Cranberry liqueur

The poor typecast cranberry never shows up except as cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving and Christmas; and I daresay most people would rather have the kind that comes in a can, as opposed to the homemade kind.

So I'm going to present a whole bunch of non-cranberry-sauce cranberry recipes, to get everyone in the mood for Christmas.

First up: cranberry liqueur.

Which is essentially a cranberry-infused vodka. Plain vodka is fine, but I had some Absolut Brooklyn on hand, which is red apple and ginger-flavored vodka. I used that as the base, because apple, ginger and cranberry will go great together.

2 cups cranberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
12 oz (about 1 2/3 cups) vodka
1-2 cinnamon sticks

In a saucepan, cook the cranberries, sugar and water until boiling, and until the cranberries get soft and start to pop. Puree that mixture in a food processor, then add to a jar with the vodka and cinnamon stick. Put a lid on the jar and put the jar in a cupboard for 2-3 weeks. Strain the vodka through a fine-mesh sieve, and then through cheesecloth. Serve. Yum.