Prickly Pear Jelly begins...

And the jelly making process has begun!

You start with fruit on the cactus...

then you pick you a bunch of them... I picked over twice what you need for a batch of jelly... you don't actually need many, about a quart, but I always make extra juice... you can freeze it in 2 1/2 cup bricks to make a batch later.
The color of the inside of the fruit is so amazing... it always surprises me, even though I've cut hundreds of these things open in my life, that magenta is always a shock...
halved, covered in water, they'll be brought to a boil then cooked till tender. This is absolutely necessary to extract all the flavor and goodness...
And now, the fruit is in a jelly bag, dripping juice into a bowl... which I would have took a pic of, but quite frankly, it ain't interesting...

As my regulars here know, my Mother passed away recently. I'm actually dealing with it well, but Thanksgiving was a bit of a downer... all my normal holiday rituals and routines just went out the door.

I was lucky in that my 'adopted' family made sure I didn't spend it alone. I had my turkey day with Robert & Grace, their three grown daughters - who grew up calling me uncle and my mother 'Grandma,' - their husbands and a whole passel of kids...

I took a batch of pumpkin - cranberry muffins with me.

Of course they told me I didn't have to bring anything because they were raised right.

And, of course, I had to bring something because I was raised right.

It's one of those Southern catch-22's. We don't worry about it, we just live with it...

Anyway, it's one of my uber-simple recipes... take a can of pumpkin, a yellow cake mix and a bag of dried cranberries. Mix them together... sprinkle in some cinnamon, bake them in lined cup cake tins at 400 for 18 to 20 minutes.

Surprisingly good....

It occurs to me that I'm going to have to construct my own traditions now.

I think making this jelly, which Mom and I used to make together, will probably become a part of it...