Apple Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
12 oz whole cranberries
1 small apple, peeled and diced (I used Stayman Winesap)
1 cup water
2/3 cup sugar
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons rye or bourbon

Directions:
Bring the cranberries, water, apple, sugar and lemon juice to a boil. Reduce heat then simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, stir in rye. Serve hot or cold.

My thoughts:

I think I must make cranberry sauce more often than anyone on the planet. My husband really likes it and we make it many times over the whole year. I stock up on cranberries when they are cheap and then freeze them. Anyway, I make cranberry sauce so often, it is some times a challenge to keep it interesting. Sometimes it is easy when I have a flavor theme for the meal in mind but let's face it, more often I am serving it with a plain old roasted chicken or turkey. In this case, I added one of my favorite apples to the mix and enjoyed it so much, I thought I'd post it. The apple got soft but held its shape well. I really liked the contrast between the flavors and textures, cranberry sauce can be a bit one dimensional.

Figgy Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
12 oz whole cranberries
6 dried figs, quartered
1 cup orange juice
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 inch knob ginger, grated


Directions:
Bring the cranberries, ginger, figs, sugar and lemon juice to a boil. Reduce heat then simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, stir. Serve hot or cold.

My thoughts:

We make cranberry sauce a lot during the months when cranberries are in season. I like them to tie into the central dish and I hate making the same thing again and again so I added figs to this one to coordinate with the fig glazed turkey I make this year. They added a fun texture contrast (love the seeds) and tempered the cranberries' tartness. The leftover sauce keeps for weeks in the fridge and is awesome on sandwiches, either turkey or PB&J. Or of course, cranberry ribbon cake, triple ginger cranberry sauce bread, oatmeal cranberry sauce muffins or cranberry cheesecake squares.

Swim - {Cranberry and Orange Bread}

It's four in the morning and I'm floating on my back, surrounded, and unable to hear a thing. Water can do that to you.Some hours before, shivering under the unwelcome caress of a cool night on my exposed shoulders, I have a smile on my face. Bobbing in the water with my friends, I entwine my arms across my chest and fight the uncontrollable chatter of my teeth, watching canon balls and jumps

Tangerine Cranberry Poppy Seed Bread

Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 1/3 cups flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup tangerine juice
2 tablespoons tangerine zest
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour or spray with baking spray 1 loaf pan or one mini loaf pan that makes 4 one cup loaves. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In separate bowl, whisk together the zest, egg, oil, juice, sour cream and buttermilk until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until a uniform batter forms. Fold in the cranberries. Pour into prepared pan. Bake about 30 minutes (in either sized pan) or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in the pan on a wire rack, then remove to cool completely.

My thoughts:

I bought this mini loaf pan a while back and was excited to finally use it! I had the worst time finding the right pan. I wanted one pan with wells rather than separate small pans. I didn't want to make tiny individual sized loaves. I also didn't want to have to scale down my recipes in a complicated way or if I shared recipes for it, I didn't want to have to force people to buy a specific pan. You wouldn't believe how widely the mini loaf pans varied in size, shape and design. I decided on this one because it has four, one cup wells. A standard loaf pan holds 4 cups. That way I could make any recipe I've made in a standard pan in it and vice versa. I love that the loaves are big enough to share and get several good slices out of it. The loaves cooked very evenly and slide out of the pan easily.

I've been making a homemade gift for our neighbors for the last couple of years (different flavored nuts and then mustard) and this year I thought I'd bake a trio of quick breads to give, two sweet and one savory. The best part is that since I give three neighbors gifts and the pan makes 4 loaves of bread, we get to keep a loaf of each! I love tangerines and they are at their peak right now. They were very sweet so I paired them with tart cranberries to keep it from wandering too far into cake territory.

Bittersweet Cranberry Brownies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
12 oz bittersweet chocolate chunks
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour

Directions:
Heat oven to 350. Grease or spray with baking spray a 8x8 baking pan* very thoroughly. In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter. Add 3/4 cup chocolate chunks. Cook mixture over low heat, stirring constantly. Chocolate should be thoroughly melted. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until well mixed. Stir in flour and remaining chocolate chunks and stir until the flour is incorporated. Fold in the cranberries. Bake about 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or with just one or two sticky crumbs. Cool on wire rack before slicing and serving.

My thoughts:

When local Baltimore skyline fixture Domino sugar offered me a tiny stipend to create new recipe for a holiday treat, I knew exactly what I had to make.

This is pretty much the richest baked good I've posted here. Three eggs? 3/4 cup of butter? 12 oz of bittersweet chocolate? In a 8x8 inch pan? Insanity. Well, maybe not totally insane but definitely squarely placed in the decadent dessert sphere. This is a very, very good brownie. It is of the chewy around the edges-gooey in the middle branch of the brownie tree. They are thick, super, super chocolate-y and each bite is immensely satisfying. The cranberries are wonderfully tart and chewy which contrasts well with the dark chocolate. No one would ever guess that you could whip up a batch (in a single pot!) in under 15 minutes*. I am not even a big fan of brownies and I could not get enough of them, the mix of deep dark chocolate and tart cranberries is just divine.

*Not including baking time, of course.

Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce

Ingredients:
12 oz fresh cranberries
1/2 cup pomegranate arils
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 cup pomegranate juice
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of one lemon

Directions:
Place the cranberries, pomegranate arils, water, juices, sugar, and zest in a medium saucepan and, stirring occasionally, cook for 20 minutes over medium high heat to reduce and thicken. Remove from heat. Serve hot or cold.

My thoughts:

As I am sure you can tell, we are cranberry sauce fans. I am always trying to think of a new variation. I was more than pleased at how this one turned out. I wasn't sure what would happen to the pomegranate seeds (the cranberry seeds, of course, pop) but they reacted to cooking in the best possible way; they stayed whole and provided explosive bits of flavor. The seeds inside softened enough that they weren't terribly crunchy or intrusive, which had been a bit of a concern. While I love eating pomegranate seeds out of hand, a hard bit isn't expected in cranberry sauce. A welcome addition to our cranberry sauce rotation: fresh, sweet-tart and intensely fruity.

Pear & Cranberry Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup pureed Bosc pears
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 egg, at room temperature
5 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 thin (vertically) sliced pears, optional

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour or spray (with baking spray with flour) 1 loaf pan. In a medium mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter until fluffy. Add the buttermilk, egg and pear, mix until thoroughly incorporated. Add flour, baking powder, and spices. Mix thoroughly. Fold in cranberries. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Top with 2 thin slices of pear if desired.



Bake 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan about 5 minutes then invert to a wire rack.



Note: Peel and core pears before pureeing. It takes roughly 2 pears to make 3/4 cup puree. Don't worry about it being perfectly smooth, some small lumps are just fine.

My thoughts:

After making the truly divine blueberry goat cheese muffins this summer, I kept thinking about other baked goods that would be improved by using homemade fruit purees. I just love how using puree spreads the flavor throughout the baked good rather than just having suspended bites of fruit which, while tasty, leaves some bites fruit-free. I had a ton of pears leftover from a recipe development gig so I wanted to use them up in a new way. I love both cranberries and pears so I thought a quick bread marrying the two would be a great idea. While I have made muffins using chunks of pears that were quite good, I thought an even better way to get a true pear flavor would be to puree the fruit and fold it into the batter. I was right. Rather than fading into the background, the pear is every bit as present as the tart cranberries. The pureed pears also make the bread incredibly moist.

Fruit & Nut Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup old fashioned oats
3/4 cup mixed dried fruit
1/3 cup quartered, skin-on almonds
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Line or grease and flour one 12 well muffin tin. In a medium bowl, whisk together the spices, flour, baking soda, sugar, baking powder and oats. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the egg, oil and buttermilk. After it is thoroughly mixed, pour in the dry ingredients. Stir to combine. Fold in the fruit and nuts. Divide evenly among 12 muffin wells. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the center muffin comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack, serve.

My thoughts:

This morning felt nearly fall-like so I was inspired to make these appropriately autumnal muffins. You can use any dried fruit you'd enjoy but I used an "antioxidant blend" that included blueberries, tart cherries, cranberries and plums. I like that blend a lot because it isn't overly sweet and cheaper than buying all of those fruits individually and mixing them myself. Anyway, the mixture of fruits added a lot of flavor to these hearty muffins and the almonds added a bit of crunch. As an added bonus, they were super quick to make, from raw ingredients to fully cooked muffin took only 30 minutes. You can't beat that for a homemade breakfast!

Zippy Broccoli Salad with Bacon, Pinenuts and Cranberries

4 broccoli crowns
3 slices (cooked) bacon, crumbled
1 bunch green onion, diced
1 shallot, minced
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/3 cup toasted pinenuts

dressing:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons minced basil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon agave nectar
salt
pepper


Directions:
Quickly blanch the broccoli by plunging it into boiling water for one minute. Rinse off under cool water. Allow to cool. Thoroughly drain (a salad spinner works nicely) then chop into bite-sized pieces. Toss with salad ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing. Drizzle over the salad, toss to coat and evenly distribute.

My thoughts:

My family never made broccoli salad when I was growing but from what I've encountered at picnics and parties since, we were in the minority. I think I have had at least 10 variations of the salad. They all seem to have some things in common: something crunchy, something sweet and some sort of onion. When I went to make my own version, I didn't see any reason to leave any of that out. Raisins seem the most popular sweet ingredient but since I find them abhorrent and bug-like I went with sweet-tart dried cranberries. The need for bacon was clear and for crunch I added some toasty pinenuts. Often the dressing in broccoli salad is rather sweet which isn't terribly appealing to me so I made basil vinaigrette with just a drop of agave nectar for sweetness. Green onions and shallot provide the onion flavor without the sometimes harsh flavor of raw onion.

Quick note: While blanching the broccoli seems like an unnecessary step; it brightens the color of the broccoli and takes some of the raw edge off which really adds something to the salad.

Spiced Cranberry (Overnight) Oatmeal

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups water
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups (fresh) cranberries
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
sprinkle salt

Directions:
Place all ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook on low overnight (6-8 hours). Stir and serve.

Yield: about 6 servings

My thoughts:

Is there anything easier to make for breakfast than overnight oatmeal? It is super creamy and requires no effort in the morning-perfect for workday mornings, holidays, brunch etc. I added more sugar than I normally would to oatmeal because cranberries are quite tart but the cereal wasn't sugary, just pleasantly spicy and cranberry filled.

Cranberry Ginger Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup cranberries
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup chopped uncrystallized candied ginger
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Line or grease and flour one 12 well muffin tin. In a large bowl, mix together the oatmeal, egg, oil, milk, and sugar. After it is thoroughly mixed, add in the flour, salt and baking soda. Stir to combine. Fold in the cranberries and ginger chunks. Divide evenly amount 12 muffin wells.



Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the center muffin comes out clean.



Cool on a wire rack, serve.

My thoughts:

My husband really enjoys having muffins on hand to take to work for breakfast (his workday starts at 7 AM) so I am constantly trying to think of new muffin variations to make. I had about a cup of cranberries in the fridge and some uncrystallized candied ginger leftover from an earlier baking gig and wanted to make something that used both of them up. Matt requested a muffin with oatmeal so I combined the three and this is what I came up with. They are on the tart and spicy side-no confusion over muffin vs. cupcake here-but not so tart or spicy they are unpleasant and are full of interesting chunky bits. I think they are suitably festive enough to serve at some sort of holiday brunch or even to give as a gift-it is that time of the year-but they also freeze well for everyday eating. My husband like to freeze some of the batch and then take them frozen to work and microwave them to fully defrost. The oats really make the difference, they are very satisfying to eat, one really fills you up for breakfast.

Cranberry Cheesecake Squares

Ingredients:
crust:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup light brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon salt

filling:
1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
16 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 large eggs
juice of one tangerine
zest of one tangerine


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease or spray with baking spray an 8x8 inch pan. In a small bowl, add the butter, sugar, flour, oats and salt, mix thoroughly with a fork. Press into bottom of the pan. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to flatten and press firmly.


Bake 15 minutes or until just golden. Meanwhile, cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Add the egg, zest, juice and flour, beat until smooth. Pour over the crust. Dot with cranberry sauce and swirl with the tip of a knife. Bake 25 minutes or until set. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares.

My thoughts:

My husband loves cranberry sauce. Once cranberries make their appearance in the grocery store I start making cranberry sauce with any meal where it seems appropriate. I think I've made a different cranberry sauce just about every week since late October. This leaves me with a fair amount of leftover cranberry sauce to play with. I've made yummy muffins with cranberry sauce already this year but I wanted to make a dessert with cranberry sauce that would be holiday-worthy. These are a snap to put together and can be made ahead. Prebaking the crust is a bit of a time killer but you can make the filling while it bakes and it ensures a perfect, crisp crust. I also liked using oatmeal in the crust, it is a little nontraditional but it really adds some body to the crust and actually makes the bars a little easier to slice and lift out of the pan. The tangerine flavor is present but not too strong, it just adds a citrus note to the cheesecake. I really can't say enough about this bars, they are just really good, my whole family raved over them and my mother deemed them "swoon-worthy".



Note: any whole berry (i.e. not jellied) cranberry sauce would work, even store bought (!) but I think using this cranberry-tangerine sauce would be the best.

Ginger Lime Spiked Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 inch knob ginger, grated
zest of 1 lime

Directions:
Place the cranberries, water, juice, sugar, ginger and zest in a medium saucepan and, stirring occasionally, cook for 20 minutes over medium high heat to reduce and thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the rum. Serve hot or cold.

My thoughts:

Who says cranberry sauce has to be boring? This sauce boasts zippy ginger and tangy lime, both of which add a lot of flavor without overpowering the cranberry or wandering too far afield from traditional sauces.

Cranberry Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

Ingredients:
3 eggs, at room temperature
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup orange juice*
8 oz sour cream
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour one bundt pan. In a large bowl, cream the butter, zest, and sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg, juice and sour cream, stir to combine. In separate bowl, Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt in a large bowl until well combined. Add to the wet ingredients and mix until a uniform batter forms. Fold in cranberries. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 55 minutes or until a thin knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes on a wire rack, then remove from the pan. Cool completely.


*Freshly squeezed tastes the best and you're going to need the zest anyway. I got 1/2 cup of juice out of one large orange.

My thoughts:

This year was the first year I've ever made something for Christmas. We are not big Christmas people and my mom generally handles all of the cooking for our small family Christmas Day early dinner but this year she mentioned she wasn't sure what to make for dessert so I offered to make something. Then on Christmas Eve eve I suddenly came down with a fever-101.6. I almost called her to cancel dessert but I decided instead to look through some old recipes while I was in bed. I found a recipe for a orange poppy seed quick bread that I made years ago and liked so I decided it cross it with a lightened up version of old family favorite that had put in many a Christmas appearance and make something entirely new. Adding cranberries seemed appropriately festive and resulted in a cake that was just sweet enough. Thanks to the orange juice and sour cream (which I cheated a little and used Daisy light sour cream to no ill effect, I find it the thickest and most like "real" sour cream out of the low fat sour creams) it is a very moist and flavorful cake. Of course I am still sick and am not participating in the festivities (my mom is stopping buy later with some food and I will send some cake home with her) but I am glad I took the time to make the cake, it is one of my new favorites.

Fresh Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies (with a tasty chocolate chip surprise!)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup semisweet mini chips
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 egg



Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper*. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, vanilla and sugar. Add the egg, beat until fluffy. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, and oatmeal. Mix until well combined. Fold in cranberries** and chips. Place 1 tablespoon sized blobs of dough on the cookie sheet (about 1/2 inch apart) and bake for 12-14 minutes or until they look "set" and the bottoms are just brown. Carefully, remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: about 2 dozen cookies



*I've gotten some questions regarding parchment paper. To answer: yes, it is worth it. Repeat after me: "no clean up".

**The cranberries might pop as you mix them in and make a scary sound. That's okay, it doesn't matter if they are whole anyway.

My thoughts:

I had some cranberries, 1 1/2 cups actually, leftover from making sauce and thought about making cookies. I did some searching and actually couldn't find more than a couple (frankly, unappetizing) cookie recipes that used fresh cranberries. I am no stranger to baking with fresh cranberries, having made more muffins, bread, pancakes, crisps, and cakes than I can list here, so I found this odd. Dried cranberries might have the leg up because they are shelf stable and available year 'round but what about those months when you can use fresh cranberries? Do they not deserve cookies? I briefly wondered if there might be a reason why people aren't making cookies with fresh cranberries but quickly dismissed it. All I needed was about 25 minutes and I'd have my answer, so why not experiment. And I am glad I did. Using fresh cranberries totally works! Of course, this is not a overly sweet cookie (although I was so excited about finding mini chips at the store*** yesterday, I tossed some in) due to the tart nature of the cranberry but sweet enough. And if you close your eyes and take a bite, between all the cranberries and the oatmeal, you can almost think of them as good for you.



***Hershey's semisweet mini chips, which like it seems with all mini chips, are notoriously hard to find. If you're local, Mars is a stronghold. Beyond that I buy them at Chocolate World. Guittard makes mini chips too or so I hear, but they aren't available locally. You can substitute regular sized chips, but the mini ones are great, a tiny burst of chocolate in every bite, without being overpowering.

Cranberry & Tangerine Sauce

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup tangerine juice
2 tablespoons Aperol
1/2 inch knob ginger, minced
zest of 1 tangerine

Directions:
Place the cranberries, water, juice, sugar, ginger and zest in a medium saucepan and, stirring occasionally, cook for 20 minutes over medium high heat to reduce and thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the Aperol. Serve hot or cold.

My thoughts:

I love cranberry sauce and this citrus spiked version is one of my favorites yet. Tangerines are a good balancing force for the cranberries so you end up with a sauce that isn't too sweet but isn't overly tart or bitter either. And Aperol? Well, it is just one of my new favorites and has great not too sweet notes of bitter orange and rhubarb (among other yummy things) but isn't 100% necessary for the sauce. It just adds a little something extra.

Oatmeal Craisin Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup sweetened, dried cranberries*
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 egg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Line or grease and flour one 12 well muffin tin. In a large bowl, mix together the oatmeal, egg, oil, buttermilk, and sugar. After it is thoroughly mixed, add in the flour, salt, nutmeg, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir to combine. Fold in the dried cranberries. Divide evenly amount 12 muffin wells. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the center muffin comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack, serve.

*Chop them up if they are freakishly large. The ones I had were on the small side so I left them whole.

Note: If you are using unsweetened dried cranberries, you might want to add additional sugar to the recipe as cranberries are quite tart.

My thoughts:

We're having a major house cleaning day today so I thought muffins would be a good choice for breakfast-quick and filling. I was looking for inspiration in the cupboards and came across a bag of Craisins I has purchased at least a year ago. I checked the expiration date and it was for the end of this month so I thought I'd better use it up. I like the idea of dried fruit and often pick up bags of it, but I never seem to get around to actually eating it. Adding them to the oatmeal muffin recipe I had been thinking about all week seemed like a good idea. I was worried the muffins might be too heavy or chewy, but it worked out fine, the muffin was fluffy, the cranberries really plumped up and I am always amazed at how oatmeal seems to disappear once it is baked.

Triple Citrus Cranberry Cake

Ingredients:
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup cranberries
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup tangerine juice
1/3 cup lime juice
� cup lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Chinese 5 spice powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla
� teaspoon salt
zest of one lime
zest of one tangerine


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour one bundt pan. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, 5 spice powder and salt in a large bowl. Beat in the juices, oil, zests, vanilla and eggs until well combined. Fold in cranberries. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes on a wire rack, then remove from the pan. Cool completely.

Spring this recipe!

My thoughts:

I hadn't baked anything in a while, so I decided to make a quick cake. A real benefit of using oil is that you don't have to wait for butter to soften. I got the idea and with in 15 minutes, including juicing all of the fruit, it was in the oven. I used leftover cranberries that I froze myself back near Thanksgiving, some tangerines that were on the verge of spoiling and a few lemon and lime halves I had in the fridge leftover from other recipes. It is moist, slightly dense and subtly citrus-y. The tangerine juice keeps it from being too tart and cranberries are like little jewels when you cut it. One odd thing about the cake-even though there is no butter in the batter, when it baked it gave off the most buttery aroma imaginable. I can't quite figure that out.

Cranberry & Chocolate Chip Blondies

Ingredients:
2 cups dark brown sugar
1 1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup dried cranberries
2 eggs, at room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt




Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour or spray with cooking spray with flour one 8 inch square baking pan. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix throughly, about 2-3 minutes. The batter will be rather thick. Scrape batter in pan. Bake 40-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle of the pan comes out almost clean. The blondie will set up as it cools. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes then remove from pan to continue to cool. Serve at room temperature or slightly above.

My thoughts:

Last night I had a sudden craving for something chewy. All I had was dark brown sugar (instead of the usual light brown) but they came out fine, a little darker but just as chewy. The cranberries add a tart note that breaks up the sweetness of the blondie. I also put some chocolate chips in because I couldn't resist but make no mistake, this is a true blondie: chewy and caramel flavored.

Apple Cider Spiked Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup apple cider
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Madeira
2 cinnamon sticks

Directions:
Place the cranberries, apple cider, sugar and cinnamon sticks in a medium saucepan and, stirring occasionally, cook for 20 minutes over medium high heat to reduce and thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the Madeira. Remove the cinnamon sticks and serve.

Spring this recipe!

My thoughts:

We created this cranberry sauce recipe to reflect the other flavors in the food we were serving: the apple cider and Madeira were also present in the turkey, and the gravy. This created a sort of flow of flavors in the meal. Even though each dish had very different tastes, they all had similar notes of flavor.