Recently, while looking through my recipe cards to find recipes to make and freeze, I ran across a recipe for Cranberry Bread. It reminded me of one of our favorite books, Cranberry Christmas. I thought the recipe came from the book, but further research revealed that it probably came from a different book by the same author (Wende Devlin), Cranberry Thanksgiving.
Cranberry Christmas is a book we discovered in our church library. It occurs to me that we never purchased our own copy. Strange.
Mr. Whiskers lives near a cranberry bog in Maine. He is a fisherman who lives alone and lives as he pleases. This causes a little concern for his young friend Maggie when she finds out his 'persnickety sister Sarah' is coming for a visit at Christmas. Mr. Whiskers' house is not exactly company ready.
Maggie and her grandmother help the reluctant Mr. Whiskers get his house shined and polished, and in the process discover something that will allow the local children to continue their tradition of ice skating on Christmas day.
This is a delightful book. My children always loved Mr. Whiskers. Maybe he reminded them a little bit of their own daddy- not that he is 'unsavory', but more because he also sports whiskers.
Read this book to find out why Mr. Whiskers is 'a wonder'.
Cranberry Thanksgiving has the same characters: Mr. Whiskers, Maggie and her grandmother. Maggie invites Mr. Whiskers to Thanksgiving dinner after her grandmother encourages her to invite some who is "poor or lonely". Grandmother is not entirely pleased, as Mr. Whiskers 'smells like seaweed'.
This book has a little bit of mystery, also, and in the end, Mr. Whiskers saves the day.
Grandmother's famous Cranberry Bread recipe is included at the end of the book. I think the recipe I made last week is the same recipe, but I'm not sure.
Wherever the recipe originated, it is incredibly delicious! I love the fact that it uses fresh cranberries.
I have made it twice this week. The first time I used all-purpose flour, the second time I used whole wheat flour. Both breads were good, but the one made with all purpose flour was better.
Both loaves stuck to the bottom of the pan even though I greased it heavily. I would suggest greasing and flouring the pan or making the dough into muffins.
CRANBERRY BREAD
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp grated orange peel
3/4 cup orange juice
3 cups fresh cranberries, chopped (I used food processor)
Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.
Combine egg, orange peel, and orange juice in separate bowl; add to flour mixture and stir just until mixture is evenly moist. Fold in cranberries.
Spoon into a greased 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan; cool on wire rack.
Learning Lessons,Making Memories. Homeschooling (K-12) and Parenting since 1986.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Family Favorites Friday: Cranberry Christmas, Cranberry Thanksgiving, and Cranberry Bread
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5 comments:
This will be the next bread I make, I've never made cranberry bread because I was intimidated by the fresh cranberries. I am inspired.
I am making this bread, looks great and I just bought a bag of cranberries at Sams for juicing, but I can save 3 cups for this!
Any book with the word persnickety in it is a book I need to get!
Glad you are inspired! You might become addicted, too. :-)
I bought one of those huge bags of cranberries at Sams, too. Have made the bread twice and added cranberries to cookies, too. Still have a bunch left, but, alas, I don't juice. Guess I'll think of something else.
I'm thinking I need to buy the book, too. I can't believe it is not in our personal library as much as we checked it out of the library.
When i am baking something that always seems to stick on the bottom I will cut a small piece of parchment paper and put it in the bottom of the pan. Then I can take a knife around the edges when it is baked and it dumps right out of the pan.
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