The family is coming for Thanksgiving...

I've cooked Thanksgiving dinner every year since I moved away from home when I was 18 years old, except for one year... (my Mama always cooked Christmas and I cooked Thanksgiving). The only year I didn't cook was when my daughter was 16 years old... her Riverdance Team was invited to dance in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City on Thanksgiving Day... the entire family went... it was great! My sister was living in New Jersey at the time so our base was there for the week... Thanksgiving dinner was a group effort in her kitchen and served on Wednesday evening to free up our day in the City to watch our dancers. But all the other years I've done the entire meal... except for the pumpkin pies... Mama always made those... and I made dessert for Christmas... it's been a great system... Since Mama is no longer with us (she's been gone three years now) my youngest brother, Kevin, has taken on the pie making.

I love every aspect of creating and serving this annual meal for my family... we always have pretty much the same menu... turkey, gravy, dressing (not stuffing... we bake it in a pan, we don't stuff the bird), sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, and cranberry sauce. Sometimes we add "green stuff" (a jello salad my Aunt Beckie always made), and for the past few years, ham (because my DH is not fond of turkey)... sometimes there's banana pudding and there's usually red velvet cake (my oldest brother, Jeff's birthday is November 25 so we add birthday celebrating to Thanksgiving dinner and his favorite is red velvet cake... this year Jeff will be the BIG 5-0 so I'm trying to think of a way to make a black red velvet cake, maybe I'll just cover the usual fluffy white frosting with black fondant, we can always peel it off)... I've never even considered NOT cooking... it's work, sure, but it's a labor of love to me... for several years now, my youngest daughter has come down the day before and helps out and we have a blast cooking and preparing the enormous meal... we turn on the Macy's Parade while we cook and run back and forth watching the floats and bands and of course dancers amidst stirring and mixing and baking... I wouldn't change one second of Thanksgiving Day! It was always Mama's favorite holiday... she said it was a day when we just ate and fellowshipped and relaxed without the hustle and bustle of Christmas... I intend to carry on the tradition as long as I am able. We try to eat at noon (some of the kids have in-laws now and must go on to supper elsewhere), we traditionally go around the big table naming something we are thankful for and then we eat!... afterwards we take a walk in the woods or play some outdoor yard games if the weather is nice, or we play video games inside if it's too cold or rainy out... we've done Dance Dance Revolution (OMG you should see my Dad and brothers dancing on a mat! Too funny!) Last year it was Wii wave jumping... then we generally settle in for football and napping... cleaning up and clearing somewhere in between... and just covering the food so we can snack and munch for supper later.

For the past several years, I've made my own cranberry sauce... it's super easy... but I always make too much and have a huge bowl left in the fridge... we don't eat it that often and it tends to get pushed to the back of the fridge... I usually end up throwing it out around New Years.

When I bought my cranberries recently for sauce making... they were on sale "buy one get one free" so I bought two bags... and thought I'd just can the sauce up so I wouldn't have all that sauce left over...

Here's what I did...


I rinsed my

2 (12 oz.) bags of cranberries

and put them in a large saucepan and covered them with water (probably 2 inches of water)

I added...

2 cups granulated sugar



and brought the mixture to a boil, then reduced the heat  to medium and let it gently boil for about 15 minutes until the cranberries pop (you'll hear the berries popping as they cook)...

That's it! If you don't want to can it... you can eat it right now! or let it cool... and then eat it.

I prepared my pint canning jars and lids (I put the jars upside down in a flat pan of boiling water set over two stove eyes, and simmered the lids in hot water, keeping everything hot until I was ready for them)

I filled my jars with the sauce, leaving a half inch headspace...


I wiped the rim of each jar and tightened the lids on to fingertip tightness...


I processed the jars in a boiling water bath (place jars in the canner ensuring the are covered with water, bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes).

After processing I removed the jars using my jar lifter and set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool... and to listen for the PING of each successfully sealed jar.

Happy Thanksgiving!