A GORP Content Partner Adapted from The Great Lakes Berry Book by Bob Krumm

Cranberry Connection Finding and Cooking Them

It seems so strange to me that I had to move away from the Great Lakes area to discover that cranberry grew in abundance in the numerous bogs of the region. I discovered cranberries in Maine, and found that they didn't have the shrub form I expected. You see, I expected a shrub much like blueberry or huckleberry, because cranberry is in the same family, Ericaceae, or the heath family. These plants tend to be shrubs; but the cranberry species that we most often pick, Vaccinium macrocarpon, which is also the domesticated species, is a low-growing, spindly vine.

It's hard to find a berry if you have the wrong image in your head as you search. I was literally stepping on cranberries until my friend, Jan White, gave me specific directions to a patch. He said "Drive down the road toward Georgetown, pull over at the black mailbox, cross over the road, walk north along the stone fence until it ends in the bog, then look down."

I followed he directions and, much to my surprise, bright red cranberries were at my feet. (Incidentally, there was water at my feet, too. Make sure to wear rubber knee-high boots when you go cranberry picking). They were as red as the ones you buy in the grocery store, and as big or bigger. Anyway, Thanksgiving 1987 was marked by cranberry treats made from wild berries.

One thing that a botanist friend, Dr. Sam Ristich, taught me was that the later in the year you pick cranberries, the sweeter they get. If you can find cranberries in December, you can eat them without sugar, particularly if you like sour treats. If a bog doesn't freeze tight, and the snow cover keeps the berries insulated, you are likely to find cranberries in the spring -- sometimes as late as when the plant blossoms! In other words, cranberries keep well.

Sharon Henry sent me some early history notes on the cranberry. She said, "When the pilgrims landed in New England, the little crimson berry- now so popular on festive days -- was a puny thing about the size of a pea, growing wild in small patches. One gusty day down Cape Cod way, the sea broke through a strip of beach and spread a level three-inch carpet of sand over the best wild cranberry bog existing in those parts. When the people beheld the havoc of the storm the feeling was bitter. But when the smothered plants finally broke through the mantle of disaster, lo and behold, the harvest of berries was multiplied four times in quantity, size, and flavor. Rough words against the elements died on the lips of the pilgrims and those who had spoken harshly of the rampant seas bestirred themselves to bring precious sand to aid in the cultivation of all cranberry bogs throughout the peninsula. So an ill wind brought riches upon its wings."

Henry continues, "Cranberry was originally called craneberry because the fruit hung from the multiple little stems or cranes, each berry by itself, and also from the appearance of the delicate little flower with its long, cluster of stamens which bear a real or fancied resemblance to the long bill of the crane. Another source said that they were called cranberries because they were a favorite food of the cranes."

Cranberries store well with normal refrigeration, but if you can't get to them for a long time, freeze them.

Identification

The same cranberry species picked by pilgrims in New England extends in a band to Minnesota. Cranberries grow throughout the northern Great Lakes region, including central Minnesota; northern portions of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio; most of Ontario; and all of Wisconsin and Michigan. They grow in bogs and wet, acid soils.

Cranberry is a low-growing, vinelike plant seldom exceeding 6 inching in height, with small entire leaves. Though the cranberry is a creeping or prostrate shrub, plants can intertwine and dominate parts of a bog. The leaves, which are evergreen, are leathery with whitish undersides.

Cranberry blossoms in June or early July. The pinkish petals curve back, sort of like a cartoon drawing of an exploded gun barrel. The male and female parts of the flower fuse together to form a "crane's bill."

Cranberries ripen in September and October but, as pointed out earlier, since berries persist through frosts, they can be picked into November or later. Berries vary in size, from half to slightly larger than commercial size. When ripe, they turn bright red.

Recipes

Cranberry Applesause

2 cups cranberries

2 cups sliced apples

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

Combine ingredients. Cover and cook slowly until the fruit is tender, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly, then beat with a wire whip until fluffy and light. Makes approximately 3 cups sauce.

--Sharon Henry, Fort Smith, Montana

Fresh Cran-orange Sauce

1/2 cup orange marmalade spreadable fruit

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup granulated sugar

4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

zest of 1 small orange, sliced into thin curls*

sugar substitute, to taste (optional)

In a medium saucepan, combine water, spreadable fruit, and sugar; bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add cranberries and bring to just below boiling; reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until berries pop and sauce thickens, 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in orange zest. Let sauce cool to room temperature, about 1.2 hour. Taste sauce; add sugar substitute if desired. Cover and chill thoroughly.

*The zest of a citrus fruit is the peel without any pith (white membrane). To remove zest from a citrus fruit, use a zester or vegetable peeler. Scrape off any remaining pith from the peel with a small sharp knife.

--Sharon Henry, Fort Smith, Montana

Cranberry Orange Apricot Bread

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup Quaker oats

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2cup oil

1/2 cup orange juice 1/3 cup water

1 tablespoon grated orange peel

3/4 cup chopped cranberries

1/2 cup finely chopped apricots

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bottom only of 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt, mixing well; set aside. Beat eggs and oil with fork or wire whisk to blend thoroughly; mix in orange juice, water, and orange peel. Add to dry ingredients and mix just until moistened. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely on a rack.

--Jeri Mazurek, Woodland, Michigan

Cranberry Cake

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup shortening

2/3 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

2 cusp cranberries

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cram sugar and shortening; add eggs and four, salt, vanilla, and baking powder alternately with milk. Fold I cranberries. Pour into greased 7 x 11-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

Serve with the following:

1 cup cream

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

Heat together until sugar dissolves and butter melts. Just before serving, pour warmed sauce over a piece of cake.

--Betty Close, Kiel, Wisconsin

Cranberry Pie

I unbaked 9-inch pie crust

Layer in crust:

1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup chopped nuts

Mix:

1 egg

1/3 cup margarine

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

Spread over cranberries. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Serve with whipped or ice cream.

--Judy Heimkes, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota

Cranberry-Orange Relish

3 cups cranberries

2 cups sugar

1 orange

Wash and sort cranberries. Grind up whole orange including peel. Add cranberries and sugar and grind thoroughly. Blend until thoroughly chopped.

This has been a Thanksgiving favorite at the Krumm household for 40 years.

--Emily Krumm, Eaton Rapids, Michigan

Hot Spiced Cranberry Drink

1 cu fresh cranberries

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon hone

3/4 cup pineapple juice

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

4 whole cloves

1 inch-long cinnamon stick dash nutmeg

In a medium-sized saucepan combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil over moderate heat. Lower heat and simmer 15 minutes. Pour through strainer and serve hot. Yield: 2 servings.

--Kathy Krumm, Jackson, Michigan

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