I love experimenting with different Thanksgiving recipes, but when it comes to cranberry sauce, this is the only one I will ever need. I have been making Russ Parsons’ mother’s recipe (Russ Parsons, by the way, is the former Food Editor for the Los Angeles Times) for the past couple of years, and it is truly as good as it gets—sweet, tart, warming, and festive. It’s perfect.

In addition to its flavor prowess, the recipe conveniently calls for a resting period of one to three days in order for the fruit, sugar, and spices to settle and meld. This means I can prepare the sauce the weekend before the big day, successfully avoiding any additional kitchen chaos.

To round out my contributions this year, I’ll be making crockpot sausage and sage stuffing (a gluten-free version for my brother-in-law with Celiac—wish me luck!), sweet potato casserole, my friend Sarah’s potato rolls, and Simply Recipes’ apple pie.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! Thank you for making Gastronomy a part of your internet routine.

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
•  3/4 cup water
• 3 cloves
• 3 allspice berries
• 2 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
• 1 (12-ounce) bag fresh cranberries
• Grated zest of 1 orange

Bring sugar, water, cloves, allspice and cinnamon sticks to boil in 4-quart saucepan. Cook, stirring, until syrup is clear, about 3 minutes. Add cranberries and cook just until they begin to pop, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat, add grated orange zest and cool.

Refrigerate 1 to 3 days before serving. Remove cloves, allspice and cinnamon sticks before serving.

Makes 2 1/2 cups relish

Recipe by the Los Angeles Times.