By Rachel

I made this for Christmas at my in-laws this year and it was a big hit!  I have heard multiple times that making cheesecake is really difficult, but this recipe from the Joy of Baking website was not hard, did not take that long and tasted FABULOUS!  Try it, I dare you!
Serves about 12-14 people

You will need:
For the Cranberry Swirls (and sauce for serving):
1 - 12 ounce bag of fresh or frozen cranberries 
1/2 cup  sugar
2 cups water
zest of one lemon or orange

For the Crust:
2 cups of graham crackers, finely crushed (I used blender to crush them)
2 Tbs sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

For the Cheesecake Filling:
3 - 8 ounces packages of cream cheese at room temperature 
1 cup  sugar
1 Tbs flour
4 eggs, room temperature
1 Tbs heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla

To make:
First make your cranberry sauce, you will use this for the swirls and the sauce to serve the cake with.  In a medium sized saucepan, place cranberries, sugar, and water. Then, over medium-high heat, cook the ingredients until boiling, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to medium low and gently boil the filling, stirring often to prevent the filling from burning, until it becomes thick and syrupy and reduced to about 2 cups. This takes about 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the zest, and let cool completely before using. (I am not a fan of chunks in my cheesecake so I put this sauce into the blender after it cooled a bit and pureed it until it was smooth and delicious - I highly recommend doing this to get rid of any cranberry chunks). Set the sauce in the fridge while you work on everything else. 
Now for the crust...grease a 9 inch round spring form pan and line the bottom with parchment (you don't HAVE to do this but it makes for easier clean up and serving!) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place the oven rack in the center of the oven.

In a medium sized bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.
Now for the money maker...in the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the cream and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. 

Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour half the cheesecake filling into the pan.  
Take one-half cup of the cranberry sauce you made and place spoonfuls over the cheesecake batter and then swirl gently with a knife. 
Top with the remaining cheesecake batter. Spoon another one-half cup of the cranberry filling over the cheesecake batter and swirl gently with a knife. (The extra cranberry sauce is saved to drizzle over the cake when serving). Depending on your pan, your cake make leak or drip, so either place it on a bed of foil or on a thin baking sheet and place in the oven.
Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees F  and continue to bake for another 60 to 70 minutes or until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and wobbly. Remove from oven and carefully run a knife or spatula around the inside edge of pan to loosen the cheesecake (helps prevent the surface from cracking as it cools).

Let the cake cool before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating.  This cheesecake tastes best after being refrigerated at least eight hours or overnight.  Now kick back, relax and bask in the benefits of your baking talents!     
 
I am all ready trying to get ready to host my first Thanksgiving this year and am trying to make as much as possible ahead of time so I am not freaking out on the actual day.  One of my two go-to canning books, "Complete Book of Home Preserving" had a recipe for homemade cranberry sauce, so I thought I would give it a try.  The sauce turned out so delicious, a lot sweet and a little tart.  I am so excited to use homemade sauce on Thanksgiving rather than the regular old jelly mold from a store bought can!
What you'll need:
4 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 3/4 cups water
2 cups granulated sugar
Zest of one orange
Directions:
If you are canning, follow your normal routine to prepare your jars, water bath and lids.  

In a large sauce pan, combine the cranberries and water.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Cover and continue to boil over medium heat until the skins on the cranberries burst.  Add orange zest.  
Remove from heat and cool for about 5 minutes.  Working in batches, transfer the cranberries, zest and water to your food processor or blender and puree until smooth.  

Return the mixture to the saucepan and add sugar.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Increase heat to high and boil hard until the sauce thickens to coat a cold, metal spoon.  (If you put a cold, metal spoon in the sauce the sauce should slowly fall off the spoon in large pieces/chunks - this is how you know it's thick enough).  

Save in your fridge, freeze or can the cranberry sauce.  
 

By Rachel

I made this vinaigrette to go with an Apple Walnut Salad and it was a huge hit.  It's sweet and tangy with a little kick due to the Dijon mustard.  I don't have a picture because it's just dressing and boring looking, but trust me, it is DELISH!

What you'll need:
1/4 cup cranberries
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1 Tbs white sugar
1 Tbs Dijon-style prepared mustard
1 cup vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste

What you need to do:In a food processor or blender, combine the cranberries, vinegar, onion, sugar, and mustard. Puree until smooth; gradually add oil, and season with salt and pepper.