Cranberry Bread

Black Friday dawned nice and bright this year. But we were inside malls and missed dawn. For the rest of the family left at home, I prepared Cranberry-Orange Nut Bread. I baked it the previous day. So, it was well rested and room temperature, in short, ready to be devoured when they woke up. This is again a recipe from Taste of Home's Best Holiday Recipes (2004) and I have no complaints with that. Correct measurements with excellent results. Here's the recipe



Cranberry-Orange Nut Bread







Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup orange juice
grated peel of 1 orange or
1 tsp orange extract
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp hot water
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup chopped walnuts

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. in a small bowl, beat the egg; add the orange juice, peel/extract, butter and water. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the cranberries and nuts. Spoon into a greased 9in. x 5in x 3in. loaf pan. Bake at 325 F for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
Yield: 1 loaf

Serving suggestion: Serve warm with cream cheese or honey butter.

picture courtesy: google images, oceanspray.ca
no copyright infringement intended.

Sweet Potato Bake - Thanksgiving Dessert

Last year we started a tradition for Thanksgiving, even though we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in India. But who can resist the idea of a table laden with luscious seasonal foods, all very yummy in the tummy of course. Not to mention that friends can wake up the next morning and run to stores to get the Early Bird Specials on Black Friday. Well that's what our tradition is in a nutshell - our family friends come over for dinner, we peruse the Thanksgiving day newspaper and maybe see a family movie that night. The next morning me and my friend run off to the stores on our list and 'shop till we drop'. Sounds therapeutic, doesn't it?
Well, let me get to the recipe now. This year my Thanksgiving day dinner had as many vegetarian elements of a traditional dinner as possible. And for dessert we had a delicious Sweet Potato Bake. It was a universal hit. And here's the recipe.



Sweet Potato Bake

Ingredients
3 cups cold, mashed sweet potatoes (prepared without milk or butter)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter softened
3 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp cold butter

In a mixing bowl beat sweet potatoes, sugar, milk, butter, eggs, salt and vanilla until smooth. Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, pecans and flour; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over potato mixture. Bake uncovered, at 325 F for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.
Yield: 8-10 servings

recipe source: Taste of Home's Best Holiday Recipes 2004. Thanks to Sandra Pichon of Louisiana.