Very Cranberry

Thanksgiving is only one day away so I am making my list and checking it twice...for baking ingredients not Black Friday sales, people! Since not everyone likes cranberry sauce (or they want the one from the can) I need to figure out what to do with my leftovers. Cranberry margaritas, duh! This recipe is from The Red Cat, one of my fave restaurants in NYC. Check out their delish zucchini recipe here. 

For this fabulous margarita, just make a cranberry sauce as you normally would for Thanksgiving dinner, but then instead of smearing it all over a turkey sandwich, add it to a cocktail shaker and watch your margarita turn a lovely shade of pink. Festive and delicious. Bottoms up!

Cranberry Margarita

Jam:
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest

Drink:
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder, if desired
1 lime, cut into wedges
4 ounces Triple Sec or Cointreau
6 ounces Tequila

1. Make the jam: Bring the cranberries, sugar, orange juice, and 1/2 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and jammy, 30–40 minutes. Mix in the orange zest; let cool. DO AHEAD: Jam can be made 5 days ahead. Cover and chill.

2. Make the drinks: Mix the salt, sugar, and five-spice powder (if using) on a small plate. Rub the rims of Old Fashioned glasses with a lime wedge; dip in the salt mixture and fill the glasses with ice.

3. For each cocktail, combine 1 ounce lime juice, 1 ounce Triple Sec, 1½ ounces tequila, and 2 tablespoons cranberry jam in a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice. Cover and shake until the outside is frosty, about 30 seconds. Strain into the prepared glasses.

Apple Expectations

How is November halfway over?? It's going to be Christmas in one second so...time to start baking!

I've been flipping through magazines trying to get some new ideas for Thanksgiving desserts. I've made all sorts of pies in the past, but the truth is that I have to produce an apple crisp or I will be asked to leave dinner! For realz. (These peeps expect a crisp or a crumble at each and every dinner that I attend. Holiday or not.) I was just thinking that maybe I could jazz it up somehow? Like with cranberries? I like the tartness that they add, but not sure if my dinner crowd will approve. I think that they may be apple crisp purists. Or just happy to get whatever I make? I'll go with that. I made a mini version today, essentially a half batch, and I was totes happy. (Just wish I had some ice cream or whipped cream.) We'll what I can get away with!

Apple-Cranberry Crisp

Topping
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 cup old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Filling
1 (12-ounce) package fresh cranberries
2 1/2 pounds Fuji or Rome or Granny Smith apples (or a mix - about 6 medium), peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Vanilla ice cream

1. For the topping: Combine brown sugar, oats, flour, and salt in large bowl. Stir to blend. Add the butter and rub in with fingertips until the mixture comes together in clumps. Cover and chill while preparing the filling. (The topping can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)

2. For the filling: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Generously butter a 13x9x2-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Combine the cranberries, apples, sugar, flour and cinnamon in a large bowl. Transfer the filling to the prepared dish. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit mixture.

3. Bake the crisp until the filling bubbles and the topping is crisp and deep golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Serve with ice cream, if desired. Makes 8 - 10 servings. 

Pumped up Pumpkin Bread

Whooops! I forgot to post this before Thanksgiving, but I'm pretty sure that everyone still has plenty of family gatherings, holiday parties, gifts to give, breakfasts to eat, house guests you'd rather not have and all around free time to make some post-Thanksgiving pumpkin bread in the next month or so...am I right??

I tried to find the pumpkin bread recipe that I normally use, but since I couldn't find it, I combed through a ton-age of others and decided that the classic Libby's recipe made the style of bread that I like the best. Their standard pumpkin pie recipe hasn't ever failed me, so why not try the pumpkin bread? Yum. Aside from calling for pumpkin pie spice (which is just an excuse to make you buy another spice you'll never use again) I was totally pleased with the recipe. And you can make your own pumpkin pie spice blend in about 30 seconds. Seriously.

For one teaspoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice:
Measure 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1/8 teaspoon of ground allspice or ground cloves, and 1/8 teaspoon of ground nutmeg into a small bowl and stir to blend. The end.



Pumpkin Bread
Adapted from Libby's

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice**(see above)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups granulated sugar
1 (15-ounce) can 100% pure pumpkin
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice or water
1 cup sweetened dried, fresh or frozen cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans (or any variation below).

2. Combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine the sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil and juice in a large bowl. Beat until just blended. Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Fold in the cranberries. Spoon the batter into prepared loaf pans.

3. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Alternative loaf sizes:
•For three 8 x 4-inch loaf pans:
Prepare as above. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes.
•For five or six 5 x 3-inch mini-loaf pans:
Prepare as above. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes.