Happy Thanksgiving!

Good morning, my friends, and Happy Thanksgiving!

It was a busy day yesterday, and it will be a busy day today. Two dishes were completed yesterday. I made our family favorite Sweet Potato Crunch. The recipe was published in Cooking Light decades ago. After making it this way the first time, it was my Thanksgiving sweet potato dish for life. Erik particularly likes it made this way. I couldn't find the recipe online, and so I'll share it here.

Also, I made our fresh cranberry dish. We serve cranberries both ways. I like to make one with fresh cranberries, but I also love the jellied cranberries straight from the can. I've heard these referred to as "Canberries" for the first time this year. I like that. I've made cranberries many different ways. When the NYTimes published an article a few years back for 50 recipes for 50 states, Oregon's recipe was this Cranberry Sauce with Pinot Noir. (As always, if that link from the NYTimes doesn't work for you, you can email me and I'll be happy to send it to you.) 

Another time, I tried this Roasted Cranberry Sauce from Bon Appetit. Many years ago, I made this Apricot-Ginger Cranberry Sauce. I happened on the recipe in Good Food magazine. The magazine ceased publication long ago, but you can find the recipe at that link I've given you. Also, I've canned cranberry sauce to give as gifts. I gave a jar of this at a gift exchange at work many years ago, and the women who received it was overjoyed. It looked so pretty in its jar. This one came from the Kerr Company. I couldn't find it online, and so I'll share it here. It can be processed to be shelf-stable, but it could also be refrigerated.

If you like uncooked fresh cranberries, then this recipe for Fresh Cranberry Orange Relish from Oceanspray is a good one too. And I never know from year to year which one I'm going to make. This year, it was this one for Cranberry-Cherry Marmalade. The recipe was published in our local newspaper some years back. It's still one of my favorites. 

A word to the wise: Make sure you cook it long enough. The recipe says "five minutes," but I cooked mine for closer to 15 minutes yesterday. Here's how it looked when it had been refrigerated for a few hours, and the consistency is perfect.

I really like getting that occasional little bite of dried cherry mixed in with the cranberries. 

This morning, I'll be making stuffing. Mike is smoking our turkey on the Traeger grill. We did it that way last year, and it was delicious. Also, I'll be making mashed potatoes and gravy and the Classic Green Bean Casserole. I've done this from scratch before, using the method America's Test Kitchens came up with. It's quite a production, and so I'm doing the canned version this year. I'm just trying to keep it simple. Mae is bringing dessert, and so the day doesn't seem too stressful. 

Before I did any cooking yesterday, I fortified myself with some slow-stitching. Two of the four book spines are finished, and a third one is well underway.

The floss I was awaiting arrived yesterday. This will be used in the Bumble Sampler. I'll finish up the book spines first.

And then there was just a little time in the day to finish this little wall-hanging top.

I'm feeling pretty smug about being able to use a leftover binding from a previous project.

I'll set that aside to finish up later.

That brings me to the WIPS part of my white board. Next up will be another block for "When Quilters Gather." This one:

Clear as mud, right? Here's the picture from the book. The block is called "This is an Interesting Fabric."

I very much doubt I'll get anything done on that today, but it's out and ready for whenever I get around to it.

As for today, it's cooking and more cooking. I have plenty of help, and so it feels low-key, even if there is still a lot to do. I hope y'all have a wonderful holiday with very good food. And who doesn't love a holiday devoted to food? Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.