Since it is Thanksgiving, I thought I should mention the health benefits of these tangy red berries.  They are usually available this time of year too.

The name cranberry derived from “craneberry” as the cranberry blossoms resemble the head of a crane. Wisconsin Rapids Area produces 30% of the world’s cranberries. Photo from Cranberry Blossom Festival.

I think the flowers look very much like fuchsias, except for what looks like beak here.  And the little green berries are cute.  I wonder how they taste.

Besides making sauce with them, cranberries can be a good addition to salads.  That add a slight bitterness, tangy punch, and the little pop sound when biting into them.   But I just like to mix it together with a bit of salt, chili peppers, and sugar - it is really good!

Cranberries are one of the most healthiest fruits available.  Dried cranberries are a favorite with trail mixes.  I also like them in granola bars.  It keeps the granola bar from being too boring.

The main benefits of cranberries is that it can help curb bladder infections (urinary tract).  Which I believe is much better than taking antibiotics.

Pretty bowl of cranberries.  Too bad the season is so short for harvesting them.  So get them while you can!  Photo from Naturipe Farms.

In 2005, researchers found that cranberries are also good for your teeth and gum.  This is from the University of Rochester press release on November 23, 2005:

“A team led by oral biologist Hyun (Michel) Koo, D.D.S., Ph.D., at the University of Rochester Medical Center has discovered that the same traits that make cranberry juice a powerful weapon against bladder infections also hold promise for protecting teeth against cavities. Koo found that cranberry juice acts like Teflon® for teeth, making it difficult for the bacteria that causes cavities to cling to tooth surfaces. Stickiness is everything for the microbe Streptococcus mutans, which creates most cavities by eating sugars and then excreting acids that cause dental decay.

Koo’s team also found evidence that cranberry juice disrupts the formation of the building block of plaque, known as a glucan. Like a mason using cement to build a wall brick by brick, bacteria use enzymes known as glucosyltransferases to build dental plaque piece by piece, quickly forming a gunky fortress that covers the tooth and gives bacteria a safe haven to munch on sugar, thrive, and churn out acid. Koo’s team found that cranberry juice prevents bacteria from forming plaque by inhibiting those enzymes and by stopping additional bacteria from glomming on to the ever-growing goo.”

But don’t go reaching for cranberry juice either, as the drinks are full of sugar. I would suggest taking cranberry fruit extract in pill form.

Gaia Herbs (supplier of herbal extracts and supplements) listed these nutrients found in the American Cranberry. Starting with polyphenols, anthocyanosides, proanthocyanosides, quinnic acids, catechins and a host of other antioxidants including a fair amount of Vitamin C and small amounts of Lutein, and quercitin.

Another addition to my handmade soap batch is ginger & cranberry soap. This batch also has ginger root powder and cranberry fruit extract, nature’s own antibacterial agent. After my ginger soap batch cured, it had a very nice soft ginger scent. The longer the soaps cure ( while it sits in a well ventilated room) the better it gets. The saponification happens when you add the sodium hydroxide to the oils and the mixture heats up and takes 18 to 24 hours to saponify. But it is recommended to let it completely saponify and becomes mild soap in 3 or 4 weeks.

Ingredients include: Safflower oil, Soybean oil, Olive oil, Palm oil, Avocado oil, Distilled water, Sodium Hydroxide, Ginger root powder, and cranberry extract. The color of bar is not as even out, with some streaks. No more streaks, after curing for 6 weeks. I thought the streaks might be from when I added the cranberry powder towards the end. But it is from not being completely cured. This bar is medium in texture, but gets softer after each use. Be sure to let it dry completely so you can get more uses out of it. The bubbles are nice. And it does later up well.

I have used this soap as a face bar and shaving soap. The bubbles are medium size and the scent is very light. For shaving, I find that I don’t get any more razor burns. I love that I never have to buy shaving cream again. Imagine all the chemicals found in commercial shaving creams. Basically, handmade soap is great and you can even use it as laundry soap.

These little cranberries (shown here) are really good for you. They are taken from John Cushnie’s article in the Telegraph.co.uk. He wrote about these super berry tittled, “Cranberries and blueberries: the simple superfoods”. Who would have known that cranberries also help fight cavities.

You can purchase some of my other handmade soaps from my Etsy shop: Cambree’s Etsy Shop