Cranberry sauce perfection

I promise this is delicious.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I'm hosting for the fourth year in a row. I love it -- it's so much fun to prepare such a big meal (OK there are only 5 of us but that's big for me!) and not having to travel is complete bliss. I'm not the world's greatest cook -- baking is definitely more my style -- but I do have T-day down to a science.

I recently perfected my cranberry sauce recipe and highly recommend trying it -- even if it looks like mush in the photo and you swear you hate cranberries. It's super sweet and has a jam-like texture.

I'm actually tempted to try it on toast.

November cupcake: chocolate cake with cranberry cream cheese frosting

How pretty are these cupcakes?

And by pretty I clearly mean pink.

Personally, I think the cranberry is an extremely underrated as a fruit. Yes -- it is ridiculously tart on its own, but mix it with a little bit (OK a lot!) of sugar and you've got a splendid treat.

The cake batter I used is a basic chocolate cake -- and tastes just as good raw as it does baked.

But while the cake is wonderful, the frosting is the real star of the show.  You may never eat cranberries any other way.

Oh and that sugared cranberry up top?

It tastes kind of like a Sour Patch Kid.

No joke.