Cranberry Sauce - From Bog to Table

As we were traveling the roads of Maine a couple of years ago, just driving wherever the road would take us, we saw this patch of red, and stopped to take a closer look. It was there that we met a husband and wife who operated a small cranberry farm. They had just finished harvesting large, plump cranberries from a few bogs on their land. This picture is after harvesting.

The owners of the farm, realizing that we were interested in how they processed the berries, took us inside to a room where they showed us their remarkable antique cranberry sorter. They have used it for many, many years to sort all of their berries...picking the bad berries from the batch one by one, sorting out the good into portions. They were in the process of sorting berries when we were there, the same way they have done for so very many years.

Here is another angle on the same sorter, we really appreciated their kindness in letting us take a look at this, and then we took a short tour of the rest of this old family owned and operated cranberry farm.

And here is the large bag of very large, plump cranberries, that we purchased from our new-found friends...each about twice the size of any fresh berries I've picked up from our local supermarket. They traveled well for the rest of the trip, and were put in the freezer just as you see them here in this bag as soon as we got to our home in NJ, waiting for Thanksgiving, which was only a few weeks away. They freeze well, and provided cranberry sauce for 2 Thanksgiving and 1 Christmas family gathering.

Another place we love to visit is Lancaster, PA, and when we do, we stop at a farm along the way, or visit Millers where they sell organic and natural foods...all are Amish owned. There I purchase Wildflower Honey made right there in Lancaster. This is what I use to sweeten my Cranberry Sauce, adding a unique flavor to it...and everyone seems to love it!

I can't tell you exactly how much to use, it depends upon how many berries you use, and how sour or tart the berries are. A general idea - if you use 5 cups of berries, start with 1/2 - 1 cup of honey. Add, stir, and taste, then add more if needed, until it tastes just a bit too sweet, because when the sauce cools, that tart flavor comes out more..cranberries are naturally quite sour.