For many people cranberries are just a vehicle for helping manage dry turkey and as such are just eaten once a year: on Thanksgiving, mixed in with mashed potatoes, turkey and gravy. The reality is there are so many ways to enjoy cranberries! It's time to give these ruby colored gems another look, after all Massachusetts was born with cranberry bogs, making cranberries the official state berry, They're full of antioxidants, with the highest level of phenols, and lend themselves to many uses. Explore the many ways here to enjoy this delicious, locally grown fruit.

CRANBERRY APPLESAUCE

You know what kids love? Applesauce. How about brightening it while adding a richer hues AND upping the vitamin C and K content: cranberry applesauce. Yes, please, we say!

CRANBERRIES WITH YOGURT AND GRANOLA

Serve these ruby gems for breakfast with yogurt and granola. Dollop your cranberry sauce onto yogurt, sprinkle with granola and top with your favorite nut for a quick breakfast. Good on-the-go too!

cranberry Pumpkin Nut muffins

Enjoy cranberries in this quick, easy and seasonal (pumpkin too!) recipe for a yummy, not too sweet muffin perfect for breakfast, lunch or snacking.

CRANBERRY AND SAGE SHRUB

A shrub is a sweetened vinegar-based syrup, also sometimes referred to as a "drinking vinegar." It can be served in a variety ways. You can drink shrubs straight, mixed with club soda or in cocktails. Here's a recipe for a crackin' cranberry sage shrub. To make a delicious cranberry shrub cocktail, try this:

• Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full of ice.
• Add 3/4 ounces of shrub and 2 ounces of bourbon, along with 1 teaspoon maple syrup and three drops of a favorite cocktail bitters.
• Shake until well-chilled, then pour in a cold glass.
• Garnish with leftover cranberries skewed on a toothpick or a strip of orange zest.

CRANBERRY salsa

Mix up your salsa game with this recipe for cranberry salsa. Serve it with chips; on top of fish tacos; with crackers and cream cheese; you might even consider substituting it for the cranberry sauce you usually serve at Thanksgiving.

CRANBERRY Plum green smoothie

Smoothies are a great way to start the day, but if you're like us you find yourself making the same strawberry-banana smoothie over and over and over again. Break out of your smoothie rut with this recipe for cranberry plum green smoothie.

Chocolate cranberry cake with chocolate icing

How amazing does that look? Don't you need a tall glass of milk just from looking at that cake? Here's the recipe. Grab your apron and preheat the oven. It's cake o'clock.