I will always fondly remember my mother putting the turkey in the oven in the middle of the night. I wondered if my brothers and sisters were also awake, listening to my wonderful mother moving about the kitchen.
I love the scent of pies baking at Periwinkles, reminding me that it’s time to celebrate and express gratitude for the gifts provided to us by strangers in the same spirit as the food provided by Native Americans to the Pilgrims.
I do love Thanksgiving. Some of us can look back at a lifetime of Thanksgivings and remember things that have become favorites, some sentimental and some really funny.
My favorite memory is about when my brother, Anthony, raised a turkey for our dinner. When my parents were en route to pick up the holiday turkey from his home in New Hampshire, my mother got stopped for speeding. The officer listened to my mother’s tale of the home-raised turkey and decided to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving and send them on their way without a ticket. When the huge turkey arrived at my house in a giant plastic bag, we realized it was too big for any roasting pan and oven we possessed on Washington Street in Revere. We creatively figured out how to cook the turkey; it was delicious and cooked in half the time of a store-bought one!
As our children grew and went off to college or life adventures, Thanksgiving has become the first chance for everyone to get together since the summer sendoff to school. I love this holiday where there is no material gift-giving, just enjoying each other’s company. I always take a moment to look around the table, over the mounds of food, and give a moment of thanks for my large family and the blessing of being together.
I wish you a lifetime of grateful and appreciative Thanksgivings.
Here is my mother’s cranberry mold recipe that she made every year. It was and continues to be a favorite on our Thanksgiving dinner table.
Thanksgiving Cranberry Mold
2 packages raspberry Jell-O
1/2 cup diced celery
1 1/2 cups hot water
1 large can crushed pineapple, drained (save liquid)
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1/2 cup walnuts
Take juice from canned pineapple and add hot water to make 1 1/2 cups.
Dissolve Jell-O in hot water/pineapple juice; mix well all ingredients together.
Turn mixture into mold. You can use a bundt pan if you don’t have a Jell-O mold. Spray pan with nonstick spray before you turn mixture into pan.
Refrigerate overnight or until Jell-O is set.
Dip the bottom of the mold or bundt pan in warm (not hot) water and submerge it up to the rim. Hold it there for 15 seconds. Add a plate to the top of mold and invert on to plate.
Enjoy!
