Cranberry-Orange Relish and Were Rich!!!

It is one week before Thanksgiving and I am remembering the first time Tina made cranberry-orange relish. She was 11 and we lived on the coast of NC. After that year it was a tradition as long as she lived at home. Now she lives in CO and I am here in the desert of AZ. I miss her.


Cranberry-Orange Relish(no cooking)

1 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries
1 medium orange with peel (seeds removed and quartered)
3/4 to 1 cup sugar

Put the cranberries and orange in the blender or food processer. Chop fine. Put in a bowl and stir in sugar. Refrigerate several hours before serving for best flavor. This is wonderful on turkey sandwiches or as a relish for your Thanksgiving dinner.

Were Rich!

Thanksgiving 1999 was a special day for our family. That is the day we returned from Russia with our newly adopted son and daughter. They knew less than six words in English but some things are understood in universal languages. In the early morning most of us were still asleep from the long flight but Susan and her dad (she calls him "Papa" because "dad" in Russian means uncle) were up and wide awake. He took her with him to the store because we had no milk, bread or fresh fruit having been away for a while. When she went into the store, the first thing she saw was aisles and aisles of fresh vegetables and fruit. She would point to what she wanted and of course melted her dad's heart. She could not wait to tell her brother, Chris, what she saw. We did not understand their language but we understood their hugs, huge eyes and excitement as she pulled things out of the bag one by one. A few days later, the girl we hired to help me teach them English translated what they were saying to us. "We are rich! We never saw so much food and we can have as much as we want!" How could you not fall in love with such innocent appreciation of simple things we take for granted.

At this Thankgiving season please remember who makes all things possible.
Psalms 71 19 Your righteousness reaches to the skies,oh God; you who have done great things.

Love,
Nana