Homemade orange/cranberry relish has been on my family's Thanksgiving table for the past 45 yrs. My mom's widowed father remarried at age 75 and my new stepgrandmother introduced it - and lots of other "exotic" foods - to our family. Some branches of the family tree resisted it, but mine embraced it immediately. When DH & I were first married it was on our list of things to bring to the meal. We laugh every year when we remember trying to chase the berries around the cutting board with a too-dull knife in an effort to finely chop them. The year we finally got a mini food processor it was crazy easy to make! DH's family only eats the canned jelly.

I have one that I love, however, it's a canning recipe. Maybe you could work with it anyway. Here it is--- Cranberry-Pineapple Sauce 1-20 oz can crushed pineapple in juice water 2 cups sugar 4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1 T grated ornage peel Drain pineapple, reserving juice in a 2 cup measure. Press to remove as much juice as possible. Add water to make 2 cups. In a large saucepan, combine juice and sugar. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add drained pineapple, cranberries and remaining ingredients. Return to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover, simmer until cranberries stop popping, about 15 mins. Ladle into hot jars, etc, for canning. Actually, this recipe would stay in the fridge for a long time and if you have a large crowd this may be just right. This makes approx. 6 cups. Make it a few days ahead to let the flavors blend. Beebonnet

I got this recipe from a Homemaker friend over 40 years ago, and have been making it ever since. In fact, I'm doubling the recipe to take to my granddughter's early Thanksgiving dinner, this Sunday. It's very sweet, so a little bit is enough to satisfy one's taste buds. Here it is: Baked Cranberry Relish 1 # fresh cranberries 2 1/2 cups sugar (I have reduced this to two cups and it seemed O.K.) 1 cup coarsely chopped, toasted walnuts 1 cup orange marmalade Juice of 1 lemon or lime (I often omit this.) Wash cranberries and drain. In shallow pan, stir cranberries w/sugar. Cover tightly w/aluminum foil. Bake 350 degrees for one hour. Spread walnuts in separate shallow pan; toast walnuts about 10-12 minutes. Stir together the baked cranberries, walnuts, marmalade, and lemon or lime juice till well mixed. Chill. This is so rich, a little bit goes a long way, It's delicious!

Reporting back--I decided to use a melon baller instead of cutting the jelly into cubes, then sprinkled the fruit with chia seeds and skipped the walnuts. The mint leaves were all frozen, so I used celery leaves: I used the leftovers of the cranberry jelly, mixed with pineapple juice, to glaze the ham. It was delicious! My impressions of canned cranberry jelly: It was very bland, compared to my homemade relish, but the tart and sweet fruit gave the salad enough punch. It was very refreshing with the baked ham. I wouldn't eat the jelly alone, but the texture is perfect if you want to spread it on a sandwich, which I don't. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Here is my Cranberry Relish Recipe For A Crowd, for lovemrmewey: 4 12oz packages fresh cranberries, rinsed 1 tsp minced candied ginger or 1/2 tsp ground ginger 3 cups sugar (I short each cup by a couple of tablespoons) 4 6oz packages of gelatin--any red or orange--I use red raspberry 2 20oz cans crushed pineapple, drained (reserve liquid) 4 11oz-15oz cans mandarin oranges, drained (reserve liquid) 2 tart apples, finely chopped zest of one orange, or 2Tbs OJ concentrate Make gelatin using the reserved liquid from the pineapple and mandarin oranges, with enough water added to complete the instructions. Chill until almost set--thick but not solid. While gelatin is chilling, cook 3 packages of the cranberries with 3 cups water and sugar. Cool. Grind the cooked cranberries with the remaining uncooked cranberries. I use a blender for this step. Cranberries can be cooked the night before and allowed to cool overnight in fridge. Mix the almost set gelatin, cranberry mixture, drained fruit, and orange zest. Chill until set. Keeps well for several days, and can be frozen. OT, here's a pic of my Christmas Eve cheese fish, requested by my grandson. Brother and SIL brought shrimp, so 10yr old GS had fun telling everyone 'Merry Fishmas'. Diabetic cherry Christmas pie for my father: