Although we never lived near the rest of our family, my mother always made an effort to connect with them durig the holiday season - which was a great thing, since my grandmother was the best cook in the entire universe. (Go ahead; put up your dukes. I stand by my statement.) She made everything from scratch, for starters. She generally made a mouthwatering pie or cake every day. Piecrust was made using lard and melted in your mouth; I'd give $100.00 to have one more piece of her black raspberry pie. I'm sure she never used a commercially canned pie filling in her whole life.  Her cakes would be layered with orange or lemon flavored custard she'd make in the double-boiler and the frosting, of course, was also cooked from scratch. I was flabbergasted to learn, upon her death, that her cookbook had been given away to someone outside the family. To this day, I nearly come unhinged when I think about it. At least one thing she used to make - cranberry salad - remains in the family recipe archives. At our house (and Grannie's) it was always served on salad plates, unmolded from individual molds onto a leaf of lettuce. My mother used to make it every Thanksgiving and Christmas, and unless it is present on the table, neither holiday is what it ought to be, in my way of thinking.

I think I remember this dish so well partly because the holidays were the only time during the year my mother would drag out an old-fashioned kitchen contraption called "the grinder," an odd-looking gadget with a long wooden-tipped handle that had to be screwed on to the edge of a table or countertop by means of a large wing nut on the underside. Most of the ingredients for this cranberry salad had to be put through this machine, fed into a tubular opening below which was a spiral blade-like part that moved as the handle was turned. The food was half chewed and half mashed by the innards of this grinder, and despite the scary aspects of what it could do to fingers if they were inadvertantly placed in the wrong spot, I always thought it was a lot of fun to get to operate the thing.

We always had to put a large mixing bowl on the floor underneath the grinder because as the food was processed, juice flowed out in profusion. I've tried to replicate the recipe using a food processer, but the sad fact is the end product of such a method leaves something to be desired. It's not bad, but it's not the same. If you had never tasted the original I suppose it's possible you might enjoy it just as much, but if you're a purist, by all means go by the original instructions!

This recipe calls for black raspberry-flavored gelatin, which became quite scarce and hard to find a few years ago. Last year, however, our local Kroger store carried it again, so look around. If you can't find it, cherry or regular raspberry gelatin will do, although it's definitely not as good.

• 1lb. cranberries, washed
• 1 cup chopped celery (do not attempt to chop in food processor - dice by hand if you aren't using an old-fashioned grinder)
• 1 orange, seeded
• 1 apple, core removed
• 1 can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (I increase this)
• 1 package black raspberry flavored Jell-O (or best substitute)

Grind cranberries, celery, orange and apple through food grinder. Mix thoroughly. Add sugar and nuts. Dissolve package of Jell-O in one cup boiling water and add the cranberry mixture. Refrigerate for several hours in pretty serving piece or individual salad molds. Serves 12 generously.