Granny's Cranberry Salad

This is my all time favorite Thanksgiving item on the menu. For those who know me, this is saying something huge since I love green bean casserole and sweet potatoes! Truly, though, when I think of a laden-down table full of good food to eat, it is not complete unless we have the cranberry salad. Very simple to make (you can make it up to 48 hrs ahead of time!) and tasty! It feeds about 12-15 (depending on how much people put on their plate) and if there are any leftovers, it keeps super well!

Granny's Cranberry Salad

• 2 cups boiling water
• 1/2 c sugar
• 3 (3oz) boxes Jello - 2 Raspberry, 1 Cherry
• 1 bag (no more than a pound!) of raw cranberries
• 1 orange - thinner skinned is best, and seedless is even better
  
• 3-4 ribs celery - diced
• 2 small McIntosh apples - diced (I'd imagine you could use Gala's if you had to, I'm just partial to Macs!)
• Chopped Pecans (opt)
  

--Fully dissolve the sugar and Jello powder into the boiling water in a large bowl (what you'll serve it in). There can be no particles floating around in there or the salad just won't be the same.
--Put the bag of cranberries along with the orange (cut up with skin still on) in a food processor and pulse until everything is pretty little. Add to jello mixture.
--Add the diced celery and apples (pecans, too, if you choose to go that route) and stir to evenly distribute.
--Put it in the fridge to set and then cover with plastic wrap until you're ready to dig in!!