I said that, too, but now you can make a taste that just can't be rivaled by any canned sauce, good as it may be. Well, maybe you have a slight case in that opening a can is pretty easy, but think of the taste and the unbeatable, lively, holiday color. Of course, that doesn't mean it won't look excellent on your dinner table any time of the year.

We have other recipes on this site where we have learned how to make apple sauce, and I'll bet you thought that was a "piece of cake." Adding cranberries still makes this one of the easy apple recipes, and you have a "free hand" to add more or less sugar, add nuts, as I do, or maybe even a touch of vanilla some time.

I have tried freezing a batch in two separate containers this year...one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. I have no doubt that this will work, but I will add a few words here to let you know for sure how the idea actually works out. That way, our apple cranberry sauce could be prepared ahead of time and frozen for any "Big Day." One of our easy apple recipes could become even easier and more convenient for everyone. Talk to you again soon!

It's Thanksgiving Day, and I'm here to report that the apple cranberry sauce that I froze for today came out beautifully. It's nice and thick and sooo good, so don't worry about making some for Christmas and setting it aside in the freezer until then.

Ingredients

6 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored, and diced into small cubes

1/4 cup orange juice

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups fresh cranberries

1 cup more or less sugar, depending on your own taste

1/2 teaspoon dried ginger

1 cup roughly chopped walnuts (optional)

1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Method

• Spray a large, deep covered frypan with cooking spray.
  
  
• Put your diced apples into the prepared frypan, add orange juice and lemon juice.
  

• I covered the frypan and cooked the apples over low heat until the apples tested soft.
  

• When you uncover the pan, don't worry about the amount of liquid that has accumulated from the apples.
  

• Add the cinnamon and stir; mash this mixture with a fork or potato masher. Leave it as lumpy or smooth as you like.
  

• To this mixture, add 2 cups of water, sugar, and ginger.
  

• Before adding the cranberries, be sure to rinse and drain them in a colander and pick out any cranberries that are pink, pink with a little white, all white, or mushy. You want nicely ripened cranberries so they will "pop."
  

• Add the cranberries to the mixture in the pan, and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.
  

• Once the boil has been reached, stir constantly until the cranberries "pop" or crack open.
  

• If you feel the water is running out, add more about 1/2 cup at a time. Continue cooking until those, sometimes stubborn, cranberries are done because they release a natural pectin which will assist the sauce in becoming the correct consistency. You can add water to thin the sauce or cook down the amount of water to make a thicker sauce.
  

• If desired, you can add chopped walnuts.
  

• If desired, add the small amount of vanilla extract, for a distinctively-different flavor experience, at the very end. Vanilla extract adds the most flavor if added at the end.