Do you serve the traditional Thanksgiving foods that family and friends expect? . . . or do you “surprise them” with innovative, creative dishes? Even a hundred-year-ago people must have sometimes tired of the traditional Thanksgiving food, and enjoyed serving new dishes.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
A Hundred Years Ago 
I will be serving our family’s traditional jello “salad” made with can fruit, jello, and whipped cream.
We also had jello at our family gathering. I guess gelatin was an innovative food a hundred years ago – now it’s become part of many family traditions.
Totally appropriate – my family always makes cranberry jello similar to the recipe above (not freezing), then adding nuts and halved grapes. I remember making it years ago when seedless grapes were a rarity and having to pick the seeds out! At one point I think there was a “cranberry” jello available but it really didn’t have the right flavor so we make it from fresh cranberries. The frozen sounds kind of good though, like a cranberry sherbet.
The cranberry jello your family makes sounds really tasty. I never would have thought of that combination. I’m intrigued by the frozen cranberry gelatin dessert recipe in the ad- maybe I’ll have to try making it sometime.
I’ve tried some new recipes on Thanksgiving but overall I’ve gotten smart and tried them out ahead of time! The last “surprise” was Happy Hippie Stuffing. It contained sunflower seeds, cornbread, pecans, apples, and diced carrots in addition to the standard onion, celery and traditional seasonings. Everyone hated it!
Like you, I’ve learned to try recipes out prior to family gatherings. I love the name – Happy Hippie Stuffing. Too bad that it wasn’t very tasty.
I make cranberry sauce using the recipe on the bag of fresh cranberries. I can’t imagine needed to add 4 Tablespoons of lemon to already tart cranberries! I make the same ol’ same ol’ year after year.
I have a vague memory that lemon juice can improve the consistency of fruit-flavored ice creams, and make them less hard (and more dippable). Since the recipe was for a frozen dessert, lemon might be added for the same purpose.