Leftovers and Rain, Rain, Rain
Rain is a product of nature we have become quite unfamiliar with, unfortunately. Most of Texas has been declared to be experiencing severe drought conditions. This is sad news and I admit I’ve forgotten how to use an umbrella. Last evening we, my man Dan, our daughter LuLu and her guy ventured out, even though the weather forecasters were predicting rain. It’s been so long since we’ve had a real downpour when we arrived at the restaurant and it was raining cats and dogs we just sat in the car in amazement. It was rather amusing. Luckily the valets saved our hairdos and shoes by greeting us with open umbrellas and smiles. I sure didn’t want to trade places with them. Not only were we blessed with rain but the weather turned cold too. I’m not complaining, it feels like Christmas and we desperately need the rain. I noticed today when I ran out, in the rain, to pick up a tree stand, that the tanks, or you may call them ponds or small lakes, that have been bone dry were starting to fill up with water. Halleluia for rain!
I know all of you, as I, have moved from Thanksgiving on to Christmas planning, baking, decorating and shopping. I do however have one recipe I want to share where I used a leftover condiment from our Thanksgiving feast. I got the idea from Rufus at http://rufusguide.wordpress.com/. It’s a wonderful site that I read regularly and when I saw their recipe for a cranberry sauce filled quick bread I jumped on it. I did a little research and used a different recipe but stole the idea. Thanks Greg and Katherine.
Going back to Thanksgiving, my mom brought a delicious cranberry relish to serve with turkey and we had quite a bit leftover. It was full of plump cranberries, raisins and nuts. any cranberry sauce or relish you have on hand will work. The orange bread recipe I used is delicate and full of orange taste, moist from the use of buttermilk and healthy with the addition of whole wheat flour . Just seeing those cute little flecks of orange rind in the bread makes me smile. In fact I’m sure the bread baked without the cranberry filling would make a delightful morning nibble with a cup of hot tea. After this post I won’t speak of Thanksgiving again until next year; but I’m thinking that there is a possibility that someone will have cranberry sauce with their Christmas dinner too and so there ya’ have it, an early solution to your Christmas dinner leftovers.
If you are wondering what the bees are up to….they are staying inside the hive except for the nicest days. On nice days they take cleansing flights and go right back inside to stay warm. I’ve winterized 4 hives as they have screened bottoms and I worried how the cold air blowing up from the bottom would affect my girls. My man, Dan helped me secure some nifty insulation that looks like aluminum foil bubble wrap around the bottoms of the hives to keep the wind out. Bee keeping business will be slow until late winter/early spring. Rest assured I will go out to the bee yard from time to time to check from outside but I won’t see inside my hives for several months now. Being new to bee keeping my fingers are crossed that when I open hives in the spring, with the onset of warm days, I’ll find healthy, busy bees ready to begin the honey season.
Enjoy!
Orange Bread with Cranberry Filling
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tbsp orange zest
4-6 tbsp. cranberry sauce or relish
Preheat oven to 350*. Grease loaf pan
Beat butter until fluffy. Add sugar and beat 2 minutes, add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add orange zest.
In a separate bowl whisk together flours, soda, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon.
Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk mixture, adding by thirds. Beat until just incorporated.
Pour half of batter into greased pan. Spoon cranberry sauce onto batter and gently spread to edges. Pour remaining batter over sauce. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into bread comes out clean.
Sounds delish!!! Been thinking about cranberry orange bread, cuz, ’tis the season, and this might be just the thing! Hope you and yours are doing well..miss ya!
Yes, Tiffany maybe you want to make some cranberry orange biscotti???? Miss you too.
We’ve been suffering from a lack of rain too, they say the resevoirs are very low as is the water table, we desparately need rain too!
And what a perfect recipe for a rainy day, I love the flavour of orange 🙂
Where do you live? This morning the tanks I referred to are looking more like they should as opposed to bone dry – which is a sad site. Orange is one of my all time favorite flavors and fragrances!
I live on the south east coast of England and we’ve had one of the driest years on record, starting in April.
Wow not a place I would think of as dry! We are in severe drought conditions in most of the state of Texas. The recent rain helps considerable though and I’m so thankful for it! Guess our world is a changin’!
Aah, I remember seeing this on Rufusguide too – it looks lovely and an excellent use for cranberry sauce too. I like to whip up various incarnations of cranberry sauce each here but no-one likes it… preferring to focus on the “real” food instead… sigh 🙁
Your bread looks wonderful – I love the little orange flecks of zest inside, and the layer of deep reds and pink on the bottom – lovely 🙂 Thanks for coming by my site – looking forward to reading yours (I’m actually really curious about bee-keeping too as it happens 🙂 )
I pretty much like the cranberry sauce no matter how it’s served. I think it compliments the other foods. I’ve been a bee keeper since March of this year. I’ve learned so much and will admit I’m a little nervous about the winter months but thankfully I live in texas where it doesn’t remain bitterly cold for many days at a time. Bees are very interesting and precious to me. Hope you’ll enjoy reading about my adventures with the girls! Thanks for stopping by!
Oh definitely, precious indeed. At a time when bee colonies seem to be vanishing in record numbers, thank you sincerely for helping to maintain something so important to our eco-system 🙂
Thank you Charles! Yes if more people knew that 70% of the food we eat is pollinated by bees more appreciation would be shown for the little hard workers they are. It’s a very rewarding hobby – maybe you want to become one yourself! Let me know. I’d be happy to pass along any helpful tips.
I’d love to some day, though apartment life isn’t ideally suited to keeping bees (my neighbours might be a teensy bit peeved if I put some… what are those wooden things called?… on the balcony 😀 Still – one day when I have a house it’s something both my wife and I are really interested in. I’ll be sure to come back to you on that one day!
Oh that looks wonderful. Don’t you just love the cranberry stripe! Thanks for the shout out. Oh and we’re getting our share of rain here too.
Hey Rufus guys! I do love the cranberry stripe – so festive! Halleluia for rain – my entire yard now resembles a tank!
Oohh I love the orange and cranberry combo in this. Glad you guys are finally getting some rain. We were in Austin a couple of months ago and it was dryer than I have ever seen it. Lovely photos!
Thank you Sarah! Yes Austin and the hill country is really taking a beating with their drought conditions. They have also been getting some rain but it’s a long way off from getting water levels up. It’s sad.