Indian Trail Cranberry Sauce - and A Cranberry Jello

Did you ever buy that handy little tub of cranberry orange sauce, found in the freezer aisle?  It was called Indian Trail Cranberry Orange Sauce.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find it for a while.  What to do?  This last Thanksgiving, I decided to try to make my own.  Well, it can't be that hard, I reasoned.  To my surprise and delight, it was super easy and tasted the same (or better).

For those that don't know, this is what it looked like:

I started with five or six of those little clementine oranges, washed and cut them in pieces, and pulsed them in a food processor until roughly chopped.  Note: you can use one or two regular oranges, but I found I liked the taste of these clementines better.    

Add one bag of fresh cranberries to the food processor - just plunk them right down on top of the oranges.

Add 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar - depending on your taste buds and how sweet your darling clementines are.

Pulse until of a relish-y consistency.

Pour the mixture into a sieve and let it drain for a while. 

I then used the relish to make this Cranberry Jello Salad, fixed up from a recipe I saved years ago from the back of the Indian Trail Cranberry Sauce box.

This salad looked so pretty on the Thanksgiving table, but you could make it at any time! 

Cranberry Orange Sauce

5 or 6 clementine oranges (or you could use 1 or 2 regular oranges)
1 whole bag fresh cranberries (frozen cranberries are fine too)
1/2 to 1 cup sugar

Wash the clementines or oranges.  Cut into chunks, removing seeds and pith as necessary.  Place in food processor and chop roughly.  Add the cranberries and sugar.  Pulse until chopped.  Let the mixture drain for a while to removed some of the excess liquid (Note: I saved this liquid and it made a great drink with 7-Up and ice, or you could add something stronger if you wish...).  Refrigerate or freeze cranberry orange sauce until ready to use. 

Cranberry Orange Jello Mold

2 packages (3 ounces each) cherry gelatin
2 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup crushed pineapple (with juice)
1 package (10 ounces) Indian Trail Cranberry Orange Sauce
8 ounces Cool Whip

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir into it Indian Trail Cranberry Orange Sauce and crushed pineapple. Pour into mold, so it is about an inch thick.  Refrigerate until firm enough to add next layer, about 1/2 hour.  Meanwhile, remove about half of the remaining cranberry/orange/jello mixture.  Gently fold in the thawed Cool Whip.  Gently smooth the Cool Whip mixture into the mold, and again, refrigerate for about another half an hour.  At this time, top off the mold with the remaining jello mixture (or whatever you can fit into your mold, I had a little bit extra).  Refrigerate until time to remove from mold (at least 6 - 8 hours) and serve.