Cranberry Mandarin Sauce

Last weekend I discovered a delicious cranberry-mandarin sauce which shall henceforth become my official holiday sauce. And honestly, I may just eat it all year long. It's that good. I made it to accompany the spiral-cut ham we served at our church Luau Dinner last Sunday, but I think it would go equally well with chicken or turkey—and I dare say it would also be a mighty fine ice cream topping. Of course, it's great straight off the spoon, too! In case you, too, would like to add this fabulous sauce to your holiday meals, here's the recipe:

1 cup brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
2 cups cranberry juice cocktail
2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate
1 can (16 oz) whole berry cranberry sauce
1/2 cup mandarin oranges (canned), drained and cut in small pieces

Mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and cloves in sauce pan. Gradually stir in cranberry juice and orange juice. Cook over medium heat until fairly thick, stirring frequently. Stir in the whole berry cranberry sauce until it dissolves. Stir in mandarin orange pieces and serve.

As a side note, we were joking about coming up with a name for this sauce by combining "cranberry" and "mandarin." We came up with Man-Berry Sauce. And the name stuck. Probably permanently. So enjoy this fabulous Man-Berry Sauce with your next holiday meal. It smells AND tastes amazing!