Pineapple-Orange Cranberry Sauce

The family left Saturday morning and Carol called Saturday afternoon. The timing was not coincidental — she had been waiting until they were gone to tell me the state fair result, which she had learned by phone Friday evening. She won. The blue ribbon in the open apple butter category at the Vermont State Fair, the one she had been working toward for two years. She said the judge's notes said: exceptional depth, ideal set, complexity of flavor that rewards attention. She read me the notes three times.

I told her that Helen would have said that description applied equally well to her and that she should put it on her wall. There was a pause and then Carol laughed in the surprised way she laughs when something catches her off guard, and then she said: that is the nicest thing you have ever said to me. I told her I was working on a backlog. She laughed again and I could hear her trying not to cry, which she did not do, because Carol does not cry in phone calls. She cried in person at the memorial garden and she got it out of her system and she does not need to do it again.

The house was quiet after the family left and the state fair call. I walked through the rooms in the afternoon — the kitchen first, which still had the smell of the visit in it, the faint trace of coffee and the bacon we had made for the last-day breakfast. I checked the garden and picked the day's tomatoes and found that the summer visit had left me in good spirits rather than depleted, which has not always been the case in the years when the visit reminded me most acutely of Helen's absence. This year the visit added rather than subtracted. Teddy and Finn are becoming who they are becoming and watching it is not grief. It is the future arriving, and I have learned, at seventy-one, to receive it.

Twenty-two quarts of tomato sauce in the pantry. Six more batches to go before the season ends. The garden still producing. The state fair ribbon to Carol. The summer visit ending on the right note. I made a note in the kitchen journal: good summer.

Carol’s blue ribbon got me thinking about the pantry—twenty-two quarts of tomato sauce already on the shelves, the season not yet done, and the particular satisfaction of putting something up that rewards attention, as the judge’s notes said. I pulled out this cranberry sauce recipe not long after that call, because it is the kind of preserve that earns its place: tart and bright from the cranberries, deepened by orange, made a little unexpected by the pineapple. Carol would approve of the complexity. I made a double batch and put four jars aside to give away before the end of the year.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 12

Ingredients

12 oz (1 bag) fresh or frozen cranberries, rinsed and sorted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup crushed pineapple in juice (do not drain)
1/2 cup fresh orange juice (from about 1 large orange)
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch of salt

Instructions

Combine the base. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together the cranberries, sugar, crushed pineapple with its juice, and orange juice. Bring to a gentle boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Cook until berries burst. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10–12 minutes until the cranberries have popped and the mixture has thickened visibly. It will continue to set as it cools.
Add aromatics. Stir in the orange zest, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Reduce heat to low and cook an additional 3–5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
Test the set. Place a small spoonful on a cold plate and let it sit for 60 seconds. It should hold its shape gently and not run. If it is still loose, cook for another 2–3 minutes.
Cool and store. Remove from heat and let the sauce cool to room temperature in the pan. Transfer to clean jars or an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks, or process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes to can for pantry storage.

Nutrition (per serving)

Pineapple-Orange Cranberry Sauce — The Season Still Giving