Membership Matters: Do Your Cranberries Pop?

By Peggy Jo Goodfellow, Arizona Farm Bureau Marketing Manager: Back in the days when our children were little, my husband and I used to make cooking cranberries, for our Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday feast, a family fun event. Fun…how is cooking cranberries fun? When cooking cranberries the key to when they are done is to listen for them to “pop.”  What a fun game for kids! After the first time, the kids would actually ask, “When are we going to pop cranberries and make stuff?”

That little pop is a great way to get the children interested in helping and you just might start a family tradition at your house.

Cranberries are not grown in Arizona, but are grown by farmers in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Washington and Oregon.  According to Arizona Farm Bureau’s annual Thanksgiving Dinner Price Survey, cranberry prices have remained the same for the last two years at $2.50 for the 12 oz package. In the past, cranberries were strictly a seasonal product. But today, cranberries are sold as whole cranberries, sauces, jellies and a variety of fruit drinks.

Here’s a simply yummy cranberry sauce recipe.

Cranberry Sauce

12 oz Cranberries (1 package)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup orange juice

In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cranberries and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and place sauce in a bowl. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

Editor’s note: For more information on our member benefits including our regional benefits go to Arizona Farm Bureau’s member benefits page online. Or, download the Member Benefits app to your smart phone for easy, everyday access to your benefits.

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