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Life is too short to eat bad food! Sharing great recipes, farm life, stories and photography from our Northern California dairy farm.

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December 5, 2010

Oh Christmas Tree & Cranberry Banana Bread

I think we've got this Christmas tree shopping thing down.  We had a super busy weekend; three nights in a row of parties or outings, tree shopping, more decorating, house cleaning and 4H Cooking meeting at my house, so we had to save time where we could.  Before arriving at the tree lot {no we don't go to a tree farm} I gave Bryce and Paige the run down of what to look for.........a tall, thin Christmas tree.

First row, second tree, we're done!  Back home to decorate some more.




Decorating went pretty smoothly as well.  Dominic did the lights, the kids put the balls and decorations on the tree and I followed behind them to spread out the clusters of 20 they hung on the bottom 1/4 of the tree.  Pretty soon we were completely finished.








I found these mini ceramic, holiday loaf pans at Michael's for $1 each.  Perfect for 4H cooking class that we had going on this weekend.  I found a recipe for a festive Cranberry Banana Bread online at Channel3000 that I thought would work for a group of 10. 
















Everyone was really pleased with their creation and happy to be able to take home the ceramic loaf pan to bake something else in after their Cranberry Banana Bread was gone. {recipe below}













I received a Tasting Box from Foodzie in the mail and wanted to give you a peek of what was included.
Alfajores Cookies, Heirloom Cranberry Beans, Bacon Peanut Brittles, Parmesan Flatbreads and Fleur De Sel Caramel Popcorn.















How was your weekend?  Are you finished decorating and Christmas shopping yet?

Cranberry Banana Bread

Makes one 9 x 5-inch loaf

Ingredients:
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2-3 large ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup fresh or unthawed frozen cranberries, chopped*
• 1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar; beat until light. Add egg and beat well. Add baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, bananas, milk, and flour; beat until well blended. Fold in cranberries and walnuts; stir until well mixed. Spoon batter into baking pan.
3. Bake for 1 hour, or until lightly brown on top and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan; then remove from pan and cool on rack.

* Note: It works best to chop the fresh or unthawed frozen cranberries in a small food processor.

Happy Sunday!


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11 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for this recipe Nancy, it sounds like a good one and I have ripe bananas and cranberries on hand. Have a nice evening:)

Elise said...

THANKS for sharing all of this with the delightful 4Hers and US! You are SO clever and I am so grateful for "blogland" since I now have this great recipe to make for the BIGGER folks! hee hee {Such cute loaf pans!} You are WONDERFUL! xoxo!

The Wife of a Dairyman said...

@Patty, I just had a slice of the bread and the cranberries really top it off. So good. Hope you enjoy it as well:)

@Elise, You are so welcome! And your little girl is a Sweetheart:)

Dana Gustafson said...

Thank you for opening your home to our children today! We've already enjoyed half of one of the loaves they made. WHat a yummy treat with afternoon tea!

Katie said...

I am going on a prairie road trip tomorrow...to my nearest Micheal's and hope to find those loaf pans! They are a perfect gift with the fresh bread in them. Thanks for sharing Nancy! I'll never be finished shopping or decorating. I just do as much as I can until I give up!

The Wife of a Dairyman said...

@Dana, I'm so glad your family enjoyed the Cranberry Banana Bread! One loaf gone in our house:)

The Wife of a Dairyman said...

@Katie, I was just at Michael's a few days ago and they still had a ton of the mini loaf pans for $1. Have fun baking:)

Anonymous said...

Our loaf is gone too!!! I am definitely going to try and go to Michaels - what a great idea for the holidays :)) Lesha

The Wife of a Dairyman said...

@Lesha, Bryce had such a great time with Cam today...they're best buddies:)

Damaris @Kitchen Corners said...

Alfajores is seriously my all time favorite. I am dying to try and make some. Your tree looks beautiful.

Nancy Grossi ~ Churned In Cali ~ The Wife of a Dairyman said...

@Damaris, Thank you and Alfajores sounds interesting, I've never tried it:)