Friday, October 13, 2006

Thanksgiving Countdown - 41 days to go

picture of cranberry harvest (via unblog)

I'm so excited to be hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year. I have some menu ideas that I'm really excited about. I've been pouring over the Thanksgiving editions of Martha Stewart and Bon Appetit, drinking them in slowly and thoroughly. Before I firm up the menu, I want to consult my guests-to-be. I think nearly everyone has some tradition or dish that makes Thanksgiving Thanksgiving for them. For my husband it's veggies (specifically carrots, celery and olives) and a dip made with cream cheese, Old English cheese and green onions. For me it's sweet potatoes topped with marshmellows and a special cranberry relish my mom made every year. It's really yummy, but it's also a recipe my mom had as a girl at her grandmother's house. What is your Thanksgiving "thing?"

Grandmother Gillespie's Cranberry Relish
1 bag fresh cranberries
1 orange, skin and all
2 tart apples, peeled and cored
1 1/2 c. sugar

Coarsely chop the orange and apples, mix with cranberries in food processor or blender. Do it in 2 or 3 batches. Chop to desired fineness. Add sugar, mix well. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

6 comments:

Bek said...

I used to live in Cranbury, New Jersey. Seeing the cranberries makes me homesick for NJ. I never thought I would think that.....

Thanks for the picture and the recipie. I love these recipies..

Anonymous said...

When Gramma and Grampa Kelly came, we went to the Cranberry harvest in South Carver, MA. This is one of the main locations where they harvest Ocean Spray Cranberries. It was fastenating to watch both the dry and wet harvests. Most instore cranberries are dry harvested, where thsy use a machine like a lawnmower on the bog to pull the berries off and deposit them in a burlap sack. When wet harvested, workers flood the bogs and then use machines like egg beaters to losen the berries, which float to the top of the water. Ocean Spray uses a bounceboard seperator to divide the fresh berries from the bruised ones, because the fresh berries have a unique bouncing ability. To learn more, go to: http://www.oceanspray.com/aboutus/cranberry_harvest.asp or go to: http://www.edaville.com/events.htm and scroll down to Coming In October

Mom in Mendon said...

We can't wait for Thanksgiving in Tuckahoe!

(Is Josh going to comment on harvesting cranberries in Maine? Or was it blueberries?)

Liz Stanley said...

See? See? NJ is sooo cool! We need to visit these cranberry harvesting lake things. My thanksgiving must have is lots of food with a heavy emphasis on meat.

Lizzy said...

hi erin! i love your blog...i search you before any other cooking website!

i have strict turkey rules, mosit and completely tasty. i love th MS recipe with the 24 brine soak and herb butter rub... i double the rub and add more and more while the bird cooks.

also love cream cheese mashed potatoes.

Anonymous said...

My favorite is cornbread stuffing from Mark's grandmother's recipe. She lived in Alabama and so we feel like it's the real deal. I love it when your husband's traditions become your own family's.

My mom never loved Thanksgiving dinner, but she makes the best rolls from the Lion House cook book. I wish I could make them as well as she does.