For about 10 months of the year, cranberries never pass our lips. We neither eat them, nor speak of them. Then along comes Thanksgiving and Christmas. Cranberries as a fruit rolls onto the scene. For a little while we can't seem to get enough of them.
Cranberries are grown in bogs, and are native to North America.. They are grown in very few areas of the U.S. Cape Cod and Plymouth Rock areas of Massachusetts are where most cranberries are grown. But cranberries are also grown in New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Canada.
Very few of us have ever trudged through the bogs of New England in search of cranberries for the dinner table. If you did, you would be looking for an evergreen vine that grows low to the ground. The white or pink flowers give way to red, oval berries with a tart taste. The berries are harvested in September and October, just in time for you to use them in your favorite holiday recipes.
Cranberries have had medicinal uses, most commonly for treating urinary infections. It also is high in Vitamin C and is often eaten to help fight and avoid colds. In the 1800's American sailors ate cranberries on long voyages to prevent scurvy.
Did you know? It was unlikely that Cranberry sauce was on the menu at the first Thanksgiving. Cranberry sauce requires sugar, which was in short supply in those early days. But ,the berries were most likely there as they ripened just in time for the Thanksgiving feast.
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