National Eat a Cranberry Day Date in the current year: November 23, 2024

Cranberries are a group of evergreen creeping shrubs or vines in the genus Vaccinium that grow in acidic bogs throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Their closest relatives are bilberries, blueberries, and huckleberries. The name “cranberry” derives from the German word kraanebere, which is literally translated into English as “crane berry”. Dutch and German colonists in New England named the plant so because its flowers resemble cranes.

The two most common cranberry species are Vaccinium oxycoccos (common cranberry) and Vaccinium macrocarpon (large cranberry or American cranberry). The former is widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere and cultivated in central and northern Europe, whereas the latter is native to North America and cultivated in the United States, Canada and Chile (by the way, these three countries are the world’s largest cranberry producers).

Fresh cranberries are a good source of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and manganese, which is an essential dietary mineral. Dried cranberries, however, do not contain vitamin C because it breaks down during the drying process. Raw cranberries are tart and bitter, so they are usually added to various dishes rather than eaten fresh. In the United States and Canada, cranberries are associated with Thanksgiving and Christmas because they are harvested in the fall and used to make cranberry sauce for roast turkey, as well as added to various holiday baked treats.

Like most other unofficial food days celebrated in the United States, National Eat a Cranberry Day has murky origins, but it hardly stops people from observing it. The best way to celebrate the holiday is, of course, to eat cranberries. Since these berries have a rather pungent flavor, we won’t insist that you eat them raw. There are many ways to enjoy cranberries and make the most of their health benefits without subjecting yourself to their tartness.

You can incorporate cranberries into various baked treats, make a smoothie from cranberries and other ingredients that will balance out their tartness, use cranberries in a delicious sauce or marinade, make cranberry jam, add sun-dried cranberries to your yogurt or oatmeal, enjoy trail mix or other snacks with dried cranberries, drink cranberry juice or a cocktail that includes it (a great excuse to have a couple of Cosmopolitans for brunch, by the way).

You also can celebrate National Eat a Cranberry Day by learning interesting facts about cranberries, sharing your favorite recipes that call for fresh or dried cranberries, and spreading the word about the holiday on social media with the hashtags #EatACranberryDay and #NationalEatACranberryDay. Hopefully it will encourage your friends to get into festive mood by enjoying cranberries.