Cranberries

I have located the first of this year's Cranberries at M & S on a buy two for £4.00 offer (they are more than this per pack so there is a saving) and I have come away with six packs.   This year I wanted to get the jelly made early as I have a lot of things to do and I normally source the reduced packs.  I will still do this to make more but this is just for starters.  I have the Cranberry and Apple jelly to make, not only for Christmas but for the year.  We use a lot of this through the year in any event so I make at least a couple of batches.  So as I have said, tomorrow I have the first batch of Cranberries to get started.  I make my own Cranberry and Apple jelly for the year.  It might take me a couple of sessions but we really do use a lot of this and therefore making my own does work out quite reasonable and of course I get a lot more for my efforts.

Here is a link to the recipe and some photos of previous batches of Cranberry and apple jelly. http://tarragonnthyme.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/cranberry-and-apple-jellycranberry-curd.html

The Cranberry and apple jelly is not the only thing that is on the cards for processing for the pantry.  Earlier in the week I bought some dried cranberries to pop into my home made mincemeat and so I would very much like to be able to dry my own cranberries for the mincemeat next year and also for use in baking.  Well that's the plan.  I shall probably source reduced ones later in the season to make these as they are very useful in all sorts of dishes.

I have written about Cranberries on previous posts, but I think these ones linked here are the more relevant although there are more.

http://tarragonnthyme.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/cranberries.html


http://tarragonnthyme.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/cranbrillo-cranberry-cheese.html

However the main reason I started buying Cranberries was to make fresh Cranberry and Grand Marnier sauce for going with the Christmas dinner.  One year I had too many and rather than wasting I started playing.

So ladies if you can get hold of Cranberries local to you now is the time to start making your own Cranberry and Apple jelly.  It really is worth making as having a jar or two of this in hand is a good thing as it goes with so many things.  It also perks up leftover meats, is good with brie melted for a few minutes in a baguette in the microwave...

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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