KIA Sorento Review and Inspired Recipe: Orange and Ginger Cranberry Sauce

We recently had the opportunity to drive the 2012 KIA Sorento for a week. The kids were thrilled to have something new in the driveway even if Little Dude insisted it was a van. The Dark Cherry color of the Kia Sorento that we drove is almost identical to the color of our mini-van so that is why he kept saying that!

Here is a few “Did you knows?” about the Kia Sorento …

• The Kia Sorento was Korean born but is manufactured in America at Kia’s U.S. facility in West Point, Georgia.
• Kelly Blue Book recognized Kia as the brand with the lowest total cost of ownership for 2011.
• The luxuriously appointed interior of the Kia Sorento easily accommodates seven passengers.

 What did we love? Well here it is a picture gallery … (click the picture to see the full size version)

The Kia Sorento has a push button start. This was really odd at first as we didn’t know where to put the key but after you realize the Kia fusses at you if try to leave the key in it or won’t let you lock the key in there, you feel better about using the key and push button start!

The Sirius radio control panel is a touch screen. Beth loved the touch screen as the one in our van isn’t a touch screen. It was so easy to use. While on the topic of the radio, you can change the channel on the radio from your steering wheel so no hands off the wheel to change channels when that Christmas song is annoying you! Just move to one of the other two Sirius Christmas stations!!

Now the cup holders. Cup holders are a big deal for us. Between us and the kids, the cup holders get some major use. The ones in the center console  were a great size and fit everything we tried to put in them. You can also see that you can use the  feature where you shift gears in Drive  on the center console. Seeing how we don’t drive manuals around here, we didn’t really test that out but I know my dad would love a feature like that!

All of these features are great, but the best part of the KIA Sorento is that there is enough room for seven people!  You can see the third row seat in that one picture. You do lose just about all of your trunk space but if you are hauling people and not stuff then you set. For us, we have to have a second vehicle that can hold our whole family of five as our back up plan. This is hard to find … especially when three of the five are in car seats! There is no problem fitting all of the kids in here if needed which would make this a great second vehicle for us.

I actually had someone comment on the color of the KIA while I was in the drive-thru.  The lady loved the color and asked the name.  I didn’t rightly know, but I guessed that it was some kind of a cherry or cranberry.  It being right after Thanksgiving, that got me thinking about the cranberry sauce that I make for the holidays each year.  The color is a pretty close match to the vehicle and the orange and ginger give that little touch of class and sass that I think the KIA possesses.

Orange and Ginger Cranberry Sauce

Usually, I have the time to make my cranberries from scratch.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen.  This is my very close approximation.  It’s simple, tasty, and very budget friendly.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 can whole berry cranberry sauce (not the jellied kind)
1 Tbsp orange zest
1 Tbsp orange juice
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.  Heat through until thickened slightly.  Chill completely in the refrigerator.

What are your thoughts on the 2012 Kia Sorento? Do you feel inspired by the color to try the Orange and Ginger Cranberry Sauce? Leave us a comment and let us know!

NOTE: We were provide the opportunity to test drive the vehicle in support of this review and recipe idea.  All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are our honest opinion.