Christmas is Over? Say it Isn't So!

This year, it's hard to say good-bye to Christmas. Yes, the decorations are all packed away. I’m no longer listening to seasonal music or watching those heart-warming movies that often bring a tear and a smile. But in my heart I just can’t let go.

So I made cranberry walnut bread. I’ve made it every Christmas for—well, so many years I can’t remember how many. I got the recipe from a Woman’s Day magazine I saw in a doctor’s waiting room and quickly copied since I don’t like to rip things out of other people’s magazines. The recipe is actually called Cranberry Cake Wreath, and the photo showed this yummy treat made in a bundt pan and decorated with an icing glaze to look like a snowy Christmas wreath.

However the texture and taste of this “cake” is more like a quick bread or muffin. Instead of icing the top, I just cover it in a snowy shower of confectioner’s sugar. It is my favorite breakfast treat—toasted with a smear of butter. Yum.

Maybe Christmas doesn’t have to end yet after all. Now, where are my Mannheim Steamroller CDs…?

Cranberry Walnut Bread

Makes 2 loaves or 1 Bundt pan

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup orange juice
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) cranberries
1 cup chopped walnuts
Powdered (confectioner’s) sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bread pans or Bundt pan.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Add eggs, orange juice and butter to the well; stir liquid ingredients just until blended. Add cranberries and walnuts to the well. Stir together liquid and dry ingredients just until combined.

Spread batter into prepared pans. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes depending on the size of pan until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and finish cooling. Dust the top with powdered sugar.

For those of you following the Friday posting of the Gourmet Live list of 50 Women Game-Changers in the food world that I and a number of fellow food bloggers are paying tribute to by posting a recipe from each week, I am taking a break for this week. However, please check in with the others to see their recipe creations. I’ll be back at it next Friday with a tribute to Donna Hay and her French Onion Soup.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast

Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia -A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets
Katie -Making Michael Pollan Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Kathleen -Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island
Barbara - Movable Feasts
Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Amy - Beloved Green
Jeanette - Healthy Living
Linda - Ciao Chow Linda
Nancy - Picadillo
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen
Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Claudia – Journey of An Italian Cook