Ingredients

1 12 ounce bag fresh cranberries

½ cup dried cranberries

1 cup broken pecans

1 orange, zested, and 1 full orange, peeled and chopped into small pieces

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

¾ cup water

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

Method

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together cranberries of both kinds, orange zest, cinnamon, water, sugar, and maple syrup. Bring to a boil while stirring frequently. Continue to cook until the sauce has thickened and most of the berries have burst, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Serve warm, room temperature or chilled. Sauce may be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 week. It also may be frozen, then removed the day before and sit in the fridge until it softens. NOTE: If you double the recipe, don’t double the amount of water, adjust, start with 1 cup and see how it does; you might add another ¼ cup but maybe not depending on how thick you want it. It will thicken slightly when it cools.

Barbara Ballinger and Margaret Crane last co-authored, Suddenly Single after 50 Rowman & Littlefield), and blog weekly at www.lifelessonsat50plus.com.