First order of business, here are the winners of the turkeys:
Abby who said – One of my favorite Thanksgiving memories was when my husband and I were away from family for school and we got together with some friends on Thanksgiving and just ate pie until we couldn’t stuff another bite in. So yummy and fun.
Merideth who said – My favorite Thanksgiving recipe is anything with sweet potatoes or yams. I could eat an entire plate full.. go back for seconds.. and still want some for lunch and dinner the next day!
Trisha who said -My favorite Thanksgiving memory as a child was going to Disneyland. Who wouldn’t love eating Thanksgiving dinner with Mickey and Goofy? As a kid I didn’t enjoy eating turkey,so I thought it was the greatest thing to order a big old hamburger at the restaurant we ate at!!
Gina who said – My mom always makes the most delicious dinner rolls for Thanksgiving. Some plain with homemade jam and some with orange. Mmm, it’s something to look forward to every year. I’m not going home this year so I’m trying to talk myself into making these but I don’t do yeast so I’m scared.
I will send emails out to the winners to get your info and get your coupons in the mail ASAP, so you can have it in time to get your Thanksgiving bird.
I also have another contest I am doing today. I am giving away a Pillsbury “Thanksgiving Fun” gift pack that includes a coupon for a free package of the Pillsbury Thanksgiving Shape® sugar cookies (or any other Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough), as well as a turkey-shaped stress reliever, pen, and finger puppet. The Pillsbury Thanksgiving Shape® sugar cookies are only in grocery stores for a limited time. This “Thanksgiving Fun” gift pack is provided Pillsbury through MyBlogSpark.

So, to enter this contest, leave a comment as to whether you stick to traditional pie for Thanksgiving dessert or if you mix it up with something different or fun. You have until Wednesday Nov. 18 at midnight (Mountain Standard Time) to enter. The winner will be announced on Thursday.
Now the recipe. For Thanksgiving, I love to have sides that involve seasonal items like cranberries. This salad recipe is one that I adapted form a recipe I found at Kraft foods. Usually when I make this I put it in a trifle bowl, but any large glass bowl will work. You could just go with a 9 x 13 dish if you prefer. This time I decided to try and do it in a mold. Bad idea. This corner of the mold in the picture, was the only corner that looked decent. I don’t think this recipe is firm enough to do that. So I do not recommend it. I did just see a similar version the other day on allrecipes.com that made them into little individual sizes by putting them in muffin tin lined with muffin liners. Then you remove the muffin liners when ready to serve. I am gonna give that ago the next time I make this, but I am worried it will be problematic like the mold. However, the recipe does use less liquid, so that’s probably the trick. I also recommend using the Ocean Spray cranberries for this. I just think it is a better quality of canned cranberry and works best in this salad.
I have also made a list for you today of other recipes that I have on my site that would also be excellent sides to serve at Thanksgiving.

Cranberry Jello Salad
- Drain pineapple, reserving juice in 1-qt. liquid measuring cup. Add enough cold water to reserved juice to measure 3 cups; microwave until it comes to boil. Add gelatin; stir at least 2 min. until completely dissolved.
- Add cranberry sauce; stir until well blended. (Note: Due to the presence of whole berries in the cranberry sauce, the gelatin mixture will not be smooth.)
- Pour into large bowl (I use a trifle bowl, but a 9 x 13 would work too). Refrigerate 1-1/2 hours or until slightly thickened (consistency of unbeaten egg whites.)
- Stir in remaining drained pineapple and chopped apple; stir gently until well blended.
- Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm. Top with sweetened whipped cream just before serving. Store leftover gelatin in refrigerator.












Hi,what a well apple,thanks for sharing.I will get one like that.bill
nice blog and thanks for inspiring ideas..
Your blog is excellent I m gonna bookmark, thanks
We always have Pumpkin Pie!
I make this Cranberry Jello Salad but I usually put walnuts in it. So good!
Pie!!! I have a chocolate chip walnut pie that I like to make–I think the recipe was in Family Fun a couple years ago. I’d love a good french silk pie recipe–hint, hint!
I usually stick to traditional pumpkin pie, but would like to shake it up a bit. I still like the pumpkin, but would like something a bit different.
We are big pumpkin pie fans in our house. But we also make cranberry nut bread. We like to make it in little bread tins and hand them out to our neighbors as a Thanksgiving treat.
I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin pie, so this year we’re having Pumpkin Crunch instead! I got the recipe from my mom a few months ago, but also just saw it on All Recipes. I made it a few weeks ago to test it out, and I’ll never go back to pumpkin pie again! It’s delicious!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Crunch-Cake-2/Detail.aspx
We usually do pumpkin cake rather than pie. This year though, a friend has a recipe for pumpkin trifle that I want to try, probably in addition to pumpkin cake! YUM!
I used to stick to pumpkin cake.
I love to bake so any holiday is a perfect opportunity for me to try baking new things for my family to test out. I can’t wait to whip up all kinds of new goodies this Thanksgiving!
ps – I made your cheesecake pumpkin pie last week and man was it a hit! Thanks!
I’m not a fan of the pumpkin or pecan pie that’s always at Thanksgiving dinner with my family, so I like to bring in some chocolate or cheesecake. This year I’m making a super delicious Candied Apple Pie Cheesecake with apple pie topping, walnuts and, bits of Heath bar.
We do Libby’s Pumpkin and Karo Syrup Pecan Pies!!! Then I sometimes find an additional fancy dessert to go with them.
pie all the way. my husband’s family has a pie for each person! crazy!
Pumpkin pie! It just would not be Thanksgiving without the pumpkin pie.
I stick with traditional.
You have to have pumpkin pie with cool whip and dutch apple around here. I do love Cherry as well!
I don’t eat pumpkin pie:(..we always have Pecan Pie (yum.
Traditional pie all the way. Everyone loves Pumpkin Pie so I make about 17 of them plus apple, banana cream, coconut cream and whatever else I decide.
i must say that pumpkin pie is my all time favorite. but my mother-in-law does apple, strawberry rhubarb and even mincemeat!
It is traditional pie for me. I don’t eat it very often so I look forward to Thanksgiving!
S Manning,
I am sorry for the trouble. You can always got to the old blogger site to search the archives also. I am aware of that problem and am in the process of trying to remedy the situation. Hopefully, I’ll be able to fix it soon and you’ll give real mom kitchen a try again. Thanks.
We stick with the basics! Pumpkin and apple usually. How can you go wrong!!