Recipe: Cranberry Conserve (using apples and raisins, freeze ahead)

CRANBERRY CONSERVE

"We eat it all year round. It's great as a condiment."

1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 lb cranberries (bags are 12 oz)
Juice and zest of one lemon
Juice and zest of one orange (and some of
1 apple (like Granny Smith)
1 cup raisins (best choice - golden)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Boil the 1 1/2 cups water. Add sugar and berries and cook about fifteen minutes until all the berries have popped opened.

Add lemon juice and orange juice, zest, apple, raisins and walnuts, if using (the original recipe calls for walnuts, but I no longer use them. They change the taste and the color). Mix and cook two minutes more, take the pot of the stove and let cool.

I use Mason jars. Since I usually do this recipe in multiples, I use LOTS of jars, depending on what size I want the gifts to be. I do nothing to prepare the jars other than to make sure they've been washed clean.

Once the conserve has cooled completely, I put on the lids on and freeze them. It lasts *fabulously*. Once opened, the Cranberry Conserve needs to be refrigerated, where it lasts forever.

Source: Julie Osler, 1990's