Clare, my girls only like the plain cranberry sauce, and they want it jellied, not whole berry and it has to be Ocean Spray.

No substitutions allowed, so I make my own Cranberry Jezebel or cranberry relish and let them have the canned stuff.

Annie

I (and everyone I cook for) grew up with the canned stuff which we like just fine. If I make it, I have to add spices or something just to distinguish it from canned sauce. And yet, it's not any better, just different.

I agree about the dressing and turkey being the main attractions. I don't actually put cranberry sauce ON anything when I'm eating. I eat it straight, and could easily do without.

I couldn't do without it! Ocean spray jellied cranberry sauce is an essential partner for the turkey and gravy and stuffing.

aptosca, I couldn't agree more. Has to be plain, has to be homemade. There will be no dried fruit, nuts, rogue other fruits, worms, leaves, or other weirdness in my sauce!!

I love the plain sauce. I always make my own. It's so easy to do. But, I really liked the sound of that other recipe a lot! I think it would be fab with ham or pork roast, etc.

I'll eat any kind. My sister serves the canned berries which are good. When I make a turkey I like the good ol' canned jelled stuff that shows the ridges of the can when it plops out into the bowl. Yup. That says Thanksgiving to me! LOL Hey, it's what I grew up with.

OTOH, if you insist on making some fancy schmancy jezebel or other delectible sauce, homemade with all the accoutrements, I'll eat it and love it!

Plain sauce here. Love the recipe from Joy of Cooking. If I have made all the rest of the menu, I don't see a reason to use the jellied stuff.

I always make the plain-Jane c-sauce. To be honest, I never eat it myself, and only a few family members do, so it ain't worth my while to go overboard making a condiment, when I'd rather splash out on the dessert. Everyone here notices that!

Always have plain Ocean Spray jellied cranberry sauce, not whole berry sauce, because that's what the family likes and I too grew up on it. I eat it as well, and love the Jezebel Sauce.

Beverly

(I always preferred the whole berry canned stuff because it's easier to eat with your fingers.)

I made plain jam this time. I love the fresh cranberry taste.

I am the only one in a large extended family that prefers the Ocean Spray canned jellied cranberry sauce. So I have some at home for leftovers it I am not having the holiday here. I even like a slice of it on a turkey sandwich.

This question really hit me. My family just about went into a full-blown revolt when I dared to make a homemade cranberry sauce. Nothing but the jellied Ocean Spray for them. For years I gave them a choice - the canned stuff and homemade (different varieties hoping one would be a hit). The homemade wasn't touched. I give up. It's three cans of jelly for me.

Plain, homemade sauce served at my house with a splash of Grand Marnier & maybe lemon zest. Or some years, I'll make cranberry-orange relish; some years I do both. Both are delicious by themselves or on a turkey sandwich.

I prefer the plain sugar/water/cranberry sauce as well but after seeing this recipe in a blog I tried it. It is sooooo good I have been eating it with a spoon and put it over curried turkey burgers last week. I think this will become a permanent part of my Thanksgiving table.

Here is a link that might be useful: cranberry chutney

Only Ocean Spray jellied for us. You can cut it into pretty little leaves and stars and other cool shapes with little cookie cutters. But its the taste, texture thing and not just the decorating aspect of it :)

I did save that wonderful recipe from the other thread, however, but it will go with something else some other time, not T-day!

I'm the only one in the whole family that likes the stuff--I always have a couple cans of the whole berry stuff in the pantry---I love with pork, turkey & have been known to top off a dish of cottage cheese for lunch anytime of the year.

Every year I try some dish with cranberries & tho the kids like it in cookies, muffins etc no one but me with eat just plain sauce,

My Mom always cooked a basic plain sauce, and everyone liked it. We were fond of it any time, not just Thanksgiving. Then one day she came home from a club meeting with the recipe for the uncooked cranberry-orange relish, and there was no turning back. We all liked it even more. It must be 35 years. Food processors didnÂt exist back then, so she made it in a blender. Sometimes she would make both kinds, but there has not been a Thanksgiving without the cranberry-orange recipe ever since. My daughter likes it so much she could eat a vat of it all by herself.

I do like the canned jellied one, though I have to eat that by myself when my husband is not around, so he does not make fun of me.

Definitely not optional for me! I nearly started WWIII one year by innocently asking where the cranberry sauce was. (note: not a good question to ask a stressed-out cook.)

I prefer the plain for Thanksgiving, and I'll even happily eat the canned of either whole or jellied. Any other meal, I'm happy to try a variation (although not one with onion or horseradish in it), but for Turkey Day, it's got to be the traditional stuff for us.

I try a new recipe every year hoping something will stick but I always have the jellied stuff as well. Almost everyone prefers the jellied in a can for some reason. I never thought about cutting it into pretty shapes, that might make it more interesting to me.

I'm eating my delicious cranberry sauce extraordinaire all by itself as I am reading the cooking forum. It is out of this world! lol

Clare:
We all like Ocean Spray. I didn't fully understand your Question ?
Do you want something different ???

You could try making a Sauce with crushed pineapples.
Cook them until soft add
some red food coloring and thicken with Cornstarch.
Lou

This brings back so many memories of all the different cranberry sauces someone introduces this time of year. We always have Oceanspray as backup, can't take a chance of disappointing anyone. This CS extrordinare sounds good to me, I've never met a cranberry sauce I didn't like, just don't forget it. I keep an opened can in the fridge to spark up chicken dishes or when I find my own cooking boring. I think I'll try this one, if I don't find the mixed dried fruits I have a few dried fruits I can chop up. Thanks for the recipe.

ONLY Ocean Spray in this house... Canned jellied or whole sauce ( even if the can is smaller now but I really HATE the fact that you can't open BOTH ends ) or fresh cranberries for me, but they have to be Ocean Spray with just sugar and water...

One year I bought an off-brand of fresh cranberries and they had so many seeds I had to toss most of it... ( ran it through a fine sieve and ended up with about a 1/2 a cup. )

Rita

Rita, I noticed the smaller can for the jellied for the first time this year! I just looks so wrong. LOL!

We don't do Thanksgiving here so our turkey dinner is at Christmas, and we like the whole berry cranberry sauce in glass jars from Sweden or Germany.
I did see some Ocean Spray here once but it's much easier to find the European made brands.

Actually the German ones we use are Wild-Preiselbeeren which are called mountain cranberries in English and are a little smaller than North American cranberries.
They taste the same to me though.

SharonCb

I like plain Ocean Spray, jellied, cut the top and bottom from the can and push it out onto a plate without damaging the pristine shape or losing the rings on the sides! I will eat the other stuff (especially Cranberry Jezebel) but nothing else will work on the Turkey Sandwich with stuffing and mayo!

Alexa

I'm with Alexa.

We're having Tropical's cranberry sauce extraordinaire tomorrow, but for leftovers, only OS jellied will do. (I like the way the 1/2 circles fit on my sandwiches, lol)

Happy day everyone!

It needs to have the ridges that only Ocean Spray cans can make. It's my favorite although I'll try most anything. Mouth already starting to drool...

For Thanksgiving dinner, it HAS to be the Ocean Spray jellied.
It HAS to have the ridges!
No cutting into fancey little leaves, etc.
And yes, I eat it ON the turkey.
It makes the turkey edible.
(I don't like turkey)
We eat the whole berry sauce, both home made and canned, with lots of other things. Pork roast, ham, chicken, etc.
Lately I've been wanting some Spiced Cranberry Orange relish, and am looking for a recipe.
But it will not be served tomorrow.

Rusty

Homemade orange/cranberry relish has been on my family's Thanksgiving table for the past 45 yrs. My mom's widowed father remarried at age 75 and my new stepgrandmother introduced it - and lots of other "exotic" foods - to our family. Some branches of the family tree resisted it, but mine embraced it immediately.

When DH & I were first married it was on our list of things to bring to the meal. We laugh every year when we remember trying to chase the berries around the cutting board with a too-dull knife in an effort to finely chop them. The year we finally got a mini food processor it was crazy easy to make!

DH's family only eats the canned jelly.

I like a whole cranberry sauce home made. I like an orange cranberry relish, but even if I have the others I have to have my Ocean Spray jellied...with the ridges showing. It goes in one of the the pressed glass relish dishes that has the divide down the middle. The one can fits perfectly sliced and cut in halves. Sometimes I'll put the whole can in this little covered white duck dish I have, since Christy doesn't eat it and I like big thick pieces of it. I eat a lot of it with each meal hot meal with the turkey, gravy and stuffing. Love the texture and perfect tang.

Mom always had the canned cranberry sauce with the ridges until about the last 10 years of her life when she would make cranberry relish which I wasn't that fond of. Normally I will eat any kind of cranberry recipe. My favorite is Kroger's Cranberry Celebration. This year I might try the Cranberries Extrodinaire since I'm usually the only one that eats much of the cranberry dish.

Rita, I agree, I hate the fact that I can't cut the bottom off of the can and just push the sauce out any more, geez.

Alexa, the cans have changed, I'll bet you'll look at your new can and see that you can't cut the bottom off, and I've already written and complained to the Ocean Spray company about a dozen times, LOL.

Annie

Wow, antiquesilver - I'll come to your house!

Annie - you can still get it out whole. Use an ice pick to stab several holes in the non-can-opener friendly end. The holes "heal" themselves and the vacuum is released! Voila! Pristine cranberry sauce in a cylinder!

Alexa

Wellllll, Rusty and Alexa, since I don't have any little kiddoes here this year to set down at the kitchen table with the mini cookie cutters, I think I'll leave mine round with ridges too. I really like it best on the turkey sandwich the next day with stuffing and turkey on white. Really, Thanksgiving is all about Friday's lunch!

LOL, Alexa, I don't even HAVE an ice pick. What the heck is an ice pick actually for, anyway, unless you are Sharon Stone making that movie.....

OK, maybe a screwdriver? It was still easier when I could just cut off the bottom.

Annie

I like it spicy, with chilis and cranberries. The Ocean Spray stuff has a certain appeal, but the texture wigs me out.

Ah - an ice pick is for chipping the big blocks into manageable sized pieces. Or for chipping the 10 lb bag you bought at the distributor that has frozen into a solid mass and you need to make individual drinks.

If you have an awl, it works just as well!

Alexa