Thanksgiving Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

• 0.5 cups of sugar
• 0.5 cups dried cranberries
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 Navelin oranges
• 1 cup seedless red grape halves
• 1 cup seedless white grape halves
• 1 tbsp. pomegranate seeds
• 2 ripe pears, preferably Bartlett or Comice, cored and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 sweet crisp apples, such as Honeycrisp or Pink Lady, cored and cut into bite-sized pieces

Preparation:

1. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, dried cranberries, rosemary, cinnamon stick, and 1/2 cup water. Using a vegetable peeler, remove one long strip of zest from one of the oranges and add it to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar and pressing the solid ingredients into the mixture, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the syrup cool to room temperature.
2. Remove the rosemary, cinnamon, and zest from the syrup. Strain the syrup through a sieve into a small bowl; set aside. Place the cranberries in a larger bowl.
3. Peel the remaining oranges. Carefully cut the membranes to release the segments intact, and add them to the bowl with the cranberries. Add the red and white grapes, pomegranate seeds, pears, and apples and toss to combine.
4. Add half of the prepared syrup to the fruit and stir to coat completely. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour to 4 hours to allow the fruit to marinate in the syrup. Taste before serving and add more syrup if desired.