Getting Ready for Thanksgiving - Cranberry-Apricot Sauce

It’s safe to say that I have never been less prepared for an upcoming Thanksgiving meal. I’m not really sure why I am dragging my feet? I love the meal, I love that we gather as a family, and I really enjoy the cooking. But for some reason, I’m just kind of lollygagging around, running non-Thanksgiving related errands, enjoying the nice weather (and maybe secretly hoping that some amazing meal will appear on Thursday). The likelihood that the Thanksgiving fairies are making a stop here is slim to nil, so I did sit down and plan out a menu tonight. And, since I’d been tossing cranberries, sweet potatoes, itty bitty onions, these cool Parisian carrots, etc—the makings of all the traditional Thanksgiving sides—into my shopping cart the last couple trips to the market, I’m in pretty good shape.

Perhaps it’s that my parents fly in tonight, and I want to play with them tomorrow that I was inspired to make one of the two cranberry relishes after I put the kids down. It’s super easy (as in takes minutes), is made with minimal ingredients (which you probably have on hand) and can be made ahead (bonus). I hope you like it as much as we do.

Cranberry-Apricot Sauce
(The recipe below makes about 4 cups, enough to share with a neighbor. Feel free to halve it.)

1 cup of orange juice
1 cup of port wine
24 oz fresh cranberries (2 bags, as they’re usually 12 ounces)
1 cup sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw, but it’s not as sweet as regular sugar)
1 cup dried apricots, cut into slivers or ½” pieces

In a saucepan, heat the orange juice and port until boiling. Toss in the cranberries, apricots and sugar. Stir over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. You’ll see the cranberries pop, and the consistency thicken up as you’re stirring.

Let the sauce cool, and then store it in an air tight container in the fridge until Thanksgiving.