Cranberry Butter Recipe

Today is Thanksgiving Day and I would like to 

send my blessings to each and every one of you.

May your day be filled with

blessings

family

friends

laughter

and memories.

 It's kind of late for a recipe, but there may still be time to whip this up.

Cranberry Butter for your dinner rolls.

If there's not time to fix this today for Thanksgiving,

there is always Christmas.

It's right around the corner, you know.....

Cranberry Butter

1/2 c. butter, soft

1/4 - 1/2 c. cranberry sauce with orange (depending on your like of cranberry)

2 TBS honey

Mix all the ingredients together using a food processor or mixer.

You Have Got To See This: Honey Beer Bread

Every Thursday I have been putting together a one day

menu by using recipes that I find through Pinterest.

I really hope it's been helping you out.

It's been helping me out, that's for sure.

I get to try these recipes that I find.....

And then I get to tell you all about them.

Am I good with written convincing skills?

I hope so....

I am going to convince you that this is the

best beer bread I have ever had.

And Mom, I know you read my blog,

and I have been begging you for your beer bread recipe,

and well, I won't be begging you anymore.

This one is top notch!

But it sure would be nice to share a childhood recipe

with readers here.....

HINT! HINT!

Did you happen to see what I did with this bear bread?

We ate this bread with stew.

The next day I toasted a piece of this bread

and topped it with a couple over-easy eggs.

OH MY GOSH!

To die for....Seriously!

This recipe came through Pinterest from Lemon Sugar.

Don't you just love her blog name?

It ends with sugar just like mine.

COOL!

But anyway, let me tell you more about this bread.

I slaved all day over a crock pot full of stew,

and the bread got more complements then the sweat

wrenching stew did....

For real?

This is an awesome bread, and the perfect side for

almost any meal.

Just a little piece of advice:

When making this bread, you might want to place a drip

pan under it while it's baking. I had butter drip into the bottom

of my stove.

But it's all GOOD!

Honey Beer Bread

Recipe Source: Lemon Sugar

3 c. all-purpose flour

2 TBS sugar

1 TBS baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 TBS honey

1 bottle (12 oz.) beer (I used Smuel Adams Blackberry Witbier)

1 stick melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder and salt) Add the beer and honey and stir until just combined. The batter will be thick.

Melt butter, and pour half of it in the bottom of the loaf pan. Spoon the batter into the pan, and smooth slightly on top. Pour the remaining butter evenly over the top of the batter.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. If the top is browning too quickly, you can lay a sheet of foil over the top to slow it down. Right when it comes out of the oven, drizzle some honey over the top, and cool slightly on a wire rack.

Serve warm.

This recipe is linked to:

Recipes For my Boys ~ Thursday's Treasures

Miz Helen's Country Cottage ~ Full Plate Thursday

Foodie Friends Friday

The Country Cook ~ The Weekend Potluck

The Pizza War Is On!!!

The Ultimate Pizza War!!

 A few nights ago Sean and I decided to make pizzas.

We have found a new way of eating pizza at home.

And nothing is better than pizza at home, right?

We buy Focaccia bread (actually it was my son that created this idea).

The Focaccia bread that we used was Asiago.

We can buy this in our local grocery store's bakery department.

So, how did a lazy night of pizza building turn into a war?

In the photo above I took pictures of each ingredient that I placed

on MY pizza. 

From start to finish.

Sean is in HIS space of the kitchen doing this, 

"Are you going to take pictures of MINE?"

"Why aren't you taking pictures of MINE?"

Okay crybaby....I will take pictures of your pizza.

The taunting created the WAR!!

But before I tell you the ending result, let me share with you how

this pizza is constructed.

We placed a thin layer of pesto on the bread,

pizza sauce,

pizza toppings, 

and cheese (the toppings and cheese are in no specific order)

Placed them in a preheated 400 degree F. oven for

10 to 15 minutes.  

Since this project turned into a war, I created a block picture,

"Sean's Pizza"

"My Pizza"

 Placed it on my fan page and asked the fans to vote.

Who do you think won????

Well, it certainly wasn't the experienced cook in the house....

Yup, you guessed it.....SEAN!!

Can you believe it?

I am truly wounded! 

My ego extremely crushed!

I have been defeated by a "same thing every-time" type of person.

But it was fun.

This recipe is linked to:
Foodie Friends Friday

Yes, I Said Skinny: Skinny Zucchini Bread

 I am not anywhere near worried about this Zombie Apocalypse craze.....

What I am worried about is being taken over by zucchini....

Every harvest season it seems like zucchini keep multiplying. 

Not by 2's, but by 100's.

My salad shooter shredder (say that 5 times fast) 

is getting a workout already.

And it looks like this zucchini bread recipe is going to be 

filling my oven constantly. 

 I have been doing a lot of research as to how to cut down on 

calories and carbs (sugar) when it comes to baked goods.

From what I have gathered, the oil in a recipe can be

subbed with fruit puree. And there are tons

of sweetener options out there as far as sugar goes.

So this is what I did, I placed one banana and a half

of a cup of applesauce in this recipe.

Banana and applesauce are natural sweeteners, so I 

cut back on the sugar amount. 

This bread is perfect!

But you will have to be your own judge.

Try it for yourself and see what you think.

Skinny Zucchini Bread

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

3 tsp. ground cinnamon

3 eggs

1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce

1 banana

1 TBS canola oil

1/2 c. Splenda brown sugar

1/2 c. Splenda blend sugar

3 tsp. vanilla

3 c. grated zucchini (I left the skin on)

Options:

1 c. shredded coconut

1 c. chopped pecans

1 c. chopped walnuts

1 c. raisins

And you could even drizzle with melted chocolate

If you add more than one option to your bread, I would cut them down to 1/2 c. each.
Mix all wet ingredients along with sugars. Add the dry sifted ingredients to the wet. Stir in the options of choice. Bake at 350 for 1 hour, or until wooden pick tests done.

This recipe is linked to:


Baked In The South

Love Bakes Good Cakes

I Caved! Banana Bread

Yes, I caved....Most of you know my thoughts on banana bread. 

NOT A FAN! 

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like it, or refuse to eat it, 

it's just so traditional.....

Does that make any sense?

But being a HUGE fan of The Big Green Bowl 

(and Michael Ann personally), 

I decided to give banana bread one more go.

Michael Ann's recipes are oh so good, and never fail.

Honestly!

NEVER fail!

I'm so glad I gave into the traditional banana bread. 

Because this is the best banana bread I have ever had. 

This one is surely going to be marked 'my favorite'.

I'm just going to send you to The Big Green Bowl for this recipe, 

because the only thing I changed was adding pecans and coconut.

There is a funny story to this banana bread......

If you're interested, keep on reading.

4:00 pm the bread goes in the oven.

I run upstairs to talk to my son.

4:02 my cell phone rings (which is downstairs), (don't hear it because I'm upstairs).

4:20 pm I check the bread, notice my cell blinking with a message (the bread still has about 5 to 10 minutes to go).

The message on the phone (remember it rang at 4:02): "Ang, I'm calling you from the haircut place so you won't be able to call me back. My phone is locked in my truck along with my keys. I'm parked in the Wal Mart parking lot. Can you please come get me? I'll be standing by my truck (temp outside 98)".


I take one whole minute deciding on whether I should wait on the bread or go pick up the 'keys locked in truck' person. He's already been standing by his truck for almost 20 minutes, what's another 10 going to hurt? But wait, it will take me about 15 minutes to get there, so that means he will have to stand there another 20-25 minutes if I wait on the bread. I decide that he's more important then the bread. I pull the bread out of the oven and turn it off. I run to my car and drive 70 all the way.

I found him walking about a mile and a half away from Wal Mart. Poor thing! He was going to walk (temp outside 98) the 10 miles home......

One thing that is always guaranteed, when I rescue the 'keys locked in truck' person....I always get rewarded with a meal out.

I was hoping the bread would continue baking in the pan while I was gone....nope! I had to scoop the gooey out of the top. But I salvaged enough to share with everyone.

I WILL be making this again, and I WILL complete it.

I Found It!! Lemon Blueberry Poppy Seed Bread

This recipe was talked about on my Facebook Fan Page. Poppy seeds or no poppy seeds? Well, poppy seeds won.....

And then I had to make the announcement that I lost my "chicken scratch recipe", because I thought I threw it away, and I thought the bread was already posted to my blog. Do you remember that?

Low and behold....I found the recipe buried deep in the mess on my desk. I really need to set some goals for myself and become a little more organized. Notice how I used the word "little"? I need a filing system or something......

Tag: Recipes to blog

Tag: Recipes already blogged

I spent one whole day digging through bags of trash for this recipe that I thought I threw away, with no luck at finding it.....digging through old potato peels, egg shells, and left-over pizza that sat so long it dried out was not fun......But I am dedicated to my fans, and if dumpster diving is involved, I will do it!

Maybe I should rename this recipe? "From The Depths Of My Desk Lemon Blueberry Poppy Seed Bread"

Lemon Blueberry Poppy Seed Bread

1/3 c. butter, melted

1/2 c. Domino Light sugar blend

3 TBS lemon juice

2 eggs

1 1/2 c. bread flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. buttermilk

Zest of 3 lemons

1 TBS poppy seeds

1 pint fresh blueberries

Glaze:

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 TBS lemon juice

1 tsp. butter, melted

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

*NOTE: I zested my three lemons into a bowl, and then squeezed the juice out of them into another. The three lemons gave enough juice for entire recipe.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and lemon juice.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir into egg mixture alternately with buttermilk; beating well after each addition.

Fold in lemon zest, poppy seeds, and blueberries.

Pour into a greased 8x4 loaf pan. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until wooden pick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over warm bread. Cool completely.

An Addition: Pumpkin Bread (cream cheese filling)

Do you remember the Starbucks clone pumpkin bread recipe that I posted last week?

Just click on the green words and it will take you to the recipe.

Anyway, I placed an addition in that bread.

I placed half the batter in a bread pan.

Swirled in a cream cheese mixture.

Topped it with the rest of the bread batter, and swirled in more of the cream cheese mixture.

Topped it with chopped walnuts and baked it. And yes, I was holding my breath the whole time, and chanting, "I hope this turns out, I hope this turns out...."

This was going to a family Thanksgiving meal, and I wanted it to be perfect. And it was!

Since I gave you the link to the bread recipe, I will just place the cream cheese mixture here.

Cream Cheese Mixture For Bread, Muffins, Cupcakes, etc....

1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, soft

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 TBS light brown sugar

Mix all together with a mixer.

Who Says You Can't Have Your Cake And Eat It Too? Starbucks (clone) Pumpkin Bread

I ran across this clone recipe for Starbucks Pumpkin Bread. What do you think I did? Yup, I ran right to the kitchen to make it.

I didn't have pumpkin seeds to put on top, so I placed crushed walnuts in their place. And Placed them on pretty darn heavy. I love walnuts with pumpkin.....

It baked up just gorgeous, and for a few hours my house smelled like a Starbucks Cafe.....

I made the bread and ate it too......Delicious!!

I promised this recipe for Friday, so everyone enjoy!!

What a perfect Thanksgiving treat. And you can tell your guests, "I went to Starbucks just for you."

Starbucks (clone) Pumpkin Bread

1 1/2 c. bread flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. ground allspice

1/2 tsp. salt

4 eggs

1 c. granulated sugar

1/4 c. brown sugar (light or dark)

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 c. canned pumpkin puree

3/4 c. best blend oil

Top with chopped walnuts, or 1/4 c. pumpkin seeds, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt in a medium bowl.

Beat eggs, sugars, and vanilla together in a large bowl with electric mixer on high speed for about 30 seconds. Add the pumpkin and oil and mix well.

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet stuff and mix well with your electric mixer. Pour the batter into a well-greased loaf pan.

Sprinkle with chopped walnuts or pumpkin seeds, or both if you want. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until the top of bread is beginning to brown and a toothpick stuck into the center of the bread comes out clean.

This recipe is linked to:

Interesting Enough To Try: Onion Zucchini Bread

Onion Zucchini Bread.....

I have never heard of such a thing, but it struck my interest and I just had to try it.

I was relaxing, and I can't believe I am actually using that word - - - relaxing - - - Don't get to do that very often.

But anyway, I was relaxing and searching recipes on my laptop. There are favorite recipe sites that I like to visit, and recently I have been surfing Taste of Home. That is where this recipe came from. I own tons of Taste of Home cookbooks, but it's so much more fun to surf the internet.

Since I was using my laptop I just carried it to the kitchen and used it as a cookbook. Do you ever do that?

I used to own a net-book, but the screen was too small and I had a hard time reading it. It's gotta be old age, or something. I ended up selling it because I got tired of squinting to read it.

When it comes to zucchini recipes, I think they have the Forest Gump shrimp dish list beat by a mile.....

This recipe was very easy to make and would be perfect to whip up with soups and stews.

As you can see, it is a very moist bread, and it is delicious when eaten warm.

You just mix all the ingredients together (only takes two bowls and fork) and spread it in a round cake pan. Easy-peasy....

The grated Parmesan cheese browns while it bakes and gives the bread kind of a crunchy top.

Gorgeous!! Right?

I want to acknowledge the owner of this recipe (Taste of Home) because I did not make any changes to the recipe. I wanted to try the original recipe first before making any changes, and I don't think anything needs to be changed in this recipe.

This recipe has been linked to:

Onion Zucchini Bread

(from Taste of Home)

3 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 c. chopped onion (I used 1 bunch of green onions and chopped in most of the green tops. To add more color in the bread)

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese, divided

5 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 c. buttermilk

1/3 c. vegetable oil

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 c. finely shredded zucchini

In a large bowl, combine the flour, onion, 6 TBS Parmesan cheese, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and zucchini; stir into flour mixture just until blended (will be thick).

Spoon into a greased 9 in. round baking pan (I think these would be good in a muffin form too). Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 40 - 45 minutes, or until wooden pick tests done. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack to cool completely.

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and time to die;

a time to plant, and time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and time to build up;"

Ecclesiastes 3:1-3

It often amazes me the variety of things that are offered to us every day to help us find the secret of successful living. Magazine articles by the dozens tell us how to cope with various problems; Internet articles draw us in; and the TV commercials....dozens to each program it seems, bombard us, telling us how to be successful in life, or at least how to look successful even if we really are not; health clubs offer saunas and whirlpools to relax us so we can face life with calmness; and various kinds of drugs are available to turn us on, turn us off, take us out, or whatever.

All this is evidence of the universal search for the secret of the enjoyment of life. Billions and billions of dollars are spent every day on the quest of coaxing relaxation and enjoyment.

There is a great truth though, God wants us to learn how to handle life in such a way that we can rejoice in any and every circumstance. The answers to handling life are in the scriptures. Read a devotion daily, it will truly help with struggles, pressures, and intimidation....

Heart-To-Heart: Zucchini Bread

You all know zucchini is in full swing, right?

Well, yesterday I decided to have a little heart-to-heart with two zucchini.

The prep talk, comforting, and inspiration worked wonders, because these two zucchini performed very well in my kitchen.

Have I told you lately how much I love my salad shooter?

I'm going to tell you again; I LOVE MY SALAD SHOOTER!

I have spent a lot of time (years) tweaking, changing, and searching for the perfect zucchini bread recipe.

BY GEORGE!! I think I have finally mastered it.....

This is a fantastic looking, delicious, moist, zucchini bread.

My mom used to make zucchini bread when I was a kid. Do you know how we ate it?

We would put it in the freezer, slice it frozen, and then top it with grape jelly.

GRAPE JELLY?????

What can I say? It was good. And on a hot summer day.....a slice of frozen zucchini bread with grape jelly hit the spot.

I added a little treat to this zucchini bread. I had some left-over white chocolate ganache from another zucchini recipe (which you will be getting in a couple days), and I drizzled it over the top.

I took this to a church luncheon, and this is what I heard when I was eves dropping: "I don't know who made this, but it sure is good."

One huge pat on the back for me.....

This recipe is linked to:

AND:

Zucchini Bread

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

3 tsp. ground cinnamon

3 eggs

1/2 c. applesauce

1/2 c. canola oil

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. white sugar

3 tsp. vanilla extract

3 c. grated zucchini, washed and unpeeled

1 c. chopped walnuts

1/2 c. golden raisins

Grease and flour two 8x4 pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.

Beat eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugars together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini, nuts, and raisins until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pans, and continue to completely cool.

White Chocolate Ganache

1 c. white chocolate chips

1/2 c. heavy cream

In a microwave safe bowl, combine your chocolates and cream and microwave on high in 20 second intervals, stirring after each 20 seconds. Do this until chocolate is just slightly softened and then stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Drizzle ganache onto the cooled zucchini bread loaves.

"The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day."

Genesis 18:1

God tests Abraham's heart to determine whether he is a believer. God appears in such a commonplace way that Abraham is not aware of His identity. Tests that are used in Bible schools and seminaries only reveal the amount of information that a student has collected. The tests do not reveal the real spiritual achievements of life.

Most humans have not been able to devise any such test, God is always testing us, and His testing does not come when we are warned and ready. Anyone would be able to pass the test if we were warned. If you were told that God is going to test you to see if you exhibit love under pressure, whether you can keep your temper when you are being irritated, and if you can be sweet when things are going wrong, you would be likely to pass if you were prepped.

But God never preps us. His catches us unprepared, off-guard. The tests of life come when you are relaxing at home. When the phone rings and suddenly you are confronted with a call for help or a demand for response - and you had planned to relax and enjoy yourself all afternoon - what happens then? That is God's test.

The test comes when some situation occurs in daily life that forces you to face the question: Is my body really available for Him to do what He wants? Am I ready to respond to the need of the human heart right there in front of me? Am I ready to give of myself without limitation to meet a demand that comes suddenly in the course of my busy life?

Here I am, Lord, I give my life to you.