Cranberry Compote

This is so easy and tastes so good. Best to make a day in advance so it gets very cold and jellied. If you want a a clear cranberry jelly, directions are below as well.

1 bag (12 oz) whole cranberries, rinsed and sorted (pick firm, ripe ones)
3/4 cup sugar (more or less, per taste)
1 cup water
pinch of salt

After washing and sorting the cranberries, set them aside.

Place water and sugar into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil until sugar is dissolved. Add the cranberries and simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes or until about half the cranberries are popped and it feels mushy and it coats the back of a spoon. Stir a few times so they don't burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.

Taste for sweetness. If you don't want them too tart, you can add more sugar and cook until sugar is dissolved.

Remove from heat and cool on the stove. Once cool to the touch, pour into a glass bowl or a glass jar, cover and refrigerate. It will solidify as it cools. Eat hot or cold. Makes about 2 cups of cranberry sauce.

Jellied Cranberry Sauce
Follow the directions above except increase sugar  to 1 cup. Once cooked, strain through a small mesh sieve into a glass dish, pressing with a wooden spoon until all the liquid is squeezed out and all that is left are seeds and pulp.

Transfer jellied cranberries to a small jar in the refrigerator until completely cooled. Turn out on a plate (may take a little warm water to loosen the sides). You can also put it directly into a glass dish and refrigerate. Serve with a spoon. Makes about 1 cup of jellied sauce.

NOTE: if you want, you can add some orange zest to the pan when you cook it or replace some of the water with freshly squeezed orange juice. You can also add pecans (chopped), cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice to the mix. Be sure to start with only a small amount of spice since you can always add more. You want it to taste like cranberries, not spices.