Thunder, we love the cranberry sauce made basically the way the bag
instructs. I don't really understand why people don't like cranberry
sauce. I wouldn't eat it as a kid (from the can), but then I wouldn't
eat onions and tomatoes either! This year I grabbed a couple of extra
bags and threw them in the freezer, so if we get the urge to have cs
later in the year, we can.

I make a sweet potato casserole on Thanksgiving, with a little orange
juice and sugar, topped with a pecan/flour/sugar mixture. It's not
horrific at all; got the recipe from Bon Appetit several years ago. I
can see if there's too much sugar it could easily get overwhelming. I
think it goes really well with stuffing and turkey. Thanksgiving is
one of those meals that always seems to have such a mishmash of flavors
and types of foods.

One year I picked plums off the tree in my dad's backyard and had them
out in an appetizer dish. They stayed untouched (except by me). Funny
how people get in their minds that if it's not store bought, it must be
"dirty" or "unedible."

Alex, we love strawberries. I can imagine that scene very easily.
Americans are so used to drinking soda, eating sweet cereals, using
artificial sweeteners (which dulls your senses to how sweet foods are
naturally). We eat tons of fresh fruit in our house. I love the white
peaches that come out in the summer. One year I made a pie with them,
and just thought adding sugar took away from how good they are. I just
eat the peaches now.