Cranberry Bread

Cranberry Bread
(File Photo)

Cranberry Bread! YUM!! The delicious dessert bread that is orange flavored with chopped cranberries in every bite. It is at Thanksgiving time that so many of us think about using cranberries when baking. So many of us also add cranberry sauce to our grocery list. That is- if we do not prep this sauce ourselves for the Thanksgiving Day dinner. I purchase the sauce for all of us to enjoy.

A bag of fresh Cranberries is purchased in order to bake this treat. Orange Juice is also a needed ingredient. The cranberries are rinsed in cold water/ drained and then chopped before adding them into the batter. 

I have not baked this bread for Thanksgiving, yet, because it does NOT freeze well. Usually a day or two before eating is when I bake it. 

For the Cranberry Bread recipe that I have used for decades, click here.  

It is so good! Add a bag of fresh Cranberries and also Orange Juice to your grocery list for this weekend. Then, bake this delicious bread!

Enjoy!
Yummy!

Butternut Squash Bread

Butternut Squash Breads cooling
(file photo)

There are quite a few 2 Cup bags of Butternut Squash in our freezer. Last week 3 more Butternuts were purchased to prep for the months ahead. A delicious dessert to bake using this tasty vegetable is Butternut Squash Bread. It requires the same basic recipe as Pumpkin Bread, but I substitute the defrosted mashed Butternut for Pumpkin. Pumpkin tastes bland, so in addition to cinnamon and nutmeg, ground cloves are added to the batter. That spice is not necessary in Butternut Squash Bread, because Butternuts have flavor. The cloves can be added though, if desired. 

I have posted my recipe in the past, so to view it today, click on this link below:

Butternut Squash Bread 

***With the increased cost of groceries, including baking supplies, I have made a change with the Egg Whites that I used in the past. Rather than using Egg Whites, I use Whole Eggs. When baking there is a formula for Egg Whites = Whole Eggs.

2 Egg Whites = 1 Whole Egg

Butternut Squash Bread is a family favorite! In our home it is always enjoyed over Thanksgiving Day Weekend!! I bake 2 breads rather than one. Just stagger the pans in the oven when baking. The extra bread can be frozen after it is cooled/ wrapped in foil. I cut one bread in half. Then wrap/label/date and freeze both halves. A frozen half is always a great treat for our family members to take home with them after enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration.

Bake a Butternut Squash Bread, or 2, to enjoy over Thanksgiving! Your guests would enjoy taking 1/2 a frozen bread home, too. It is delicious!

I need to bake these breads again this week! 

Enjoy!
Yummy!

 

~Freezing Butternut Squash~

Mashed Butternut Squash
ready to pack into freezer bags
(File Photo)

Sometimes slowly and at other times quickly when the wind blows, the leaves are falling down from the Maple and the Oak trees. It is at this time of year that our purchased Butternut Squash is prepared for our freezer. It has been a tradition for so many years to purchase the Squash and prep them to enjoy this delicious veggie at dinnertime throughout the year. Two pots of cleaned, cut squash is steamed on our stove at a time. Packaged in dated freezer bags these bags can be easily located later in our freezer. 

Ready for our freezer!

It is so easy to open a bag to remove the frozen squash and place it in a microwave safe baking dish. Cover it, leaving a vent and defrost it in the microwave, quickly. Or, defrost overnight in the fridge and heat in the microwave (in a microwave safe covered dish) just before serving.

I also use the Butternut Squash by substituting it for Pumpkin when I bake. This delicious veggie is always at my fingertips whenever needed for a tasty recipe. There are SO MANY recipes!

For my easy instructions for freezing Butternut Squash, click here! No need to purchase the frozen squash in your supermarket.        

Enjoy!
Yummy!

 

Craisin Raisin Apple Crisp

Craisin Raisin Apple Crisp
needs a small scoop of vanilla ice cream
(File Photo)

Apples are a great tasting fruit! There are so many different varieties. One of my favorite desserts to bake using apples is- da da- Craisin Raisin Apple Crisp! It's the yummy dessert containing raisins and craisins mixed in with baked apples. It has an oat, cinnamon and nutmeg topping. After placing each serving in a dessert dish, top with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream! What a great dessert! Quite often at Thanksgiving rather than bake an Apple Pie, I bake a Craisin Raisin Apple Crisp. It is that good! There is also no pie crust to roll out.

In autumn I like to use Cortland Apples when baking this dessert. As the year moves along I switch to Empire Apples. I have posted this recipe in the past and I am sharing it again today.

Click here for my easy Craisin Raisin Apple Crisp recipe.    

Add apples to your grocery list to bake this very tasty dessert. Vanilla ice cream too, if you do not already have it in your freezer!

Enjoy!
Yummy!

  

~Saving Marigold Seeds~

Marigold Seeds
(File Photo)

The small Marigold plants that were placed in pots on our deck this past Spring grew and are still adding so much color to our yard. An added plus was that those little bunnies did not hop up the steps to investigate. Seeds from these beautiful flowers can be saved and sowed next Spring. Like with Zinnia seeds, it is an easy process. Snip off the colorful flowers and dry them out. The seeds are long, slender and black. So many seeds can be harvested/ saved and planted next Spring after the danger of a frost is past. Marigolds are very pretty flowers.

Orange Marigolds
(File Photo)

Usually a long planter filled with yellow and orange Marigolds is also found on our deck.

My "Orange Pineapple" Planter
(File Photo)

In the past few years I have planted both Vinca and Marigolds together in pots for added colors on our deck. They also grow well together. If you have been enjoying Marigold flowers these past few months, consider harvesting some of the seeds to plant next Spring.  

For my complete instructions on saving Marigold seeds, click here.

Next Spring plant the seeds in the ground or in planters. Beautiful flowers!

Happy Gardening!

   

Freezing Green Pepper Strips and Chunks

Fresh "Buy Local" Green Peppers
(File Photo)

This is the time of year when I freeze Green Pepper strips and chunks to use while cooking in the future months. In January rather than purchase a Green Pepper at the grocery store, I reach into my freezer and take out a small bag of Pepper strips to defrost. The Peppers are purchased fresh- locally during August/ September when they are in abundance and available at the local roadside stands. Yes, bags of frozen Pepper chunks are sold in grocery stores, but it is an easy process to get them ready to freeze, so why not freeze the "buy local" produce yourself?

Yesterday the last of 6 Peppers were prepared/ labelled and placed in our freezer. I have been freezing this veggie for so many years. 

Strips and Chunks
from last year
(File Photo)

For my very easy Instructions on Freezing Peppers, click here!     

Purchase a few Peppers to prep for your freezer. Then, this winter reach into your freezer and take out a small bag of already prepared Pepper Strips or Chunks whenever you need one. 

Enjoy!
Yummy!

 

~Saving Zinnia Seeds~

"Tear Shaped" Zinnia Seeds
(File Photo)

This is the time of year when I usually save many of the bright Zinnia blossoms that usually add so much color to our garden. After drying out the blossoms I usually harvest the seeds to save and plant the following Spring (after danger of frost is gone). These flowers attract the Monarch Butterflies. 

A Visitor to Our Garden
(File Photo)

I wrote usually, because this year there really are not many Zinnias in our front garden. However, there is one plant that is producing bright orange blossoms. It was a different growing season this year for my Zinnias. In the Spring the seeds were planted and they did sprout. However, there was a family of bunnies that wandered into our yard. Those tender, small green sprouts made a delicious meal for those hungry bunnies! Only one sprout was able to hide from the bunny family. That sprout hid among the white and pink Vinca that we planted after realizing that the Zinnias would no longer be a reality. Yes, I will save the seeds from the orange flowers and plant them next Spring. Maybe I will plant them in a pot on our deck where the bunnies cannot find them.

The Surviving Zinnia Plant
with a blossom and 2 buds 

For those of you who do have beautiful colorful Zinnias in your garden, save the seeds to plant next year. It is an easy process! Cut the colorful blossoms and let them dry out. After they dry out, harvest the seeds and place them in a labeled paper envelope. It is cool to save the seeds and plant them the following year. 

Click here for my complete Instructions for Saving Zinnia Seeds. 

I wrote the instructions above a few years ago, but I have been using this process to save Zinnia Seeds for so many years.

Happy Gardening!