Thanksgiving Thursday starts off before dawn with Donald tiptoeing out of the house dressed in camouflage and with me making Aunt Mary’s congealed salad of ground cranberries, apples, and navel oranges that I should have done the day before. (It’s the recipe from the Tchula Garden Club Cookbook—except you would have to go across the road and get Mary’s penciled-in revisions.) Instead, I sat by the fire drinking wine, catching up with extended family, and watched the kids pick up pecans. Now I’m hoping this sets before two o’clock dinnertime, which, thankfully, it does real nice.

　　

Ingredients

serves 12

　　2 (3-ounce) packages raspberry gelatin

　　3 cups orange juice, heated

　　2 (1/4-ounce) packages unflavored gelatin

　　1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

　　1 1/4 cups sugar

　　3 cups fresh cranberries, washed and picked over

　　2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into wedges

　　2 oranges, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces

　　1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, with juice

　　1/4 cup chopped pecans

　　

Step 1

Dissolve the raspberry gelatin in the hot orange juice in a large bowl. Soften the unflavored gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water. Add to the raspberry gelatin along with the lemon juice and sugar and stir until well blended. Refrigerate until partially set, about 45 minutes.

　　

Step 2

Grind the cranberries and apples in a food processor until chopped fine. Add to the gelatin along with the oranges, pineapple and its juice, and nuts. Fold in to distribute. Pour into a 9 x 13-inch glass dish or gelatin mold and refrigerate until firmly congealed, about 2 hours.

　　

Notes

Step 3

Make sure you don’t cut your apples too early; you don’t want them to brown before you get the chance to stir them in.

　　

Step 4

Serve slices of the salad with iceberg lettuce and homemade mayonnaise.

　　A Southerly Course