Sandy Cavanah, a retired professor from Hopkinsville Community College, recalls how her mother prepared fresh cranberries every year for a holiday salad.
“A favorite Thanksgiving salad in our family is Mother’s Cranberry Salad. Every Thanksgiving, she attached the metal grinder to our kitchen table to grind fresh cranberries and celery for this dish,” Cavanah wrote.
“She’d place a bowl beneath the grinder to catch the juices, and, as a child, I enjoyed turning the crank as the fruit and celery seemed to be swallowed up in the grinder. I don’t know what happened to her grinder, but now I use my Ninja to grind the cranberries and celery, and it tastes just the same.
“My sister and I take photos of our finished product each year with a congratulatory ‘ta da!’ It’s just not Thanksgiving without this sentimental favorite.”
Mother’s Cranberry Salad
INGREDIENTS
- 4 cups fresh cranberries
- 2 cups celery
- 1 15-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
- 1 large box cherry Jello
- 1 cup crushed pecans
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups boiling water
INSTRUCTIONS
- Grind cranberries and celery in a food processor or Ninja.
- Dissolve the Jello and sugar in boiling water.
- Combine pineapple, nuts, cranberries and celery with jello mixture and chill until congealed.
