Last Call for Cranberries: Cranberry Orange Bread

Cranberries are so lovely.  They add such zip, color and flavor to recipes!  November and December are the main cranberry months, but if you look quick you can get some in January!  I always stock up for the following 10 months!

I am always looking for a great quick bread recipe that can be thrown together easily for breakfast or to take somewhere. This recipe is a favorite- chock full of cranberries, orange juice and zest and chopped walnuts!  (As for Cranberry muffins these, from King Arthur Flour, are my all-time favorites - though they require a little more time to prepare with more chopping and measuring than this Cranberry bread).  

My friend Emily shared this bread recipe with me a few years ago.  I can't even remember when or in what context, but I printed it out, tucked it in a notebook, and have reached for it many times through the years.

Emily continually inspires me.  She has an lovely blog Celebrate Today, where she shares about her daily life and beckons the reader to celebrate each day- in grand and small ways.   You can check it out HERE.

This week she wrote about her morning run - seeing the sun rise (inspiring, I told you) and she noted seeing the crocus flowers starting to peek through the ground, signaling that spring is coming soon.  I needed to hear that.  I needed the reminder that these gray days will end and there will be green grass, blooming blossoms, and sunny days again. This gives me hope. 

In the meantime as I wait for those spring days, I am going to use my cranberries, and try to embrace these days.

Cranberry Orange Walnut Bread

2 cups all purpose flour (or combination of whole wheat/ all-purpose or whole grain pastry flour)

1 cup sugar (or a little less)

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 egg

½ cup orange juice

grated peel (the zest) of 1 orange

2 Tbsp. melted butter

2 Tbsp. hot water

1 cup fresh cranberries (or frozen)

½ to 1 cup chopped walnuts (depending on how nutty you like it)

In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients.  In another bowl, beat egg. Add orange juice, peel, butter and hot water.  Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Gently fold in cranberries and walnuts.  Spoon into greased loaf pan (or mini loaf pans).

Bake at 325 degrees for 60 minutes (if using large loaf pan- reduced if using small pans) or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. 

Cool for 10 minutes before removing and placing on a wire rack.

I made it a couple of weeks ago and doubled the recipe.  I baked 1/2 in my mini-loaf pans to slice and take to church and the other 1/2 in a large loaf pan, which I wrapped up, froze and took to the Joneses when we went to visit during the holidays. 

It freezes well, thaws easily, travels well, and is good for breakfast, lunch, or for snacking!

We got to enjoy it for breakfast at their home with omelets, yogurt and homemade granola.  Delicious! 

While the cranberry bread was baking, I couldn't resist making a jar of cranberry sauce with the rest of the cranberries in the bag.  I wrote about making cranberry sauce HERE. So easy, pretty, and delicious on sandwiches, with dinner, or in my yogurt for breakfast!

Seize the cranberries while they last, and hold out hope that spring is coming soon!

Some December Favorites

December was such a busy month with a very full load of grading and closing down the semester,  followed by a child-filled holiday season. Therefore,  blogging had to be put on the back-burner.

However, two things that I made this month, that I just have to share are Cranberry Sauce and Jalapeno Poppers.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce.
I have a great love for cranberries. I wrote about it HERE.  And this very time-limited cranberry season is about to end!  So, if you haven't already stocked your fridge/freezer with cranberries, get them quick.  My Kroger had them on clearance this week for 25 cents a bag!

Cranberry sauce is one of those recipes that people think is complicated or difficult but actually it is quick and very simple. I made a few batches of cranberry sauce this season. YUM! So easy and so delicious!

Just a few ingredients!

Place a bag of fresh cranberries in a large pot on the stove (pick out any rotten or shriveled berries from the pot). Add 1 cup of granulated sugar. Pour in 1 cup of water. If you want, you can add the zest of an orange. Stir ingredients together. Heat on medium high for 10 minutes, stirring often, until the berries pop. Take off of stove and let cool. Sauce will thicken as it cools. Store in a tight container in the refrigerator.

I love cranberry sauce on top of meat, on a turkey sandwich, as a side dish with a savory meal, or swirled into my plain greek yogurt for breakfast!
Having a jar of it in the refrigerator inspires all kinds of uses.

Secondly, these Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers were a favorite of our season.

Maybe because it's been the holiday season and it inspires party food.  Or maybe it's because cooking a whole meal lately has felt overwhelming.  But I've been wanting snack dinners lately.  We have had appetizers for dinner several times during the holidays.  Sometimes we have had crackers and cheese, sliced apples,  hummus and veggies, goat cheese with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes with crackers and pita chips, texas caviar and chips.  And if we're really going for it- these bacon wrapped pepper poppers have made it on the menu!

We made these a couple of summers ago for the first time when grilling with friends and we fell in love.
They are a little kicky but the spiciness really varies pepper to pepper.

They are simple and just have three ingredients: jalapeño peppers, cream cheese and bacon.

Slice jalapeños long-wise and carefully hull out the seeds and the white inside the pepper (the seeds are the hot part of the pepper, so be careful when handling them!).
Use a knife to smear softened cream cheese into each of the peppers.  Slice bacon in half and wrap a piece around each pepper, securing the two sides together on top.  Place them on a grill over medium heat.  If you have a higher rack, use it. Cook until bacon is fully cooked and crispy, and the jalapeños are softened. Serve immediately.

Or if you don't have easy access to a grill, you can place them on a baking sheet and bake them in a 375˚ oven for 25 minutes, or until bacon is crispy.    

I love December and the foods and festivities, however, I sure enjoy starting a new year, embracing a clean slate.  So, I've packed up the Christmas decorations, made some resolutions and am thankful it's January.

 I hope you are having a great start to a new year.

Eating our Greens (and lots of Ice Cream)

In enjoyment of the produce of summertime, and to offset the junk food that is inherent in summer eating, I have been cooking lots of veggie-driven meals.  Corn on the cob, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, zucchini and melons have played a leading role our table.

Kale is one of the “super foods” I have been playing around with in the kitchen as well.  

My friend Melissa mentioned this Kale Salad that she makes and I tried the recipe. It is super simple and just what I want for a summer lunch.  I have been craving it so much that I have made it 4 times in the last few weeks!  I also think it’s great as a side with a piece of grilled chicken or fish for dinner.  One day I stirred in chunks of grilled chicken and feta and had a meal in a bowl.

Here's how simple it is:

Chop about 6 cups of Kale in the food processor until it is fairly finely chopped

add 1 cup cooked quinoa

and 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds

and 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Toss all of these together.

In a measuring cup make the dressing: 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and a pinch of coarse salt and ground pepper.  

MIx well and pour over the salad, stirring and adding as much as needed.

ENJOY!

It keeps well in the fridge for a few days.

Feel free to tweak the recipe as you like, putting more or less (or different ingredients) to make it the taste that you like.

The other thing we like to make with kale is Kale Chips.

They are one of my 9 year old's favorite treats. They are simple to make and are a tasty way to “eat your greens”.  I follow Smitten Kitchen’s recipe. So simple and yummy.

Smoothies are another almost daily request in our home and to get some good spinach nutrients into my kids, our featured smoothie has been the SNOT smoothie.  (Aptly named for the beautiful green color. I usually give a big, dramatic "Ahhhhhhhh Choo!" as I am about to plunge the straws in to serve the smoothies to my gang!)

The smoothies contain: fresh spinach, frozen bananas, frozen mango and vanilla yogurt.  If it’s too thick to blend, I add some cold water to thin it.  They are so delicious and beautiful too. (Much more beautiful than snot).

Another healthy thing we are trying
to make sure we add to our "diet" is SMILING!

I saw this message at the Frothy Monkey a couple of weeks ago and had to take a photo to hold onto this reminder!

And in case you think we are super-food, super-healthy all the time, DO NOT BE DECEIVED! We have been eating lots of tacos and guacamole, burgers, egg and cheese wraps, and we have been eating our fair share of ice cream.

Blue Bell Ice Cream has been on sale at the grocery, so of course we have had to get it!

And we have been making floats- rootbeer/vanilla ice cream; and Sprite/rainbow sherbet - a family tradition in my growing-up-home.

And we finally took our kids to Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream for the first time.

(We had been holding out because it is the cost of a meal for our family to each get a small ice cream there.)  But as a prize for their summer rewards plan, we did it.  

YUM! Buttermilk Strawberry, Salty Caramel, Chamomile, Toasted Coconut, Milkiest Chocolate in the World, Brambleberry Crisp... this is some splendid ice cream!

Hoping your summer is filled with some farm-fresh produce as well some sweet treats!

Gingerbread Cookies and Gratitude

Thanksgiving is only a few days away!  
I love a holiday where we enjoy special food & express Gratitude. 

A favorite November treat of mine is Gingerbread cookies.  My mom often makes these in the shape of little pilgrims for Thanksgiving weekend. The cookie cutters she has are the plastic ones with the detailed indentions. They make really cute pilgrims. Since I don't have those cute pilgrim cutters, I like to make fall leaves.

I think these fall leaf cookies are so pretty and simple. When I was planning to make them this week,  my kids chimed in and begged to make “ginger people”.  I think they thought it wrong to make gingerbread cookies and not make people. So, we did both. I made leaves and acorns and they made people.  My children always add a new twist to experiences.  They pulled out all of the containers of sprinkles and colored sugars.   I tried to explain that these cut-out cookies aren't like sugar cookies, and the icing is just for piping, not for spreading.  I tried to explain that there would not be much for the sprinkles to adhere to.  But where there is a will (or a love for sprinkles), there is clearly a way.

I don’t know if you have ever made or used Royal Icing.  It is not like a yummy buttercream frosting.  It is smooth, thin and white.  It drys hard.  It’s pretty, useful and sweet,  but not delicious.  (Though Dave thinks the frosting adds to the yumminess of the cookies. He insists that they enhance not only the look, but the taste).

These are a nice cookie to have around during the holiday, for the kids to enjoy or the adults to nibble on, when not wanting to get out plates and forks for another slice of pie.  They also travel well, if you happen to be traveling.  

They can also provide an activity for young people to do, when they are bored, or want to help, but there are already too many cooks in the kitchen.  You can make the dough ahead, keep it cold, and then at set it up in another room (away from the kitchen choas) to create some cookie art. I did this a couple of different years with Dave's family during the holidays.  It felt like a better place for me to be than being in the way in the kitchen.  Kids from 2 to 32 seemed to enjoy the project.

Gingerbread Cookies 
(via my mom via Mabel Smith – many moons ago)

3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 tsp. ginger
1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses

Mix together dry ingredients. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in egg.  Stir in molasses.  Blend in dry ingredients.  Chill overnight.  Roll dough 1/8" thick – Cut out with cookie cutters.  Place on parchment lined baking sheets, with a little space between cookies.  Bake at 375 ˚ for 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove from pan.  Cool.

Pipe designs with Royal Icing.

Royal Icing

3 tablespoons Meringue Powder (Wilton Brand is sold at Craft stores in bakery supply section)

4 cups (about 1 lb.) powdered sugar

6 tablespoons warm water   (or for stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water)

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer).

NOTE: Keep all utensils completely grease-free for proper icing consistency.

I wonder what is happening in YOUR kitchen this week.  Are you baking to take food somewhere?  Are people coming to your home? Are you in charge of the turkey, a side, a dessert?  My mom has begun to keep the Thanksgiving Meal document archived on her computer so that we can simply pull it up, tweak it, and sign up for who does what! YUM! 

If you are still looking for recipes for Thanksgiving meals, here a few I recommend. 
These are all previously posted, time-tested, yummy recipes!

SALADS:

Cranberry Salad, to CELEBRATE that cranberries are available now.

Special Pear Salad (if you have a smaller crowd)

 

SIDES:

Cheesy Potatoes

Sweet Potato Apple Scallop

Macaroni and Cheese

BREADS:

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Cheese Rolls

DESSERTS:

Apple Cake

Cranberry Pear Bars

and you can't go wrong with some

Hot Mulled Cider

I hope you get to enjoy a good food with loved ones and maybe try a new recipe.

I wanted to share this powerful quote with you from Henri Nouwen (a favorite truth-teller in my life) about Gratitude that I am letting soak into my heart and mind this week:

To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives-the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections-that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment.

 As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for. 

Let's not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God. 

From the Daily Meditation by Henri Nouwen (Bread for the Journey)

Wishing you a grateful holiday.  I am thankful for YOU, friends!