Cranberry Sauce Season is Back

Temperatures and leaves may be falling around the tri-state area, but things are certainly heating up at Project HOME with the return of Sister Mary’s Sinfully Delicious Cranberry Sauce. When Sister Mary's secret family recipe first hit shelves three years ago, it quickly became a Philadelphia favorite. And this year’s batch comes courtesy of three great partnerships.

For the third year in a row, Clement-Pappas, a national producer of cranberry juice and other food products, generously donated more than 1,000 pounds of best quality cranberries for the sauce. In addition, Clement-Pappas employees worked side by side with Project HOME staff and residents to transport the cranberries from their New Jersey-based preparation facility to Philadelphia and labeled some 3,000 jars of limited edition cranberry sauce.

Sue and John Darr, two of Project HOME’s many dedicated volunteers, again took the time to lead cooking and quality control efforts. Over the course of two days, Sue and eight Project HOME residents tirelessly handled heavy ingredients and hot equipment. John carefully managed quality control and maintained inventory logs—no small feat considering the program has grown exponentially with each passing year.  

This fall marked the beginning of a new partnership with MANNA, a renowned Philadelphia-based nonprofit that provides meals and companionship to people who are homebound due to chronic health conditions. MANNA kindly shared their state-of-the-art kitchen facilities with Project HOME residents and staff. MANNA’s Chef Eric shared tricks of the trade with the team, teaching Chef Sue and the rest of the Project HOME team how to use commercial grade braisers, cutting the production time in half.

The entire Social Enterprise team is beyond grateful to Clement-Pappas, MANNA, Sue and John Darr, and all of the volunteers who helped make this year’s batch of cranberry sauce a delicious success!

Cranberry sauce is available for purchase at:

• Metropolitan Bakery Rittenhouse Square (262 S. 19th Street)
• Pennsylvania General Store Chestnut Hill (157 W. Wyoming Avenue)
• Pennsylvania General Store Reading Terminal Market (12th & Arch Streets)
• COOK by Audrey Claire Rittenhouse Square (253 S. 20th Street)
• HOME Spun Boutique Fairmount (1523 Fairmount Avenue)
• HOME Page Café Free Library Parkway Branch (1901 Vine Street)