Well, I tried. The berries were beautiful as they swelled and burst, the berry juice was a brilliant color, as was the dishwater. I got to use my very own berry-squasher, a cone-shaped colander with a wooden pestle. In the past, we’ve used my mother-in-law’s during jam-a-thons.

The process was grand.

The product, not so much.

I’ve made lowbush jellied cranberry sauce all of twice in the past, ages ago. The first time it was great, but the second time it was too thin and too bitter. The third time did not improve my record. Sigh.

I remember not really having a recipe, but studying up on lowbush cranberries vs highbush and bog cranberries (as I recall, I need less water and more sugar), and I remember cooking the liquid down to thicken it, as opposed to using pectin or gelatin. Cooking, cooking, cooking.

I’m not giving up on this batch just yet. I’m going to open the jars and try again. What have I got to lose?

Or maybe I’ll go get more berries.