Thanksgiving sweet/tart

Thanksgiving will be here before we know it.

I've already been putting some things together. While the family is getting together with our middle daughter's in-laws - they are absolutely wonderful and have invited our whole family over for the meal - I have to be at work just about the time everyone is sitting down for a meal. I am sending Steve over with a few dishes, however.

In addition to roast vegetables and a salad and, everyone's favorite (except mine) green bean casserole, he'll be bringing a couple of jars of my cranberry sauce.

The first time I made it for Steve, he looked at the jar blankly and asked why I would bother..."You know they sell that, already made, in cans, right?" he asked. "Besides, will it taste the same if there aren't the lines from the can in it?"

No, it doesn't taste the same. It's better.

While it isn't as unusual as Susan Stamberg's pepto pink cranberry relish that we hear about every year on NPR, it has a subtle fall flavor that everyone seems to like.

Nutmeg makes the difference. Just a touch, but enough to make you know that it really is Fall, no matter where you are...even in sunny (or rainy, as the case may be this year) Florida. A hint of orange takes the edge off the tart cranberries as well.

This stuff goes well with vegetarian dishes as well as the things the carnivores eat on Thanksgiving. I particularly like it on mashed sweet potatoes. It also tastes really good on squash and mashed cauliflower.

I've been told it makes a groovy topping for tofu hot dogs. Frankly, I don't think anything can make a tofu dog taste good, but if anything can, this might be it.

Give this simple recipe a try and let me know what you ate it with...

Anytime Cranberry Sauce

2 packages of fresh cranberries

1 orange, juiced and the zest cut into strips

1/2 cup of raw sugar

1 tablespoon of freshly grated nutmeg

• Put all the ingredients into a pot over medium heat and simmer it until the cranberries start to pop and the sauce thickens. This will take about 20 minutes.

• Stir occasionally while you wait for it to thicken.

• Scoop the sauce into a pair of large mouth canning jars and cover tightly

• You can refrigerate this if you want to serve it cold or you can serve it at room temperature.

Vegan.