In a medium saucepan, add all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove pan from heat, take out cinnamon sticks, ginger, orange peel, star anise, and discard.
Pour contents into a 4 - 5 cup bowl through a medium strainer and reserve that liquid.
Rinse out saucepan, put cooked cranberries in and mash to desired consistency. Store in container until needed.
Pour the strained cranberry syrup through a fine mesh sieve to collect syrup in a bowl. (You're doing this to remove the seeds) This should yield about 2 cups of syrup. Store in container in the fridge.