Let’s talk cranberry sauce. Homemade is and easy, make-ahead project. Check out our Bourbon Vanilla Cranberry Sauce (a crowd pleaser) and our perfectly-spice Ginger Pear Cranberry Sauce (an interesting twist on a classic.)

Here’s the other thing about cranberry sauce: store bought is fine! Grab a can of whole berry cranberry sauce and put these tips to use to make it your own. This is less of a recipe and more of a hack. Depending on the brand of store-bought cranberry sauce, you’ll need to employ different add-ins. Most that we’ve tasted are quite sweet. The balance for sweetness and acid and spice. Be sure to heat and taste the cranberry sauce first, then put your intutive cooking skills to use here.