In this Thanksgiving‑day live stream, Leigh Thomas Brown welcomes viewers, introduces her “My Kitchen My Rules” brand, and walks through a simple four‑ingredient “Drunken Cranberries” recipe she calls a holiday staple. She lists the ingredients—cranberries (Ocean Spray), Dixie Crystal sugar, apple cider (or juice/hard cider), and honey‑flavored whiskey—explains measurements (1 lb cranberries, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup cider, 1 cup whiskey) and cooking steps (medium heat, simmer until berries burst, then let thicken). Throughout she offers timing tips for West‑Coast viewers, variation ideas (adjust sugar, use different whiskeys, omit alcohol), and personal anecdotes about family, her daughter’s college, and her love of controlling the spread. Leigh intersperses real‑estate metaphors (“active,” “under contract,” “coming soon”) to describe the status of her other dishes (sweet potato casserole, pies) and mentions her regular “Market in a Minute” segment. She promotes her Southern cookbook (Leigh Thomas Brown’s Southern Recipes) and her website, and briefly announces her intent to file for Congress in North Carolina’s 8th district, directing viewers to her campaign site. The stream closes with Thanksgiving gratitude, a call for community kindness, and a shout‑out to Texas Tech and her daughter’s school. The tone is conversational, enthusiastic, and promotional, with occasional humor and heartfelt moments.
Chapters
Happy Thanksgiving! I am Leigh Thomas Brown. If we've never met before, then you might not know that I have this whole cooking thing called My Kitchen My Rules, which was born during the COVID era and turned into its own thing, frankly. But since it's Thanksgiving, I know that a lot of y'all are getting ready for having your family over, and you're probably thinking about what you can fix that will be fun and exciting And if you've been following my channel, you know that we were fixing to make my favorite Thanksgiving dish. It's a huge hit for everybody in your house, and we lovingly call it Drunken Cranberries. If you want to get a copy of the recipe, it's in my cookbook. Did you know I had a cookbook? What? I know, right? It's called Leigh Thomas Brown's Southern Recipes, and you can buy it at leighbrown.com. But I told y'all you only need 4 ingredients, and so if you're allergic to cooking, this is your recipe. Now it's not too late to go to the grocery store and get the ingredients as well, because you might not have gone over there yet, because yesterday it was crazy, y'all, and I was glad I didn't have to walk in there. I looked at the parking lot and went the other way. So you need 1 bag of cranberries. I have Ocean Spray just because that was what was on sale at the grocery store. And did you know, by the way, that there are only 3 native fruits to North America, and the cranberry is one of them? So what? Go us! Go America! The second ingredient that you need It's Dixie Crystal sugar. If you're new to my page, hey, what's up? This is the only sugar we use, and it was born in 1917. It's the only sugar my family's ever used, and so that's the kind we use. You're gonna need some sugar. If you have some off-brand, I am no longer responsible for the outcome of what you're making. You need some apple cider, and we have Trader Joe's today because that's what I had in the fridge. You could also use apple juice. You can also use hard apple cider if you want to make these really adult-friendly. Although for those of y'all that are looking to cut the alcohol in your lives, I hate to even admit this, for those of y'all that think you're going to get drunk off of these, the alcohol burns off. So spoiler alert, these won't actually make you drunk. I know, and if you have your in-laws coming, you might have had that hope. Don't worry about it because the fourth ingredient is whiskey. Now this is Jim Beam Honey. Why do I have Jim Beam Honey? Because that was on sale. Evan Williams works. There's a Jack Honey. There's a I think every one of the brands has a honey whiskey. If you have Fireball in your house, you can use Fireball too, and I imagine that would be good to have some cinnamon. So we have our 4 ingredients. So let's cut the stove on. And by the way, if you're wondering how this is related to my real estate life, I'm just gonna tell you that under contract right now, we have the pies for today. They are done and waiting for somebody. 'Cause you know, under contract means you're waiting to be done. Active would now be the cranberries, ah, ah, ah, and coming soon would be the sweet potatoes, which are laying over here in the kitchen. So sweet potato casserole is coming soon. That, my friends, is real estate. And I would normally have a Market in a Minute. So today your Market in a Minute is coming soon, sweet potatoes, and the turkey, he's coming soon too. Active is the cranberries and under contract, is your pies. Oh, by the way, we have coconut pie and pumpkin pie in this house today and also made some cobbler. All those recipes are in my cookbook. Ah, some of y'all never knew I put one out. So anyway, here's what you need. Get your pot going, and you do start this earlier in the day. So if you are a West Coast friend, you definitely want to start this now so it can cook down. The longer you cook it, the thicker it will be. So if you like your cranberries to be soupy you don't have to let it sit as long. But if you like it to have a good gel or a thicker consistency, you start them earlier. And this, by the way, for those of y'all that eat that nasty stuff out of the can with the little rings in it— gross— but if you like that kind of consistency, then you got to start it earlier. So we've got it on a medium heat. I just put in 1 pound of cranberries. Hey, Cat Tasker, good morning, Wisconsin! The next thing you're going to add is 1 cup of sugar. Now, if you're trying to cut your sugar then you can cut it. And maybe this is just what you don't like things to be as sweet. If you like it tart, this is your kitchen, your rules. Frankly, I don't know where you live or what you're doing, but you could totally adjust the sugar as much or as little as you want. It's not the most important ingredient. The cranberries are the star of the show here. Now the next thing you're going to want is 1 cup of apple cider. Oh, hey Jonathan, good morning. More counting. We need 1 cup of cider or apple juice or a bottle of the hard cider stuff. We're gonna put that in, and now it's 3 ingredients. Look, y'all ready for the 4th ingredient? During the COVID era, if you were watching me cook things during COVID it was a lot more alcohol in my recipes, but you know, we've tried to be reasonable since then. So let's do a cup of this, and however much more you put in there— it might be at the cup, it might be above, below the line— look, nobody's judging. If you're the one I'm cooking, you get to make the decisions. And if you ever wonder why my family comes to my house, it is a complete and utter control thing. I just, I honestly admit it. I like to control the recipes and the buffet and the spread, and I love having my family in my house so I don't have to leave. Look, that's just the honest truth. Hey Karen, I can't wait to see you down at the beach this winter. And hey Gina. All right, so there's your, your 4 ingredients. Look, see, y'all are like cooking geniuses. Now I don't want the spatula, I'm gonna get my actual wooden spoon. Now we're gonna stir it up, and then you're gonna let it sit. You'll let it come to a, a low heat, and you can leave it on the heat for a little while. I leave it on the heat until the cranberries start to burst. That is when you've got— oh, Penella, you have 4 people in your house, 4 kids. You might need some more whiskey. I'll pretend I'm Scott and Meg Penella in Kentucky, and that is what you do when you have 4 kids in the house. I only have 2, and look, y'all, my daughter is home from college, so my house feels really happy right now. "Did I know that Wisconsin is number one in cranberry?" I did not know that, Pat, but I will one-up you because North Carolina is number one in sweet potatoes. So you might have cranberries, but we have sweet potatoes, and so I'll send some to you, and thank you for providing some cranberries for my Thanksgiving. That's how we, how we roll in real estate world. So that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna let it sit on a low heat till they burst. After they burst, y'all, you take it off the heat and just let it sit. And that's when it will start to really congeal and turn a little bit thicker. But you can leave it on the heat longer if you want to. It's not that hard to leave it on the heat. But if you walk away from this at a high heat, it will go all over your kitchen, and then it's sticky and it's kind of gross, and it could actually stain everything in your kitchen because cranberries are red. And did you know that natives used to use cranberries for dyeing of fabric? See, look, you're learning all kinds of things. Oh, hey Aunt Paulette! Oh, there's my Aunt Paulette. Everybody tell her good morning. Hey Tanya! So look, this is so easy. Now I'm going to leave it on while I start fixing my sweet potatoes and my mashed potatoes and the macaroni and the green beans and the corn. So I've got other things I'm going to work on while that sets, and then it's going to move over here to the back of my stove and wait, and then we will share it with everybody and toss it all over everything. And frankly, I eat it straight out of the pot, so if you want to judge me, you go right ahead, but I will eat it straight out of there. Oh, and if you like my chicken shirt, I know it I can't see right. This came from Tractor Supply because I do nothing but the finest around my house. Thank you for Thanksgiving. And that is all we have. Look, so if you make some cranberry fun stuff in your house too, you need to share a picture with me so I can see it and I can say Happy Thanksgiving to you. But most importantly, remember that Thanksgiving is not just about saying thanks, it's to whom we say thanks. I think that gets forgotten a little bit. It's not just thank you for Thanksgiving, it's thank you, Lord, for Thanksgiving. So make sure that you remember who you're giving your thanks up to. Because we're not just thinking ourselves. We can't do everything ourselves. We weren't created that way. You know that right now. I'll also tell you that those of y'all that are in real estate, if you are looking for some opinions and some help about everything that's happening in professional real estate right now, I do have some more information and some more videos that are coming that hopefully will help you navigate the nasty information that's out there right now. So I got you, my friends. And those of y'all that are normal public people, if you know a REALTOR®, please go give them a hug and tell them thank you and hey, because our entire profession is being stomped on right now and it's pretty ugly. So anyway, we're out here taking care of each other because that's how we roll on Thanksgiving. And if you're local to Cabarrus County and noticed that we are now in North Carolina's 8th Congressional District and you heard a rumor that I am filing for Congress, it's absolutely true.. And that happens in December when filing occurs. I think it's just high time that a mom who owns her own business just goes on to Congress to fix some things. And so that's what I'm hoping to do. So you can get those information updates at leighthomasbrownforcongress.com. I'm not gonna put them over here on this page all the time because that might be tiresome to those of y'all that are not super interested in this stuff, but you can follow it. And I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. If you need anything, you know where to find me. I'll be in my kitchen and I'll be cooking and feeding people. And by the way, if you're at home all alone and you need a little bit of attention today, there's lots and lots of opportunities in the community. Or if you're just feeling overly abundantly blessed, won't you go out and do something good for somebody anonymously, secretly go do something good, because we don't have to take credit for everything that we do. Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I'm so excited that you came to join me on this wonderful Thanksgiving morning. Go watch the parade. By the way, Texas Tech's in the parade. That's where my daughter goes to school. So guns up, Red Raiders, Recom Tech, and I'll see you guys sometime soon here on the internet.
