The Pilgrims gave the cranberry its modern name. To them, the pink cranberry blossoms resembled heads of cranes, and craneberry later became cranberry. Cultivation began in 1816 in the town of Dennis on Cape Cod, where Captain Henry Hall noted that where beach and sand blew over the vines, the berries grew better. He transplanted some vines to his low, swampy ground, and added a layer of sand. It was so successful, he later enlarged his cranberry bog and starting shipping barrels of cranberries to New York City where he found a ready market. Later, other areas of the USA soon imitated his bog success and cranberry cultivation spread to New Jersey, Wisconsin, Washington state, and Oregon, which still remain the chief cranberry bogs in the United States.
This Better Homes and Gardens cookbook from 1971 has recipes for the use of the plump, juicy, and versatile cranberry. Cranberries can be used year round in all the seasons, plus the special season of holiday cooking. Many people think it would not be Thanksgiving without a cranberry sauce or relish. There are recipes for cranberry appetizers, meats, candies, desserts, drinks, jams, jellies, salads, soups, and pies. Look how good these cranberry stuffing balls are with a Thanksgiving turkey!
There are endless ideas for cooking and baking with cranberries. Here is an old 1930’s booklet for making cranberry sauce.
With the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, you can’t go wrong with finding great recipes for Thanksgiving and the holidays, and you can serve more than the jellied blob in the can!
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