Crazy About Cranberries

Native to New England, cranberries are most often utilized around Thanksgiving time, yet they are a versatile fruit perfect for many different recipes year-round.

In the fall on the Cape and Islands, thoughts drift to crisp autumn days, cool nights, muted foliage, and cranberries! Locals and visitors alike enjoy driving past the brightly colored bogs scattered throughout our region. Most of the bogs are part of the Ocean Spray Cranberry Cooperative, begun in 1930, which is now the nation’s premier juice blender and marketer. Considered the oldest fruit in America, cranberries are enjoying a renaissance of sorts. Wild cranberries have grown in this region for centuries, and Pilgrim women learned from the Indians how to prepare the “craneberries.”

While rummaging through an antique store, we came upon an old recipe pamphlet that Ocean Spray published in the 1940s, and we’ve printed several recipes here. Over 50 years ago, Ocean Spray gathered the recipes from various restaurants throughout the country. The jellied and whole cranberry sauces used in these recipes have been popular favorites for generations. Enjoy these luscious desserts—pies, puddings, muffins—to savor the cranberry, the perfect cultivated fruit for fall. -L.M.R.

Check out these recipes from our November 1995 issue:

Steamed Cranberry Pudding

Cranberry Spice Cake

Cranberry Muffins

Cranberry Chiffon Pie

Cranberry Crunch