Cranberry Thoughts
Cranberry sauce brings out the worst in people.
Oh yes, it does. You thought it was stuffing that did it, didn't you? Well, you're wrong. There's nothing like a cranberry sauce feud to get a family Thanksgiving off to a rollicking start.
You start out with you little nuclear family. You're a kid. The stuff comes out of a can, and you love it.
Then you start acquiring in-laws. And all of a sudden people want to "talk" about the cranberry sauce. As in, "We have to have a talk about the cranberry sauce." And everyone knows those "talks" only lead to grief.
Then your siblings start acquiring in-laws, too. And it might be that your nuclear family learned from the first in-law experience, and is thinking,"Maybe we should humor this group."
And now, of course, you're screwed.
Because in-law Batch #2, it turns out, consider themselves cranberry conossieurs. They would never dream of consuming canned stuff. Oh no. They get "creative" with cranberry sauce. They create cranberry "relishes" and "compotes." They add brandy and walnuts and God knows what. I was once threatened with pineapple. Seriously.
All this is why DIH is bringing the cranberry sauce to tomorrow's festivities- well, that and the cheesecake. And if the folks who invited us don't like it, well, fine, they can talk about us after we've gone home.
Go ahead, call me a control freak. There are some things it just isn't worth taking chances with.
Oh yes, it does. You thought it was stuffing that did it, didn't you? Well, you're wrong. There's nothing like a cranberry sauce feud to get a family Thanksgiving off to a rollicking start.
You start out with you little nuclear family. You're a kid. The stuff comes out of a can, and you love it.
Then you start acquiring in-laws. And all of a sudden people want to "talk" about the cranberry sauce. As in, "We have to have a talk about the cranberry sauce." And everyone knows those "talks" only lead to grief.
Then your siblings start acquiring in-laws, too. And it might be that your nuclear family learned from the first in-law experience, and is thinking,"Maybe we should humor this group."
And now, of course, you're screwed.
Because in-law Batch #2, it turns out, consider themselves cranberry conossieurs. They would never dream of consuming canned stuff. Oh no. They get "creative" with cranberry sauce. They create cranberry "relishes" and "compotes." They add brandy and walnuts and God knows what. I was once threatened with pineapple. Seriously.
All this is why DIH is bringing the cranberry sauce to tomorrow's festivities- well, that and the cheesecake. And if the folks who invited us don't like it, well, fine, they can talk about us after we've gone home.
Go ahead, call me a control freak. There are some things it just isn't worth taking chances with.
Happy Thanksgiving, Sue.
ReplyDeleteI love your "diary."
And congratulations on the nomination.
So wait... is the can or something creative?? We must know! Bible Babe
ReplyDeleteUntil I was married, I never knew cranberry sauce could come in shapes other than cylinders.
ReplyDeleteAunt Lee is one of the cranberry snobs, though she is the type that lets us digest our sauce in a can.
ReplyDeleteShe happily enjoys hers with oranges. It smells nice, but it's lacking in that lovely can shape and gelatin-esque wiggle.
Emma J.
*I* am a cranberry snob. There. I said it. I slave over a hot stove to make a cranberry/orange chutney the shape of which has nothing to do with indented cylinders.
ReplyDelete-J.
Yeah...I'm so not a fan of cranberry sauce. Never was. I used to eat it only because I had to in order to be polite. Then I grew up and learned that it's perfectly polite to say, "I don't care for cranberry sauce...more for you!" And then give myself a generous helping of green bean casserole. Or stuffing. As long as the stuffing doesn't have raisins in it.
ReplyDeleteMom loved raisins in the stuffing. Not my brother or I.
He doesn't like cranberries, either, but Mom is a huge fan, so we get cranberries to make her happy.
Three different Thanks Giving Dinners, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. And not a one with Cransberry's from a can. I was so bummed. Well, beggers can't be choosers. (
ReplyDelete