Glazed Cranberry & Orange Mini Bread Loaves

I know it's late in the day - but I still wanted to say hello to you Friends! 

My Mom and I were busy little elves here today - baking all kinds of treats for gifts. It's one of the main ways my Mom gives gifts to her friends and neighbors, but I have the bigger kitchen...so my house becomes the kitchen workshop! Lol  A new recipe we made today were these cranberry and orange mini bread loaves. They're delicious, especially once I added a cinnamon orange glaze to the top!

I like that they look festive too -with their flecks of dark red cranberry. We just put them in decorative baggies we had and added them to goodie plates we put together with several other goodies. I'll share more of the other goodies tomorrow.  Here's the recipe for these delicious loaves of bread! The recipe makes TWO regular 8x4 bread pans too. I halved the recipe and just made one mini muffin pan full (or the same amount as 1 regular loaf pan).

I started gathering my ingredients and measuring cups, bowls etc.

Mix together dry ingredients (flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and soda)

Then pour in melted butter and mix until it becomes crumbly.

Then stir in your cranberries and orange segments. (looks pretty already - like snow covered fruit) 

Mix your wet ingredients (milk, sour cream, egg, extracts)

Then combine the wet ingredients into the fruit mixture and mix just until blended.

Put into prepared loaf pan (or in my case mini loaf pan) and bake at 350*.

Then take out and let cool.

I just made up the glaze with standard glaze mixture of powdered sugar and milk. I took about a cup of powdered sugar and added a tablespoon of milk, one at a time, until it was consistency of a glaze (I think it took about 3 Tbsp for me). Then I added in about 1/2 to 1 tsp orange extract and a about 1/4 tsp of cinnamon.  Then poured the glaze over each loaf and waited until it fully set on the bread before packaging them up. I think the bread was a recipe I found on allrecipes.com.  Just delicious and pretty too! Great holiday flavors of orange and cranberry. Yum! 

Here's the recipe:

CRANBERRY ORANGE BREAD

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups cranberries
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 
  

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted  
• 1 cup mandarin orange segments, drained
• 1. Directions:
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 8x4 inch loaf pans.
  3. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and white sugar. Mix in the melted butter until the mixture looks crumbly. Stir in the cranberries and oranges. In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, milk, sour cream, vanilla and orange extract. Pour the liquid ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
  4. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the crown comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool in the pans for a while, then remove from the pans and place on wire racks to cool completely.

Easy Holiday Pom-pom Garland

Hello dear Friends! 

Hope your holiday season is continuing on merrily and brightly. I woke up to another world of white this morning:

But now it's that crazy mix of rain and snow and kind of slushy. We keep riding that fine line between snow and rain - so it continues to be kind of messy and ugly at times. I hope mother nature chooses just pretty snow for Christmas next week though.

But today I wanted to share this fun little craft my daughter and I did together recently.  We picked up some red and green yarn and then decided to do some easy "old school style" pom-pom's to make a garland for her room. 

 I'm a child of the 1970's - and back then it was popular to make pom-pom's by winding yarn around a card (like an index card) and making them fun and fuzzy. So Annie and I set to work and made some festive red and green pom-pom's and then threaded them onto a strand of yarn and made our own fun garland. 

We picked out some red and green yarn. We then took index cards (I think we used 4x6 - but use whichever size card you want) as that is what I had on hand. You can reinforce the card in some way - or use something stronger like card board if you have it too. 

We then wound the yarn in a circle around the card about 70 to 80 times to make them more full.  Then take the end of the yard after winding and cut it and thread it through the back of the circle (the part between the yarn and the card) and tie it off. 

Then slide your yarn circle off of your card.

Then cut the circle in half (opposite of where it's tied off).

Squeeze the yarn together to make a "ball" on the top.

Tie off that ball with more yarn.

Fluff out your bottom and you have  a pom-pom!

Make as many pom-pom's as you want for whichever size garland, or other project, you want to complete.

Then thread a strand of yarn through the tops of the pom-pom's and you have a garland! 

If you're like Annie - add some red and green owls for added whimsy!

Then hang wherever you'd like some added festive color. Annie chose her head board. 

I'm linking with these lovely parties: 

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday. 

And Scrapality for Scraptastic Saturday.

Quick Holiday Update

Hello my Dear Friends! 

I hope you're enjoying a beautiful holiday season so far.  I've been having some very busy days - as I know we all do this time of year.  But between caregiving (and some appointments for my MIL), volunteering at my daughter's school, different Christmas concerts and many things I'm even forgetting...I have had to lapse in my blogging world.  I just wanted to pop in quick and let you know I'm still around though! I'm off to another concert my daughter sings in soon, but I'm hoping for more time this weekend to go around blogland visiting and see what you've all been up to and say hi.  Here's some photos from Annie's concert the other day and a few more shots of Christmas around my northwoods home:

My pretty Girl all dressed up for the show!

Did you catch those Christmas Angels by my tree?

Christmas concert day - Nana (my Mom) hanging out with us too. 

Vintage Christmas angels flying among my teacups.

Northwoods Santa on the hearth checking if we've been naughty or nice.

My piano decked out with northwoods critters and Santa snow globe. Lots of Christmas carols have been getting played on here this season.

I know I missed a recipe Thursday and didn't get to my Five on Friday this past week - but next week I should be right back in the swing of things. I have some fun recipes and crafts to share too! So check back with me next week. I'll be starting with Happy Homemaker Monday this Monday. Blessings to All and I will come by to visit soon! 

Wednesday Wonder

He is the Light

Hot Cocoa Bar

Happy cozy holiday season Friends!  

I'm a Gal that loves my iced beverages in the summer and I LOVE hot beverages in the winter.  It's been such a mild winter here so far, but I'm still loving my hot drinks. I have my coffee in the morning and then I like to have some chai tea, or other hot tea later in the day. Sometimes I'll change it up and have a cocoa or hot cider instead. My kiddos also love hot cocoa or cider as soon as Fall rolls around, and they continue to love them all through our "cold" season. 

So last year I started putting out a hot cocoa bar and it was hit! Not only with the grown-ups, but especially with my kiddos and their friends. However, I'm still conscious of their sugar and they need to ask about having some - I don't leave it as a free-for-all. I just love the convenience factor - that if they ask and I'm okay with it, I don't have to go get all the items out for them. Plus, it looks pretty cute out in my kitchen. ;) 

Just the looks of it makes me feel festive and cozy. For the moment I have out apple cider and swiss miss cocoa cups for my keurig. The keurig is so nice because it's so easy for the kids to operate as well.

Come and help yourself - I'll give you a nice big holiday red mug. Then chose some cider or cocoa and grab a vanilla or peppermint candy stirrer or a caramel spoon (great for the apple cider!). 

The candy stick stirrers are from kits I found at Michael's that included these snowflake or snowman marshmallow candies. Please grab some of those as well!

I gave my snowman cookie jar a festive update with some battery powered wire lights. 

He looks so sweet smiling over all of the fun!

I've got my mug all set - please enjoy yours and happy cozy holiday season to you!! 

I'm joining with Brenda of Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday. 

And with Andrea of Scrapality for Scraptastic Saturday.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Good morning & Happy Monday Friends! 

I hope all is going great in your neck of the woods! It was another busy hockey weekend here. However, we were able to get a few things accomplished before being gone for the weekend, and got some more holiday shopping completed and quite a bit of gift wrapping! Feeling holidays here all the way - other than the green grass outside! Where did my white Christmas go???

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

In the 30's and pretty mild. No wind at all. All of that snow we were supposed to get last week was mostly rain! So it is green outside now. The end of last week the weather was so mild (almost 50) that it almost felt like our Spring around here! Seems so weird. I'm hoping that we'll get at least a little snow before Christmas!

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

Toast and sliced apple with my Annie and my MIL. My MIL and I also had gingerbread coffee. Annie opted for egg nog - she's feeling that holiday spirit too. Lol. I needed to take my MIL early today - so she got to go with to help get Annie to school too.

  AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:

Looking out at gray skies, calm bay, green grass. Still been seeing lots of squirrel activity. I'm sure they're enjoying these mild temps and finding a few more goodies for the winter.

RIGHT NOW I AM:

Sitting in the chair - watching news with my MIL as she sits on the couch and snuggles with Ruby. Once in a while we chat back and forth. She's having a harder time finding her words today - so she was trying to tease me and tell me she's "keeping me in check" but instead said she's "keeping me in trike". But I get the idea and no matter what she says I play along and we have some very interesting lengthy conversations at time. It makes her so happy, though, to feel like we're having "coffee conversation" like days of old.

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE:

Still pretty tidy from when I cleaned up before we left for hockey. All of my Christmas decorations are out and it all looks festive and cozy.

ON TODAY'S TO DO LIST:

Going to run errands and get groceries with my MIL. I'll make something quick and easy for their dinner to send home with her. Then I'll head to grab my daughter from school and go to a PTA meeting there tonight. 

CURRENTLY READING:

Still catching up on holiday magazines.

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

I haven't even looked at what we have taped. I'm kind of bummed that Dancing with the Stars is done already. And several other favorite shows are on break until next year. I think I have some cooking shows taped and some Hallmark movies. 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

MONDAY: chicken salad sandwiches (winter version with apple, craisins, pecans & dill in the mix), maybe soup or salad to go with it.

TUESDAY: BBQ meatballs, cheesy potatoes & green beans.

WEDNESDAY: leftovers or something easy as it's a busy kiddo's activities night

THURSDAY: breakfast pizza, fruit

FRIDAY: not sure - leaving open in case we go out to look at Christmas lights and go out to dinner

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:

Still working on Christmas projects

NEW RECIPE I WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:

breakfast pizza will be a new recipe

TIP OF THE WEEK:

Sometimes a quick and easy way to have some yummy meals at the ready is to make in smaller sizes - like a muffin tin. Make mini meatloaves, or egg bake muffins that take less cooking time. Then place the cooked goodies on a cookie sheet to freeze for about an hour - take them back out and place in zip lock labeled freezer bags. Easy breakfast or dinner at the ready!

FROM THE CAMERA:

My hockey Girl lined up with her teammates at the outdoor rink yesterday.

Hot cocoa bar I set up next to my keurig - more on this later in the week.

A peek at my tree from the outside looking in from my deck.

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Remembering what's really important this time of the year.

I'm linking with Sandra from Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.