Last night, I was on a mission.
Mission 1 – Make the Balsamic Braised Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta
Mission 2 – Make Split Pea Soup with Leftover Honey Baked Ham

Both missions were complete. Successfully? Eh. That’s debatable. Both of the dishes were eat-able, so that was a success. Unfortunately, the brussels sprouts looked nothing like they are pictured here. Granted, I only made 1/2 the recipe. I didn’t bother with the bread crumbs, so maybe that’s why (?).

Anyways, here is the finished product -

If you’re wondering about the pea soup, it turned out fine. I followed this recipe and had a bowl of the soup for lunch.

For Thanksgiving, I made exactly 1 contribution – Cranberry Sauce. To my taste, it was amazing. The recipe is simple and it can be whipped up very quickly.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 (12-ounce) package fresh or frozen cranberries, rinsed, drained and sorted through, removing any stems or deflated ones (I used fresh, Ocean Spray cranberries)
Several strips of orange peel, or thick pieces of zest
A few squeezes of orange juice (I used the juice from a fresh orange)

Directions
Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil; add cranberries and zest, return to boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 10-14 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a few squeezes of fresh orange juice. Cover and cool completely at room temperature. Refrigerate until serving time.

Source (and other cranberry sauce recipes)