One of my mother’s special dishes for Thanksgiving dinners was cranberry relish. Raw cranberries put through the hand cranked food grinder, then sugar, walnuts, and zested orange peel mixed in. Maybe other ingredients too.

I really enjoyed that uncommon dish, and I’ve never seen it made anywhere else except by our relatives in Missouri. So much better than the usual cranberry jello.

Other Thanksgiving dinner specialties?

My grandmother would make a pumpkin chiffon pie. Regular pumpkin pie I was ok with but, the chiffon-style being lighter, was a really nice touch after lengthy and heavy meal.

We do 2 bags of cranberries, 2 apples, and 2 peeled oranges through the hand grinder, then mix in 2 cups of sugar.
Mix up a box of orange jello mix in 2 cups of boiling water and let it chill in the refrigerator until it starts to thicken.
Mix in the ground up stuff and let it finish setting up in the fridge overnight.

My mother made what we called boiled custard. It was sorta like a thick egg nog flavored with orange peels.

Here's the cranberry mold recipe that our family has been using for over six decades...

Cranberry Mold

1 Envelope plain gelatin
½ Cup cold water
1 Cup hot water
1 Cup pineapple juice
2 Small pkg. Jello (1 raspberry & 1 cherry)
1 Cup sugar
1 Tps lemon juice
1 Cup ground raw cranberries
1 Cup drained fresh pineapple (large can)
1 Cup finely chopped celery
½ Cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, etc.)1 Cup orange juice

Sprinkle gelatin on ½ Cup cold water...set aside.
Bring pineapple juice and hot water to a boil.
Dissolve Jello, sugar, and gelatin mixture in hot liquid.
Add remaining ingredients and let set ~ 20 minutes to cool.
Stir and pour into mold.
Chill until firm; ~ 4 hours.

Brussel Sprouts

Brussel Sprouts- 2-3 lb.
2-butter tbsp.
3tbsp. flour
1-tsp. salt
1- 1/2 cup Snappy Tom
1 cup Milk
1 Shredded Cheese (no nonfat!!)

350 degrees 15 minutes

^^^^^^^^
Dang! That sounds good! I love brussels sprouts.

My parents make pepper jelly about every other year. A few years ago they started putting cranberries in one batch. Pretty good.

My MIL makes an amazing stuffing with apples and sausage, I could just eat a big plate of that today.

I made a pumpkin praline tart instead of pumpkin pie, I’m so tired of that. It’s pumpkin pie filling inside a tart shell which is more like a shortbread cookie than pie crust and candied pecans on top.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
One of my mother’s special dishes for Thanksgiving dinners was cranberry relish. Raw cranberries put through the hand cranked food grinder, then sugar, walnuts, and zested orange peel mixed in. Maybe other ingredients too.

I really enjoyed that uncommon dish, and I’ve never seen it made anywhere else except by our relatives in Missouri. So much better than the usual cranberry jello.

Other Thanksgiving dinner specialties?

My mom made that since at least the 1960's, also in Missouri. No orange zest though, just orange sections run through the grinder, peel and all. I'm making here in a little bit, and I think I'll modify the dish a smidge, kind of between using the entire orange and just the zest. I'm going to filet the zesty part of the orange off, then the white part, and discard, then the orange flesh with zest through the grinder. I'm using pecans.

I've seen this recipe essentially identical on a cranberry package before. Missouri seems a likely or practical place for such a recipe, in between cranberry and orange producing areas.

My mom always made mashed rutabaga, one of my favorites. I’ve tried but just can’t get it the same as my granny or mom could do. My mom and I were usually the only ones that ate them so they always seemed special to me.

I just made my sister’s cranberry chutney. Fresh cranberries, dried apricots and currants with fresh ginger, brown sugar and cayenne pepper. I sliced French bread, toasted it with a slice of Brie cheese on each slice then topped with the chutney. It was like crack to me. Couldn’t stop eating it.

I also make a great potato stuffing with Italian sausage, onion and cream cheese.

For desert Malcom Reed’s white chocolate bread pudding.

My mom's was orange Jello with crushed pineapple and shredded carrots in it. Loved it! And pumpkin pie. (All her pies were great, but she really shined on pumpkin and chocolate meringue.)

flashguy

Oyster casserole.
Only at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I live for it.