HouseCall Newsletter M-CARE Home Supermarket safari Official berry of the holiday season One of the surest signs that the holidays are approaching is the mounds of bagged cranberries that appear in the supermarket. Most people consider cranberry sauce as important as the turkey in a traditional Thanksgiving meal. For a lot of people, though, that's the extent of their cranberry experience. Because cranberries are tasty, festive, and readily available this time of year, you might want to try them out in other recipes.
Cranberries are one of only a few native North American fruits.
They grow wild in wetlands and are commercially grown in cooler, northern climates like Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts. During harvest time in the fall, many growers flood their fields and simply allow the cranberries to float to the top, as fresh ones will do. In colonial times, whalers used to rely on them to prevent scurvy during long sea voyages. The juice is said to be good for kidney and urinary tract health. Fresh cranberries freeze well, so you can stock up.