Holiday Traditions | Marsha’s Cranberry Sauce and Salsa

Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: November 2023 | Photograph By: Susan Renfro

Marsha Moxley

Whether you’re shaking up a batch of Cosmopolitans, or cranking open a can of jellied concoction, chances are at some point during your holiday celebration cranberries will be on the menu.  For Marsha Moxley, cranberries are both homage to tradition and a chance to create something surprising.

 A retired nurse who made her permanent home here eight years ago, Moxley’s connection to Highlands dates back to 1980 when her mother and father bought their first house on Mirror Lake.  Moxley and her family have been visiting ever since.  Today she’s often seen in town volunteering at the Visitor Center, the Community Care Clinic or at the Hudson Library, where she’s the board president.

Moxley is justifiably sentimental about the recipe she shares with us for cranberry sauce.  

She recalls that her mother first made it for her sister’s third grade class.  “She used to bring it into the class along with dixie cups and a crock pot full of paraffin wax so that the kids could safely take it home.  She would scoop the sauce from a ladle into the cups and top it with the warm wax.  

At the time, people often canned with paraffin as an alternative to ball jars,” she explained. Later she duplicated the exercise for Marsha’s 3rd class.  So pleased were the teachers with the recipe and the instruction that they repeated it annually during the holidays for the next 10 to 15 years. Eventually Moxley’s mom became known as the “cranberry lady.”

Six years ago, while visiting a friend in Asheville, Moxley was intrigued to discover a bag of fresh cranberries in the freezer.   Her friend explained that she hoarded them for times when they were out of season for her cranberry salsa recipe.  As Moxley told me, “I know it sounds weird, but this recipe is so good.  I make it in big batches, put it in jars and give it to friends as gifts or serve it with tortilla chips.  It’s always a showstopper.”

Mom’s Cranberry Sauce

With only 4 ingredients, this sauce is the essence of cranberry.  Intensely flavored and brightly granite-colored, it’s a Thanksgiving icon

Ingredients

1 12-oz bag fresh cranberries

2 cups water

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons orange zest

1-2 navel oranges, diced

Directions

Place all ingredients in a medium pot and bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook for about 20 minutes.  The cranberries will pop and break down, helping to thicken the sauce.  Transfer the sauce to a container and chill.  The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.

Cranberry Salsa

There are times when we need more zing from our cranberries, and you get that by using jalapenos. Its fresh, clean heat and the lime’s tang give the raw cranberries a new friskiness.

Ingredients

4 bags fresh cranberries

1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed

1 small Vidalia Onion

2 cups Sugar

2 oranges, zested first and then diced

1 tablespoon lime zest

1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped (Moxley advises hand-chopping so it retains its texture)

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, for at least 2 hours to allow flavors to develop.