LONDON, Ont. — For many people, Christmas turkey just wouldn't be complete without cranberry sauce.

But anyone who watches television food advertising and the tens of thousands of people who attend annual fall cranberry festivals in Bala, Ont., and Fort Langley, B.C., know there's much more to cranberries than sauce. Dried, sweetened cranberry snacks are all the rage and cranberry-based drinks are everywhere. The tart, red berries show up in baked goods, desserts, cereals, energy bars and wine.

In Canada, commercial cranberry operations are most common in the Maritimes, Ontario and British Columbia, but they also grow other places.

Murray Johnston and his wife, Wendy Hogarth, own one of only a handful of commercial cranberry farms in Ontario, just north of Bala in the Muskoka region. The farm was started by Johnston's late father in 1951 and his brother is also a cranberry farmer in Aylesford, N.S. Johnston and Hogarth have 140 hectares in all, including almost 11 hectares in cranberries.

Johnston is the horticulturalist and Hogarth looks after the retail and agri-tourism part of Johnston's Cranberry Marsh, which includes a Cranberry Store, opened in the early 1980s, and Muskoka Lakes Winery, which they began in 2001. Their annual production of cranberries ranges from 136,000 to 182,000 kilograms. About one-third of their crop is sold to visitors and small wholesalers. Another third is used in winemaking and the rest goes to other commercial retailers or processors.

Nutritionally, 250 millilitres (1 cup) of cranberry juice can supply the entire daily requirement of vitamin C and 125 millilitres (1/2 cup) of fresh cranberries has about 25 calories. They are rich in antioxidants and have been used to help treat and prevent urinary tract infections and as a preventative for cavities and gum disease.

Hogarth says if there's a cranberry recipe out there, she has probably tried it. One of her favourites is Brie topped with a mixture of cranberry sauce, Grand Marnier and orange rind and then the whole thing is wrapped in puff pastry and baked.

Her husband's favourite is still traditional cranberry sauce, which he likes with any turkey or chicken dinner and also as a condiment on turkey sandwiches. Their four sons, aged nine to 16, will all eat cranberries in one form or another.

The great thing about the berries is that they keep really well, and fresh and frozen cranberries are almost always interchangeable in recipes, Hogarth says.

"There are only two applications I know of that require fresh cranberries and that's stringing them for your Christmas tree and the old traditional cranberry-orange relish."

Because the berries are so tart, not many people eat them straight out of the bag. But they're not always cooked. Cranberries sold as snacks, for example, are made by squishing and drying the raw fruit, then adding syrup to provide moisture and sweetness.

Cranberries, which are related to blueberries, freeze really well, Hogarth says, but shouldn't be washed before they're frozen.

"They freeze as if they've been individually quick-frozen. So they're frozen solid in these little balls that are free-flowing." Because they're low in moisture, they don't freeze in a clump, the way strawberries might. "So you can scoop out what you need." They should always be washed before use.

Because pictures often show what looks like ponds filled with floating cranberries, it is a common misconception that they grow in water. Actually, the fruit grows in bogs but on vines that are above the water table during growing season.

One way of harvesting the berries -- which usually takes place from mid-September to the end of October but ran a little later this year -- is called the "dry rake method" and doesn't involve flooding the bogs. The most common method of picking is called "beating," in which a machine with a water wheel and balloon tires is driven over the flooded beds and beats the berries off the vines. The berries float to the surface of the water and are gathered in with booms.

Johnston uses the "wet rake method," in which the beds are flooded so the berry vines will float toward the surface. A mechanical picker then combs the berries off the vines and they are loaded into wooden bins or "boats." Any attached greenery is removed in the packing house, where the berries are then graded and packaged.

The bogs are also flooded two other times during the year in the first cold days of winter to form a layer of ice over the vines to prevent winter-kill and in the early days of spring to prevent frost damage.

Here are some facts about cranberries:

• Cranberries are native to North America and have a long history here.
• Cranberries were first commercially produced in Massachusetts in the 1800s.
• Because of their high vitamin C content, barrels of cranberries were often carried on ships to help prevent scurvy among the crews. They're even mentioned in "Moby Dick."
• Good cranberries will bounce and this led to the development of the type of sorter still used at Johnston's Cranberry Marsh in Bala, Ont. The berries are put in a hopper at the top of the mill and fall down over a ladder-like arrangement of seven boards. The good cranberries bounce over the boards and the bad ones just fall through. Optical sorters have also been developed.
• Another variety of cranberries -- highbush cranberries -- grow on a shrub native to much of Canada. Although used in landscaping and reclamation projects, the shrub is not commonly grown for its fruit. But First Nations people and early settlers used many parts of highbush cranberry plants for both food and medicine. The berries were eaten fresh or made into pemmican and also were used for ink and as a dye for clothing. The bark and leaves, which contain a bitter-tasting chemical, were boiled into teas and used as sedatives and pain relievers.

Cranberries give zip to crisp and give meatballs a whole new flavour

Cranberries, with their tart flavour and jewel-like appearance, can feature in countless dishes, whether sweet or savoury. Here are a few samples that are sure to get your taste buds salivating.

Apple-Cranberry Crisp

Cranberries add extra zip to a traditional crisp recipe. It can be served as is or with frozen vanilla yogurt, ice cream or lightly whipped cream.

• 8 apples (about 1.5 kg/3 lb)
• 250 ml (1 cup) cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour or 50 ml (1/4 cup) each of all-purpose and whole-wheat flour
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) large-flake rolled oats
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) packed brown sugar
• 25 to 50 ml (2 to 4 tbsp) finely minced candied ginger (optional)
• 2 ml (1/2 tsp) each ground cardamom and cinnamon
• 75 ml (1/3 cup) butter, cut into chunks.

Peel and core apples; slice into thin wedges. In a large bowl, stir together apples and cranberries. Turn into a 2.5-l (11-by-9-inch) baking dish.

In a bowl, stir together flour, rolled oats, sugar, ginger, if using, cardamom and cinnamon. Using fingers, work in butter until pea-size crumbs form. Sprinkle over fruit.

Bake in a 180 C (350 F) oven until bubbling around edges, topping is set and deep golden brown, about 1 hour. Check crisp after 45 minutes. If topping is becoming too dark, cover loosely with foil. Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Source: Foodland Ontario

Cranberries Jubilee

Impress your guests with this dramatic dessert, which combines the complementary flavours of cranberry and orange.

• 250 ml (1 cup) orange juice
• 175 ml (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 500 ml (2 cups) fresh or frozen cranberries
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) orange liqueur
• 50 ml (1/4 cup) brandy

In a saucepan, heat together orange juice and sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil for 5 minutes.

Add cranberries; return to boil and boil for 5 minutes or until cranberries burst. Remove from heat and stir in orange liqueur. Pour into heatproof serving dish (or chafing dish).

Heat brandy. Using long match and averting face, ignite brandy and carefully pour over cranberry mixture. Stir to blend. Spoon immediately over ice cream in serving dishes.

Source: Foodland Ontario.

Cranberry-Glazed Meatballs

Everyone knows cranberries go well with turkey and chicken. But this cranberry sauce gives meatballs a whole new personality.

• 375 g (3/4 lb) ground beef
• 250 g (1/2 lb) ground pork
• 175 ml (3/4 cup) breadcrumbs
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 ml (1/2 tsp) salt
• 2 ml (1/2 tsp) ground ginger
• 1 ml (1/4 tsp) pepper
• 1 egg
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) cranberry sauce

Sauce

• 500 ml (2 cups) cranberry sauce
• 45 ml (3 tbsp) vinegar
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) brown sugar
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) prepared mustard
• 10 ml (2 tsp) Worcestershire sauce
• 1 drop Tabasco sauce

Preheat oven to 200 C (400 F).

Combine meatball ingredients, shape into meatballs and bake in a shallow pan for 10 to 12 minutes, turning once. Remove from oven, then reduce heat to 180 C (350 F).

While meatballs are cooking, combine sauce ingredients in a saucepan and heat.

Transfer meatballs to a casserole dish. Pour sauce over meatballs and bake in a 180 C (350 F) oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Source: Wendy Hogarth, www.cranberry.ca.

Cranberry Orange Relish

Nothing beats the taste of cranberry sauce with roast turkey or chicken and it's just as good on cold turkey sandwiches.

• 1 l (4 cups) fresh (not frozen) cranberries
• 2 oranges, quartered
• 500 ml (2 cups) sugar

Rinse cranberries, then put them through a food chopper, food processor or blender with a medium coarse blade. Put in a bowl and set aside.

Put oranges, including skin and pulp, through food chopper, processor or blender. Mix cranberries and oranges together. Add sugar and continue mixing. No cooking is required. This will keep well in a refrigerator for several weeks or it may be frozen easily.

Source: Wendy Hogarth, www.cranberry.ca.