Emotionally Scarred by Canned Cranberry Sauce

When I was a kid, my mom would make this amazing Thanksgiving feast every year. I  obsessed over every dish, salivated when steam seeped from under a lid, and couldn't wait until we could sit down and eat! Then, she would bust out the cranberry sauce. There was nothing about it that looked appetizing, and to this day, I don't think I've ever tried it.Then, she would bust out the cranberry sauce. There was nothing about it that looked appetizing, and to this day, I don't think I've ever tried it.

You see, my house was a 'canned cranberry sauce' house. There were no berries in it that make it look like actual food, and when she opened the lid of the tin can and glooped it onto the serving dish, it retained the exact shape of the can from whence it oozed.

Really? You spent hours and hours perfecting a masterpiece of a meal, and now you are going to just put that nasty stuff right next to all of the Thanksgiving glory? Come on, now!

Later in my life, when I went somewhere that actually made fresh cranberry sauce, I couldn't bring myself to try it. I had been emotionally scarred by the can shape of the cranberry sauce of my childhood, and now, even though I have respect for the cranberry, I love cranberry juice and am all about the health benefits of the cranberry, I can't eat it.

I'm ruined for cranberry sauce. That's okay, it just makes more room to stuff myself with stuffing.

Happy almost Thanksgiving!