Cranberry Bogs
Thanksgiving isn’t Thanksgiving without the plop squeezing of the can of cranberries jellied on the plate. I’m the only one in the family that enjoyed my congealed serving on my plate next to the turkey slices. I’ve tried making real cranberries with the sugar and cooking it all down with oranges and still no one ate any. I swear it’s in my genes. My mother’s people came to New England shortly after the first Thanksgiving. They left England during the Great Puritan Migration from Braintree on the Susan and Ellen. They arrived in Windsor, Connecticut in the autumn of 1639. My mother was a Loomis by birth, so when I visited with my two sisters, the Loomis-Chaffee School in Windsor, they rolled out the red carpet. The Loomis Homestead (1640) not only still stands, but it houses staff from the school. Three hundred acres was left to the institution from my family and is a beautiful place to visit. I keep my mother’s turkey dressing (stuffing) recipe pretty close to her original every year and well there are no leftovers or if there are any, everyone wants a serving to go!
Mom’s Sausage Stuffing
1 12 oz. Herb Seasoned Classic Stuffing Mix
1 medium sweet onion chopped finely
4 celery stalks chopped finely
1 T. Bells all-natural seasoning
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
8 T. butter melted
2 large eggs beaten well
1 lb. Jimmy Dean pork sausage
In a large bowl pour the seasoned stuffing, add onion, celery, seasonings and melted butter, eggs and cooked sausage crumbled. Place in a buttered oven dish and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
This year I will make my Cranberry sauce ahead of Thanksgiving.
Ingredients from Ina Garten:
1 bag of fresh cranberries
1 ¾ cups of sugar
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon
Cook the cranberries, sugar and 1 cup of water in a sauce pan over a low flame for 5 minutes or until the skins pop open. Add apple, zests, and juices and cook 15 minutes more, remove from heat, let cool and serve chilled.
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