Cranberries offer a lot of Vitamin C
Christine Michael
| Special to The News-Messenger
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USA TODAY
Thanksgiving dinner wouldn’t be complete without a side dish of cranberries. Whether we open a can of jellied cranberry sauce or make our own, this is a generational dining tradition around the world.
The U.S. provides over 814 million pounds of the seasonal fruit annually for domestic use and export, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Cranberries are commercially produced in special areas of the northern United States and southern Canadian provinces.
Those special areas are called bogs and marshes that consist of acidic peat soil, an adequate water supply and a growing season from April to November. Harvest occurs in November and the tart berries can be sold as fresh, frozen or juiced.
There are four major groups of cranberries — American, European, Mountain and Highbush. The American cranberry (vaccinium macrocarpon) is the most common variety used for juice and sold as fresh berries. Highbush is mostly used for jelly, jams and sauces.
The American cranberrybush (viburnum trilobum) is the most desirable variety of the American cranberry group. It is high in vitamin C.
Cranberries grow on low-lying vines in beds layered with sand, peat, gravel and clay. In addition to the edible fruit, the plant makes a good ground cover.
We can grow cranberries in Ohio, but not as a commercial crop. While the plant thrives in bogs, there are only a few counties that contain bogs and marshes created by ancient glacial deposits, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Cranberries only grow well in a few Ohio counties
Those counties include Portage, Summit, Stark, Geauga, Columbiana, Champaign and Licking counties.
Back in the kitchen, you might find it expedient to open a can of jellied cranberry sauce and struggle to cut even slices, but I enjoy making sauce and watching the cranberries burst in the pan on the stove. That can be made before Thanksgiving and chill in the refrigerator.
There are scientific explanations about how a few ingredients and heat result in this delicious sauce, but we won’t address that today.
Cranberries can be used in pies, sauces, jellies, jams, preserves, puddings, dumplings, marmalades and ketchup, according to the USDA. A modern use includes beverages such as smoothies and cocktails.
Cranberry Smoothie
Ingredients
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 frozen banana
• ½ cup frozen mixed berries
• ½ cup fresh cranberries
Directions
Rinse the cranberries, removing any damaged berries.Mix water and sugar in a medium saucepan on high heat and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar.Add the cranberries to boiling mixture, cook until they burst. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until most of the cranberries have burst.Mix half a cup of chopped pecans and a pinch or two of orange zest.Let cool completely at room temperature, then transfer to a bowl to chill in the refrigerator. Note that the cranberry sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
Christine Michael is a Master Gardener with the Ohio State University Extension Offices in Sandusky and Ottawa Counties.
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