Over the exurbs and through the ‘hoods to Grandmother’s house we go. And we know what to expect when we get there: turkey and stuffing, of course; marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes; green beans in a mushroom sauce with crispy onions; pecan or pumpkin pie.

Did I forget to mention the cranberry sauce? It’s an essential ingredient at the Thanksgiving table, but you can’t open a can of cranberry sauce without opening a can of worms; people are surprisingly passionate on the subject of prepared cranberry sauce versus homemade.

Ocean Spray’s own website raises the question, “Just what is it about that log of cranberry sauce right out of the can?” and then, apparently unable to answer its own question, makes the ambiguous observation, “Holiday meals just wouldn’t be the same without it.”

No, they sure wouldn’t, and for the true jellied cranberry sauce devotee, Ocean Spray’s website includes easy-to-serve instructions for ‘Unmolding the Perfect “Log” of Sauce.’

For those who prefer to make their own sauce from scratch, there’s a wide range of recipes to try, but beware; your family may rebel against any attempts to innovate, as Gay Lyons, a Tennessee food writer, discovered when she served cranberry salsa instead.

How to satisfy the purists on both sides of this issue? Simply serve both kinds of sauce.

And while we’re on the subject of dubious but hallowed culinary innovations, I feel obligated to note the passing of the StoveTop Stuffing Lady, Ruth M. Siems, who died on November 13 at the age of 74. She’ll be remembered, more fondly by some than others, at tables all across America this Thursday.