1. Wash berries in a strainer or colander, and place in a proper sized pot on the stove on medium heat.
2. Add all ingredients.
3. Stir pot.
4. wash outside of orange(s) because some of the outside of the peel will be used in the sauce.
5. Zest the orange peel by holding it over the pot and scraping the peel with a fork or use a potato peeler, and scrape off the thinnest possible slices an place in the pot.
6. As berries begin to start popping, set timer for 15 minutes and start timer.
7. Continue stirring occasionally.
8. When timer is done, remove from heat and pour into shallow bowl(s).
9. Set aside to cool (perhaps in a spot on the back porch secure from animals)
10. Can be served warm (not hot), or chilled in the refrigerator overnight.

This is my recipe for Thanksgiving 2012.

Vincent’s 2012 Cranberry Sauce Recipe – Single Batch

• 1 Bag of whole cranberries
• 1 cups of Orange Juice
• a handful of raisins
• 1 Medium oranges – squeezed & partially zested
• 8 to 10 Grapes of your choice
• 6 Whole Cloves
• 1 Cups of sugar
• .5 cup of Apple Cider
• 1 Washington Apple – or your apple of choice

The following recipe is for a jumbo batch. Really 3 batches together; designed for keeping some, and having some to take to other dinners or to give away.

Vincent’s 2012 Cranberry Sauce Recipe – 3 Batches

• 3 Bags of whole cranberries
• 1.5 cups of Orange Juice
• a handful of raisins – or more to taste
• 2 Medium oranges – squeezed & partially zested
• 20 Grapes of your choice
• 10 Whole Cloves
•  3 Cups of sugar
• 1 cup of Apple Cider
• 1 or 2 Washington Apples – or your apple of choice

A lot of people think this is the last year of the world – the end of all time – the end days.  But, why now?  Why in my lifetime?  I mean, I’ve been a good guy.  I’ve paid my bills on time and been a decent father to my kids, and a good mate to my – er, mate.  Couldn’t the Mayans have put the ‘end of the world as we know it’ off for maybe another couple of thousand years?  Maybe even just a few hundred years? Would it have killed them to continue the calender even if their heart wasn’t in it?  Ya know, to give us new-age earthlings a handful more of generations of carbon-based humanoid life forms.

Okay, I think I can hear someone out there saying “yea, give us some more time to destroy ourselves with nuclear holocaust.” See, and that’s just the attitude that keeps us all in despair.  I think the world’s population is on the brink of a golden era. A time of great peace and joy.  A season of prosperity unlike any other in recent, or even distant history.  “Let the sun shine in!  Open up your heart and let the sun shine in – sing along with the fifth Dimension!” , isn’t that how the song goes?  Something like that anyway.  I always had mixed feeling about that song, but I’m diggin’ it more now than ever before, because it is so uplifting!

That’s what we need more of in the world.  We need positive expression.  We need to release our inner happiness to the world.  What’s that you say?  Maybe there isn’t a whole lot of ‘positive’ to go around these days? Well, I think there is.  I believe we just need to express it more openly, and more often.  If everyone would turn off the damn TV - stop listening to the hate mongers on the news, and begin interacting with their fellow man/woman, I believe the true joy within us will become so evident that it will be undeniably overwhelming!  If we all start tuning out the television’s negative message of gloom and doom, and tune into our family and friends and neighbors, we will see that we are a much happier civilization than we are told by the media.

Maybe the Mayans just got fed up with the work involved making that calendar, and decided to rejoice in the beauty of the day.  Bathe in the wonderment of the ‘now’, and let distant future generations wake up, and realize that they need to do the same.  Maybe “happy is what happy does.” Maybe 2012 is the new beginning we all have needed – it just took the ancients to open our eyes to the joyful life we all should be living! Anyway, that’s my ’2012 new years wish’ to the world.  Keep lettin’ that sun shine on in…