Vintage Cranberry Relish My Aunt Made Every Thanksgiving

ByCindy Hattersley Hours Posted on Hours Updated on
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If you grew up with Thanksgiving dinners in the 1950’s and beyond like me, you might remember that bright, chunky cranberry relish filled with fresh cranberries, oranges, apples and nuts sitting front and center right next to the turkey. Sadly, this fresh option was replaced by a gelatinous mass in the years beyond. This vintage side dish was and is still a staple at our family Thanksgivings. It offers a bright, tart component to the heavy holiday meal that we all love. My aunt Dodo taught me how to make this relish (with an old fashioned meat grinder back in the day) and it has been a staple at our Thanksgivings since I can remember. I have made a few modern tweaks but if you love a fresh vibrant cranberry relish I think you will love my vintage cranberry relish my aunt made every Thanksgiving .

Fall table by the fire

I am joining my blogging pals and we are sharing our favorite Thanksgiving sides.

Vintage Cranberry Relish My Aunt Made Every Thanksgiving

A Little Bio on Aunt Dodo

Aunt Dodo was truly the best of the best, an incredibly accomplished woman who spent her life defying easy categorization. She navigated an early marriage that didn’t match her fierce independence, emerging as a successful professional when it wasn’ t all that easy for a woman.

When my parents divorced around the time I was ten, our world was fractured. My mom, coming from a complicated background, was a bit ill-equipped (though she truly did the best she knew how) to raise my sister and me. We moved in with my dad, and Aunt Dodo swooped in to become our Saint. Despite holding a demanding career, she miraculously showed up precisely when we needed her most with a trunk full of things she thought we would enjoy.

Growing up Aunt Dodo and I would stay up late into the night, discussing the world order, and life. She was what they used to call a “woman’s libber” (why wouldn’t she have been ?) She shaped my view of the world more than anyone, not because of her politics but because of her kindness and passion for the human race.

Vintage Cranberry Relish My Aunt Made Every Thanksgiving

Why I Love this Relish

She taught me how to make this relish, and every time I prepare it, I feel her loving, and stabilizing presence. This dish is a staple because it represents her legacy. I have made a few modern tweaks to the preparation over the years (like using a food processor instead of the old meat grinder!), but the essence of the original recipe is all hers. You can prepare this entire recipe in under 10 minutes without turning on your stove. Just pulse everything in a food processor and it is done. I keep a couple bags of cranberries in the freezer so I can prepare it later in the season

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Cindy Hattersley’s Cranberry Relish

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5 from 6 reviews

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 bag fresh cranberries
  • 1 whole navel orange (skin included, washed and cut into chunks)
  • 1 apple
  • ½ cup shelled pecans
  • 1/4 c chopped celery
  • 1 T grated fresh ginger
  • pinch of red pepper flakes
  • 1/3 cup sugar (we like ours tart more if you like yours sweeter. You can also substitute mild honey to taste

Notes

Individually grind cranberries, apple, orange, celery and nuts in the food processor.  Place in bowl, grate ginger and add along with red pepper flakes and combine with sugar or honey and serve. You can make this a few days ahead of time. 

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Fall Fireside Dinner for Two

Fall Table

Although I took a few photos featuring a fall dinner by the fire for two, I realized this post isn’t about that. It’s about a recipe that binds me to the woman who set our lives straight: Aunt Dodo.. There were nine of us cousins that Dodo took under her wing. She was the rock for all of us in different ways. Five of our cousins grew up on a small farm in a barely known town. My sister and I in another small town. Our other cousins travelled the world and lived a different life. Despite these disparate paths, the one constant, the gravity that held us all together was our unwavering love for Aunt Dodo. She was the common denominator, the safe harbor, and the steady presence we all depended on. I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about the vintage cranberry relish my aunt made every Thanksgiving and the woman who inspired it.

You might also enjoy reading Fabulous Recipes, Tablescapes, Nametags, Games and More for Thanksgiving here.

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Now let’s pop over and visit my friends for their favorite recipes. I always love this annual post. These ladies are all excellent cooks

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40 Comments

  1. My paternal grandmother made this very same cranberry sauce with her old time meat grinder. I remember being at her house when she made it and asking to turn the handle to grind whatever she was mincing. Good memories to last a lifetime!!!

  2. I might make the recipe but what I’m commenting on is your remarkable Aunt Dodo. I had one myself, although my parents never divorced, both had problems and did the best they could. My Mom had been orphaned at age 14, and she and her two brothers were then raised by an older sister Virginia, who was only about 19 at the time. My parents always provided for us, but mom was kind of no-nonsense, it was my aunt who bought me “female” things such as a musical jewelry box with a ballerina who danced; a picture book about a cat named Mimi who lived in Paris; an Alice-in-Wonderland Disney wristwatch. Things I remember to this day, and took for granted……not realizing that as a single working woman, she would forgo things for herself to give me these indulgences.

  3. This is like the cranberry sauce my grandmother made. I loved it so much and had forgotten about it. Thank you for sharing this with us and the wonderful story of your Aunt Dodo. She sounds incredible!

  4. Hi Cindy,
    The Vintage Cranberry Relish that your Aunt Dodo made sounds so good. Your Aunt Dodo sounds like the most unselfish and giving person. Did she also have children of her own? She lead by example, and looked how you turned out. This super lady that has endless talents.
    It’s nice that you shared about your cousins too.
    Your table setting for two is intimate, cozy and inviting.

  5. Cindy! This looks amazing!! I can see why your aunts cranberry relish made it to every Thanksgiving table! I’ll bet it’s great on a sandwich too!


  6. Cindy The cranberry relish looked just like my mother used to make but, like others mentioned, added it to strawberry jello. OMG..the meat grinder..that awkward , old thing that was very heavy and had to be bolted to the kitchen table with a handle. Where is it now? In the spot where my grandmother’s hand held butter churn is perhaps..somewhere in vintage kitchen equipment heaven. Thank you so much. Donnie

    1. Hi Donnie
      Yes and a pan had to be below to gather the juices. We have to keep these recipes alive!

  7. I love your memories. Thanks for sharing them.

    Recently I thought of my experience with a raw cranberry relish. Every year at Thanksgiving, Susan Stamberg (a founding mother of NPR) shared her grandmother’s relish recipe, “Mama Stamberg’s Cranberry Relish.” It has horseradish in it! We tried it one year. I can’t say it was a hit, but I felt tied to this pioneer for women’s equality. She and your Aunt Dodo would have been a pair! Stamberg passed away last month at the age of 87.

    1. Hi Susan

      I can see adding horseradish (a tiny bit ha ha) I think Ginger does the same thing without the harshness! Give it a try. Mama Stamberg sounds like Aunt Dodo!

  8. Love the legacy of Aunt Dodo. I still have my mother’s hand crank metal meat grinder. May have to try this the old fashioned way–if I can find a table to clamp it onto!

    1. Ha ha Sharon there in lies the problem. Stick with the modern day food processor. I am sure our family never used that contraption for anything other than the cranberry relish…but I bet many could pop up with recipes for sausage or whatever…speak up if so guys!

      1. Hi Cindy. What a beautiful story about your aunt Dodo, family really is everything, especially for children. Her cranberry relish looks delicious. My mother used her meat grinder for many thanks, but I always remember she would slice green beans in it for her green tomato mustard pickles (which my sister and I intend to make next week) She would also use it to make mince meat.
        .

  9. Cindy! Everyone needs an Aunt Dodo … she sounds like a treasure. And how fun that her cranberry relish is a Thanksgiving table staple. I love the idea of setting her pretty dish down on the table and telling a few stories about this remarkable woman. Summer will grow up feeling like she too knew her great, great Aunt Dodo through your recipes and storytelling. xo

    1. Aunto Dodo was my rock Juliette but she had no idea she was. She just showed up miraculously when needed. I hope she is listening in heaven because i know she is there…

    2. Susan,
      Your green tomato mustard pickles sound delightful. Do you have a recipe you could share? Thanks!

  10. Cindy I loved reading about your Aunt. It’s the time and the love they spent on us that makes us who we are. I am always glad to read about women like her. She reminds me of another aunt, my grandmother’s Aunt Viv who came and stayed with all the women in her family when they had babies in the 1930’s and 40’s . She was a midwife and helped them through those rough early years of motherhood too. Grandma learned so much from her that she passed down to us too.

    Grandma also made a cranberry jello with ground up cranberry and nuts and oranges WITH PEEL-( I always thought was fascinating.) She had a meat grinder she used too.

    I’m so glad to be a part of this with you. Thank you for letting us remember the women in our lives who are gone, but whose love lives on.I am going to try your recipe this year! It sounds delicious. I adore the table and the cozy spot in front of the fire. How about that on a rainy night? Dreamy!
    xo

    2. To be honest i think we added it to jello as well I had forgotten that. I am so proud to have grown up with some stron women in my life. I fear for those that haven’t. Dodo taught me to think beyond my own backyard

  11. Yep, our Indiana farm still makes a very similar cranberry relish, my Mom always poured it into strawberry jello (very 50’s!) and let it set. Funny how food triggers memories! Happy Thanksgiving!

  12. Oh my goodness, your mention of a meat grinder really brought back childhood memories. It would appear on Thanksgiving morning and securely attached to the kitchen table for making the dressing for the turkey!! Thanks for the mention…

  13. Thank you for sharing the story and recipe from your beloved aunt. I love family traditions! I make a beautiful cranberry salad that was my mother’s recipe every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s a sweeter version with grapes, pecans and whipping cream. We often say that we should call it dessert rather than a salad! I also put a few bags of cranberries in my freezer for later use. Happy Holidays!

    1. Hi Jan

      I have been eating cranberry relish breakfast lunch and dinner. I think I am going to try using honey for Christmas. We always have it at Christmas too!

  14. Lovely post Cindy! Would love to have met your aunt Dodo – she sounds awesome! Like Auntie Mame but more grounded lol! I did grow up in 50s and 60s but we usually had canned cranberry at Thanksgiving. Of course as an adult creating my version of Thanksgiving I did make special cranberry recipes and I’m eager to try this recipe as it sounds wonderful. Thank you.

    1. You will love it Mary Fran!! Steve’s family did the canned variety as well…I think they were both common n that era. For me it was the time with my Aunt Dodo talking about what was important (at least to us) in life while we were grinding…the best of times…I hope she knows how important she was to all of us cousins in different ways…

  15. Everyone needs an Aunt Dodo in their lives ❤️ Thank you for sharing her recipe! I make something similar from a cookbook I received as a wedding gift, but rarely meet anyone else who prepares it without cooking. This version must be packed with even more vitamins—and who couldn’t use that extra boost during the holiday season? I like to substitute clementines instead of oranges for natural sweetness.

  16. My mother made this recipe every year for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I made it as well and have passed it down to my daughter and daughter-in-law. It remains just as delicious and as fresh as it was when I first started eating it as a child. Thank you for reminding me what a good dish this is.

  17. Cindy, this may be my favorite post of any that you have ever written. I love learning more about you and your amazing aunt Dodo. She sounds like a rock and a lighthouse in the storm of life not only for you but your cousins as well. How wonderful to have such a woman to guide and teach you as you grew up. What a blessing and someone to be thankful for all year but especially in the season of Thanksgiving.
    Thank you for including me today!

    p.s. The recipe looks delicious and I am sure to become a favorite of mine as I love cranberries!

    1. Hi Eliz (whom I have called you for years)
      I am so geatful that we are connecting after all these years of blogging. Aunt Dodo was my rock. She did it quietly and strongly…that is how she rolled. I hope I can be 1/10 to Summer what she was to me.

  18. Good morning, Cindy-
    As a 74 yr old, I certainly remember cranberry relish! We helped my Mom with the meat grinder process every year during the holidays. Thank you for nudging my memory bank-I think I’ll make the relish this year!
    Have you ever made this Cranberry-Jalapeno Dip:
    https://www.melskitchencafe.com/cranberry-pecan-cream-cheese-dip/
    It’s wonderful for the holidays. I even make it with Cashew cream cheese-YUM!
    Enjoy your holidays! Pat S.

  19. I love the heart warming story about your aunt. I have made this relish every Thanksgiving since the 70’s but I substitute a little Splenda for the sugar because I am diabetic. It’s so good as a relish and a spread for turkey sandwiches.

    1. Hi Valeri

      I have thought about substituting part Splenda as well not because I am diabetic but because of so much sugar what is your ratio?

  21. Your Aunt Dodo was amazing and isn’t it interesting that both of us are remembering our aunts right now and what they meant to our families?
    Can’t wait to try your recipe….looks delish.

    1. Hi Mary Ann

      Yes!! I think that is what Thanksgiving is all about…Christmas is another beast

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