saucy

Well. The holidays have come to a close. I - as you might have guessed - love to eat, and love the food that the holiday season brings. Cookies with raisins and sugar or mint and chocolate. Homemade jars of caramel corn or pickles. Turkey sticks and whoopie pies from the Lancaster farmers market. Vacation days are often filled with cooking or baking or eating, or shopping to buy food so that we can cook, bake or eat. And this year, I tried a new recipe from an aunt for cranberry sauce. It's fabulous, and you should try it. The texture is so much better than the jelly that comes in a can, and the pears add a sweetness that balances the tart cranberries. I believe that cranberry sauce can be used various other times of the year; however, if you only serve it once a year, tuck this one away in your recipe arsenal for the 2010 holidays.

• One package of fresh cranberries (about 12 oz)
• 3/4 to 1 cup water
  
• 3 -4 pears - (I used D-Anju)
  
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest
  

Cook the cranberries, water and pears over medium heat in a sauce pan for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries pop. Remove from heat and add the sugar and the orange zest. Cool to room temperature or in the refrigerator if you prefer it cold.