You know how there are some things that are just so much better if you go that extra mile and make it homemade. While most of us are too busy to be baking bread at our homes on a weekly basis, I think we can agree that there is almost nothing better than a freshly baked loaf of bread, am I right? That smell though! 


This is how I feel about a very important Thanksgiving side dish. A few years ago, when we lived about 1,500 miles from the nearest family, we had “Friendsgivings” every year with other friends that were like family to us. It was always really fun because when you’d sit down to eat the meal, you’d get to try new dishes and hear stories about why this particular dish like yams was so important to this family, and why this stuffing recipe was so important to this family. I love family traditions and really enjoy learning about the traditions that other families have besides my own. This made these Thanksgiving meals carry a really special place in my heart. 

And who could forget the year we actually had to call the Butterball hotline! We talked to a sweet older woman named Betty who knew all the answers to our turkey dilemma! Thank goodness for Betty and the others like her that are helping us all have a wonderful and memorable in all the right ways Thanksgiving dinner.

One of these Friendsgivings my friend Celeste made homemade cranberry sauce. It was so unbelievably fresh and delicious--I couldn’t believe it was even called the same thing as the stuff they put in the can and call cranberry sauce. They are remarkably different from one another! I always grew up on the canned cranberry sauce and I always thought it was okay. But when I tried the real stuff, I knew this was well worth whatever extra effort it took to make it. Come to find out, it is super easy to make real cranberry sauce on the stove and you can add a little orange to make it have pops of citrus, which pairs beautifully with the tartness of cranberries. 


My husband is so funny because sandwiches are his favorite thing in the world, so he truly declares that he loves the leftover Thanksgiving sandwich even more than the actual Thanksgiving meal. What a goof! We all know the cranberry is the star of the show with the leftover sandwich, so when you add this delightful homemade cranberry sauce…..forget about it! It makes the sandwich off-the-charts good! 

You should definitely try this simple recipe for cranberry sauce this year! You’ll never want to go back to the canned stuff again! This is a 5-star with 184 reviews from Food Network that is perfect for your Thanksgiving meal (and leftover sandwich!) this year.