The Amaretto Cranberry Sauce that we serve to accompany our traditional turkey dinner is always a big hit. Several partons have inquired about it and requested the recipe.

I listen to Melinda Lee (the cooking lady) on KNX-1070 AM on the weekends. www.melindalee.com I got this wonderful and easy Cranberry Sauce recipe from Melinda.

So, by popular demand, I have decided to post it on our web site. Cranberry's are not just for Thanksgiving. It would be great included as a side dish for your Christmas dinner as well.

AMARETTO CRANBERRY SAUCE

Makes about 1 quart

2 cups, sugar

1/8 teaspoon, salt

1 cup, water

4 cups (one full pound - read the label!) raw cranberries

1/3 cup, orange marmalade

juice of 2 lemons

1/2 cup, blanched whole almonds (or substitute slivered almonds, instead of whole, but the whole ones look prettier) (See Carol's note below)

1/3 cup, Amaretto (almond-flavored liqueur)

Bring the sugar, salt and water to a boil in a saucepan. Boil this syrup for about 5 minutes. Add the (picked over, washed and dried) cranberries and cook for about 5 minutes, until most of the skins have burst (no need to wait for the them all to burst - that will detract from the best texture). Remove pan from heat, then stir in the marmalade and lemon juice.

Allow sauce to cool, then stir in the almonds and Amaretto. Chill before serving.

NOTE: Use Amaretto to your taste, or even eliminate it - or substiture another liqueur such as Grand Marnier. If the taste is too "raw" for your palate, the liqueur may be gently heated and cooled before adding to cook off some of the alcohol (do not allow liqueur to boil).

VARIATION: For a spicy Cranberry Sauce, add 1/2 teaspoon of ginger, or a slice of fresh ginger root, to the sugar mixture before boiling for 5 minutes. Then, add a diced hard pear to the sugar syrup and boil for 3 minutes more before adding cranberries. When the cranberries hae mostly burst (instead of adding the marmalade and almonds), stir in the juice and grated zest of one lemon and just 1/4 cup of Amaretto.

CAROL'S NOTE: I used the basic recipe (no variation) for the restaurant but I only used 1/2 of the amount of almonds (coarsly chopped) that the recipe called for. Also, after the cranberries cooked, I then gently mashed them with a potato masher just a bit, only slightly, for a smoother texture.