Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Cooks around the country are going to be slaving away in a hot kitchen. They will be injecting, basting, dressing and fretting over turkeys. And why not? It’s the star of the show! You can’t have a Thanksgiving feast without the big bird.

But what about the supporting side dishes? What about cranberry sauce? My pet peeve is when a host fusses over the turkey; but treats this crucial side as an afterthought! Most of the time, cooks just pop open a can, and plop the gelatinous mess on a salad dish! Blasphemy, I say!! The thought of the jiggly canned atrocity makes me cringe. I mean, what’s the point of presenting a beautifully browned bird along with a tube-shaped pile of red paste?

A couple of years ago, I stumbled upon a great recipe for a cranberry relish. It is the bomb. Hands down. It’s tart, sweet, and has some crunch. I will never go back to slapping that canned stuff on my table. It also makes a great cranberry mayonnaise for leftover turkey sandwiches.

Of course, I like to put my own little twist on the original recipe. I like to throw in a granny smith apple, diced while the cranberries are simmering. It give the relish a little more texture and crunch. I also add a piece of clove and a bit of vanilla bean. Be sure to pull the clove out before serving. Biting into one of those is life changing…and not in a good way!

For leftover turkey sandwiches, I like to make a cranberry mayonnaise. Take about 1 tablespoon of the cranberry relish, and fold it into about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of mayo. This stuff is good on Turkey BLT’s!

I can’t wait!!!