While most people look forward to Thanksgiving for the turkey, the mashed potatoes or the pie, my favorite thing about turkey day is… the cranberries. I seriously cannot get enough. Every year, I buy approximately one billion bags of cranberries to freeze and make lots and lots of cranberry sauce. And then eat it all. Sometimes by itself, and sometimes with rolls (my family calls this a cranberry sandwich, but I think it’s jam-like enough that it isn’t weird at all).

I do occasionally like to try new things, though, so this week I thought I’d try adding some pears to ye old cranberry sauce.

It was a good call.

If you’ve never made cranberries before, you absolutely must try it. It’s ridiculously easy and 900 times better than that canned stuff (although I won’t turn that down, either — I must be desperately in need of antioxidants or something).

This version is not a lot different than my basic cranberry sauce, but the pears and cinnamon do add a little extra oomph. Still, if you’re looking for a different way to add cranberries to your Thanksgiving table, try cranberry-apple fluff, cranberry upside-down cake or apple-cranberry pie.

Cran-peary sauce (I know, lame. Makes about 2 1/2 cups)
1 bag cranberries (fresh or frozen — do not dethaw if frozen)
1-2 Bartlett pears
1 cup water (use a tiny bit less if you want your cranberry sauce to be thicker than mine)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Rinse and pick through the cranberries. Rinse and chop the pear(s) into small pieces.

Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally until sugar is dissolved into water. Stir in cranberries and pear pieces and turn heat to high to bring the mixture to a boil.

Once mixture boils, reduce heat to medium-low and allow mixture to simmer for about 10 minutes (or until it looks like all the berries have popped). Stir sauce and remove from heat to cool.

Once cranberry sauce is at or near room temperature, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve!