but several also noted that it was the most visually appealing of the bunch.

Types & Varieties of Cranberries

There are more than 100 cranberry varieties including Alfredo Compact, Baily Compact, Ben Lear, Bergman, Compactum, Crowley, Early Black, Howes, McFarlin, Pilgrim, Redwing, Searles, Stevens, and Wentworth.

When it comes to choosing between canned and fresh cranberry sauce, taste and nutrition are often key factors. Let's break down the differences: Taste: Fresh cranberry sauce typically has a brighter, more tart flavor taste, while canned sauce is often sweeter and has a more uniform texture.