Common Acre Farm

Sustainably Grown Vegetables Mansfield, Ma.

Tag: preserving

Fresh Cranberry Ginger Sauce

October 9, 2026 /

Once you’ve had homemade cranberry sauce, the canned kind doesn’t stand a chance.  Although the nostalgia of the canned sauce is worth buying it!   It takes about 15 minutes, and fresh baby ginger gives it a warm, bright kick that pairs perfectly with the tart berries and orange. Make a jar now and you’ll find yourself spooning it onto everything, long before Thanksgiving.

Storage: Keep fresh cranberries in their bag in the fridge for 3–4 weeks, or freeze them right in the bag for up to a year. They go straight into recipes from frozen. For the baby ginger, see our guide Fresh Baby Ginger: How to Store, Use and Preserve It.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups · 15 minutes, plus cooling

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries (about 3 cups), which leaves about a cup from this week’s pound for the cornbread
  • 3/4 cup sugar, or 2/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated baby ginger (about a 1 1/2-inch piece)
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • A pinch of salt

Directions

  1. Put the sugar, orange juice, water, ginger and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
  2. Add the cranberries. Simmer over medium heat, stirring now and then, until most of the berries have popped, 10–12 minutes.
  3. Turn off the heat and stir in the orange zest. Mash a few berries against the side of the pot for a thicker sauce, or leave it chunky.
  4. Let it cool. It will look loose while hot but sets up as it cools.
  5. Taste and add more sugar if you like it sweeter.

Keeps: Up to 2 weeks in a jar in the fridge, or freeze it for up to 3 months.

How to use it: Spread it on a turkey or grilled cheese sandwich, swirl it into yogurt or oatmeal, spoon it over roasted squash, or serve it with Brie and crackers. It’s great alongside this week’s miso-maple kabocha, and of course on the holiday table.

Using the rest of this week’s cranberries: The remaining cup is just right for our Cranberry Ginger Cornbread.

Ginger Syrup and Candied Ginger

October 9, 2026 /

One pot gives you two pantry treats. The syrup goes in seltzer for homemade ginger ale, or in tea, cocktails or drizzled on fruit. The ginger slices left behind become chewy candied ginger, which keeps for months. Baby ginger makes the most tender candied ginger you’ll ever eat.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups syrup and 1 cup candied ginger · 1 hour, plus drying overnight

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces baby ginger
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar, plus about 1/2 cup more for coating

Directions

  1. Rinse the ginger and slice it into thin coins, about 1/8 inch thick. No peeling needed.
  2. Put the ginger and water in a pot and simmer 15 minutes to soften it.
  3. Stir in 1 1/2 cups sugar. Keep simmering gently, stirring now and then, until the ginger looks translucent and the liquid is syrupy, 25–35 minutes.
  4. Strain, saving the syrup in a jar. Let the syrup cool, then refrigerate.
  5. While the slices are still warm, toss them in the extra sugar. Spread them on a rack or parchment and let them dry overnight until they’re no longer sticky.

Storage: The syrup keeps 3–4 weeks in the fridge. The candied ginger keeps several months in an airtight jar at room temperature.

How to use them:

  • Homemade ginger ale: 2 tablespoons syrup in a glass of seltzer over ice, with a squeeze of lime.
  • Tea: Stir a spoonful of syrup into hot tea instead of honey.
  • Baking: Chop candied ginger into cookies, scones or muffins, or sprinkle it over yogurt and oatmeal.
  • Snacking: Candied ginger on its own, or dipped halfway in melted dark chocolate.

Quick Pickled Pink Baby Ginger

October 9, 2026 /

This is the sweet, tangy ginger served with sushi, and it’s far better homemade. Baby ginger is the ideal kind for it because it’s tender enough to slice paper-thin. The pink color is real, too: the pink tips of the root tint the whole jar once it meets the vinegar, with no dye needed.

Makes about 1 pint · 20 minutes, plus 1 day in the fridge

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces baby ginger
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/3 cup sugar

Directions

  1. Rinse the ginger and trim any dry ends. Slice it as thin as you can, along the length of the root. A vegetable peeler or mandoline makes paper-thin slices easy.
  2. Toss the slices with the salt in a bowl and let sit for 30 minutes. Squeeze out the liquid with your hands and pack the ginger into a clean pint jar.
  3. Heat the vinegar and sugar in a small pot, stirring, just until the sugar dissolves and it starts to simmer.
  4. Pour the hot liquid over the ginger, making sure it’s covered. Let it cool, then put the lid on.
  5. Refrigerate at least 1 day before eating. It turns pink over a few hours to a few days.

Storage: Keep it in the fridge, always use clean utensils. It keeps 2–3 months. This is a refrigerator pickle, not one for canning on the shelf.

How to use it: With sushi or rice bowls, chopped into slaws and noodle salads, on sandwiches, or on its own as a snack. A splash of the pickling liquid perks up salad dressing.

Fresh Baby Ginger: How to Store, Use and Preserve It

October 9, 2026 /

Baby ginger is ginger harvested young, before it forms the tough tan skin and stringy fibers of grocery-store ginger. It’s creamy white with pink tips, juicy and tender enough to slice thin and eat. The flavor is bright and gingery without the harsh burn. Most of the ginger in the U.S. is shipped from far away, so fresh New England ginger is a short-season treat. The green stalks and leaves are useful too: they have a lemony ginger scent that’s great in tea, broth and rice.

No peeling needed. The skin is paper-thin, so just rinse and use.

Storing it fresh

  • Root: Wrap the root loosely in a dry paper towel and keep it in a bag in the fridge. Baby ginger is juicier and more perishable than mature ginger, so use or preserve it within 2–3 weeks.  

Ways to preserve the root

  1. Freeze it whole (this farmer’s method). Rinse, dry well and freeze in a zip-top bag. When you need some, grate it straight from the freezer with a Microplane. There’s no need to thaw, and it grates into a fluffy snow that melts into tea, soups, stir-fries and dressings. It keeps for a year.
  2. Freeze it as ginger paste cubes. Chop the ginger roughly and blend with just enough water to make a paste. Spoon into an ice cube tray, about 1 tablespoon per cube, and freeze. Pop the cubes into a bag. Drop one straight into a pan or a pot of soup.
  3. Pickle it. It turns naturally pink. See the recipe Quick Pickled Pink Baby Ginger.
  4. Make syrup and candied ginger in one pot. See the recipe Ginger Syrup and Candied Ginger.

A note on safety: Don’t store fresh ginger in oil at room temperature, because that can grow bacteria that cause botulism. Freezing, pickling in vinegar and cooking in syrup are all safe ways to keep it.

Quick ideas

  • Grate it into stir-fries, dressings, soups and marinades.
  • Slice it paper-thin and add it raw to salads. Baby ginger is mild enough.
  • Add grated ginger to smoothies, oatmeal or roasted squash.
  • Steep slices for tea. See the recipe Fresh Ginger Tea.

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