Christmas Cranberry Recipes By: Julie Lence

For most people, Christmas season is a favorite time of year. Shopping, wrapping, tree-trimming and all the rest keep us running on borrowed energy. So does planning the Christmas Day menu. Each year, I cook up something Italian, and very rarely think of slaving in the kitchen preparing a made-from-scratch dessert. Whatever the store has is good enough for me, and for hubby and kiddo. But every year, I also say, ‘we should have something different’. As a child, I wasn’t a fan of cranberries, but the last few years, they’ve grown on me. Below are two recipes I pulled off the internet. They seem simple enough, so maybe this year we will have something different. And if you haven’t tried them, maybe you will, too.

Either way, I’m sending you and your loved ones Christmas Blessings. May your holiday season be fun, healthy, and safe. Hugs!

Cranberry Bundt Cake:

Ingredients:

·        2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (for greasing the pan)

·        1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour or more as needed to flour the pan

·        2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

·        1 teaspoon baking powder

·        3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

·        12 ounces fresh cranberries (1 bag)

·        1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

·        2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

·        2 cups sugar

·        1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·        4 large eggs at room temperature

·        1/2 cup sour cream

·        1 cup confectioners' sugar or more as needed

·        1/4 cup orange juice or more as needed

·        pinch of kosher salt to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and generously butter and flour a 9" bundt pan.

2. I recommend using 2 tablespoons unsalted butter that is softened to room temperature. Use your fingers to work the butter into the grooves of the pan. It's important to make sure you coat every bit of the pan to ensure the cake releases nicely so it looks purty.

3. Sprinkle with flour and distribute evenly throughout the pan.  Discard any excess flour.

4. Combine 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour with 1 teaspoon baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt.

5. Whisk to mix well and set aside.

6. Place 12 ounces fresh cranberries (1 bag) in a small bowl and pick through them to weed out any mushy ones.

7. Add 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour and toss gently to coat the cranberries.

8. Set aside until ready to use.

9. In a mixing bowl, combine 2 sticks softened butter with 2 cups sugar.

10.       Mix on low to combine and then turn up the speed to mid-high and beat for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.

11.       Mix in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

12.       Add eggs to the butter mixture one at a time, mixing after each addition until combined.

13.       Mix in 1/2 the flour mixture until combined and add 1/2 cup sour cream and mix well.

14.       Add in the remaining flour mixture until just combined and scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure all flour is mixed in.

15.       Gently fold cranberries into the batter.

16.       Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth to even out.

17.       Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes until the top springs back when pressed gently or a cake tester inserted comes out clean.

18.       Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes.

19.       Carefully run a flat edge, such as a butter knife, around the edge of the pan to loosen and also around the center hole.

20.       Place a cooling rack over top of the cake pan and carefully flip the cake pan over so the cake slides out onto the cooling rack. The cake pan will be hot, so be sure to protect your hands.

21.       Allow cake to cool completely.

22.       Prepare the sweet orange glaze by combining 1 cup confectioners' sugar with 1/4 cup orange juice and a pinch of kosher salt.

23.       Mix well to combine.

24.       Add more sugar to thicken or more orange juice to thin to your desired consistency.

25.       When cake is cooled, drizzle the glaze over the cake.

26.       Garnish with fresh cranberries and enjoy!

https://ohsweetbasil.com/cranberry-bundt-cake-recipe/

Cranberry Cobbler

Ingredients”

·        6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted + more for the pan

·        1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries

·        3/4 cup + 4 Tbsp sugar

·        1 cup all-purpose flour

·        1 1/4 tsp baking powder

·        Pinch of cinnamon

·        1/4 tsp salt

·        1/2 cup whole milk

·        1 large egg

·        1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 10-inch cast iron skillet.

1. In a small bowl, toss together the cranberries and 4 Tbsp of sugar. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, milk, sugar, egg and vanilla. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring to combine.

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared cast iron skillet. Scatter the sugared cranberries over the top of the batter evenly.

5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature (surprisingly awesome at room temp by the way!).

https://www.cakenknife.com/christmas-cranberry-cobbler/

**Note: Food Images taken from their respective recipe site. 

SO, WHAT DID THEY EAT?

Post by Doris McCraw
writing as Angela Raines

Photo Property of the Author

As I was going through some early Colorado Magazine articles I came across a short one that got me to thinking. What did they eat and what was the process for so many?

According to the article, in May of 1859 a man from Indiana had left packets of vegetable seeds for sale at the Rocky Mountain News offices. They were selling for twenty-five cents a packet.

Soon the paper was talking about the first crop of radishes and how there were several acres of corn, peak and onion that were sprouting up.  Throughout the summer there were gardens that had peas, beans onions, squashes, cucumbers, beets along with melons.

So you can see, at least in early Denver, there were fresh vegetables available. But what about flour, rice, cornmeal,etc. Those products needed to be shipped in from the 'states' or New Mexico. Prices would vary depending on where they originated from, along with the distance, etc.

The article quoted the following prices:
Flour from the states - $14 @ 16 per 100 pounds
Flour Mexican $10 @15 per 100 pounds
Potatoes 25¢ per pound
Rice 25¢ per pound
Butter 75¢ per pound
Fresh Beef 15¢ per pound
Venison $1 per quarter
Milk 10¢ per quart
Molasses $2.50 per gallon
Whiskey $3.00 per gallon
Bacon sides and Ham 35¢
Cheese 50¢

As winter approached people began preparing to put their vegetables for winter. The cucumbers, tomatoes and cabbage were combined with vinegar.  There also appeared bear, turkey, grouse and duck as the winter months approached.

Early Denver Illustration
Colorado Encyclopedia

As people continued to arrive, many may have had gardens, but those in the high mountains would have had short growing seasons. The town of Guffey, Colorado in the late 1800s chose to grow potatoes to sell to the mining camps. Towns like Fountain and Canon City grew vegetables and fruit.

The Mormons who came through in 1853-54 planted gardens and while the rest of the party moved on toward Salt Lake, there were those who stayed behind to harvest the crops which the carried on to their destination.

This information is in stark contrast to an article in 1881 in the Colorado Miner where the early pioneers met and stated their 1859 menu was Beans, Dried Apples, Hard Tack, Bacon and Taos Lightning.

Which story is true? Probably a bit of each. I can see the how those away from the larger settlements would have to do with much less, but those in the 'cities' seemed to have fared much better.

So, what did they eat? Probably whatever was available. It is something to think about when writing, that's for sure. In my latest novel, "The Outlaw's Letter" my heroine eats cornbread made by the woman who is tending her while she recovers. It seemed logical for someone to eat in 1880.

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Angela Raines - author: Where Love & History Meet

For a list of Angela Raines Books: Here 

Photo and Poem: Click Here 

Angela Raines FaceBook: Click Here

Cowboy Cooking

Cooking is not something I enjoy, except for the Thanksgiving turkey and lasagna. I do like leafing thru cowboy and old west cookbooks, mostly for material to put into my stories. Occasionally, I find a recipe that interests me and will try it. Last year I shared some of those recipes. Today I’m sharing recipes from Cowboy Cook Book by Bruce and Bobbi Fisher. I have not tried these, but they did catch my eye.    

Three Cheese Egg Bake:

4 Eggs

½ cup Whipping cream

1 tsp. sugar

½ lb. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

2 oz. Cream cheese

1 cup Cottage cheese

3 Tbsp. Butter

¼ cup Chopped green onions

½ cup Flour

1 tsp. Baking powder

In a bowl, beat eggs, whipping cream and sugar together. Stir in the cheeses and mix well. Melt butter in a small skillet and lightly sauté onions then stir in flour and baking powder. Combine mixtures and blend well. Pour batter into a greased 1 ½ quart casserole dish and bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes.    

Rancher’s Beef Stroganoff:

3 Tbsp. Butter

1 Onion, diced

½ lb. Mushrooms, sliced

2 lbs. Round Steak

2 Tbsp. Flour

1 Tsp. Salt

1 cup water

2 Tbsp. Tomato paste

2 cups Beef Bouillon

½ cup Sour cream

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in skillet. Add onions and mushrooms and sauté until onions are tender. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.  

Debone steak and cut off excess fat. Cut steak into 2 ½ inch long and ¾ inch wide strips. Add remaining butter and steak to skillet and brown steak.

In a bowl, combine flour and salt. Add water and tomato paste and mix until smooth. Pour mixture over meat. Simmer over medium-low heat until steak is tender (about 1 ¼ hours) Add onion mixture and bouillon and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and stir in sour cream. Heat through but do not boil.

Applesauce Nut Cake:

2 ½ Cups flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

½ tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Cinnamon

½ tsp. Mace

½ tsp. Nutmeg

¼ tsp. Cloves

¾ Cup butter

1 ¼ cups Sugar

2 Eggs

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 ½ cups Unsweetened Applesauce

1 cup Chopped nuts

In a bowl, sift flour, baking soda, salt and spices. 

In a 2^nd bowl, cream together butter and sugar. One at a time, add eggs to mixture, beating well after each egg. Add vanilla and stir well. Stir in dry ingredients, applesauce and nuts. Mix well and pour into a well-greased cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-75 minutes. Cool before serving.

  

Orange Clove Tea:

1/3 cup sugar

3 Tea bags

12 Whole cloves

1 Cinnamon stick

1 4inch strip of fresh orange peel

3 Cups boiling water

½ cup fresh-squeezed orange juice

3 Tbsp. Lemon juice

Lemon slices studded with cloves

Place sugar, tea bags, cloves, cinnamon and orange peel in a sauce pan and pour boiling water over the top. Steep for 5 minutes then strain. Pour black tea into sauce pan and stir in orange and lemon juices. Heat but do not boil. Serve in cups garnished with lemon slices.  

**Cowboy Cook Book is available at Amazon

www.amazon.com/dp/B01418A7D4 

Fred Harvey and the Harvey Girls

Fred Harvey

Born in England 1835, Fred Harvey immigrated to the United States in 1850 at the age of 15. His first job was washing dishes in New York City. Soon after he moved to New Orleans and again gained employment in a restaurant, learning the ins and outs of the restaurant business. In 1853 he moved to St. Louis and six years later, he and a business partner opened a restaurant at the start of the Civil War. Unfortunately, his partner joined the war and not too long after, Harvey was broke for lack of customers. Harvey gained employment working on a riverboat and as a mail clerk for the railroad. It was during this time that he noticed trains did not provide dining cars, especially on long journeys, and the few eateries along the train route were deplorable. He concocted an idea to build a chain of restaurants along the AT&SF train route, but his idea was denied by his supervisor. A spur-of-the-moment meeting the AT&SF owner and gourmet, Charles Morse changed that. Morse liked Harvey’s idea and the first Harvey House restaurant opened in Topeka, Kansas in 1876.

Dining Room, Topeka, KS

Harvey leased a lunch counter at the Santa Fe Topeka depot. His focal points for running the counter were cleanliness, good food and reasonable prices. He was an immediate success, catching the attention of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe line. They turned their food service over to Harvey and The Harvey Houses became the first chain of restaurants in the United States, with Harvey using the depot in Topeka as a training base. Harvey bought a hotel in Florence in 1877 and created an upscale establishment, featuring juicy steaks and crisp hash browns. Tables were set with imported linens, silver and china. He required male patrons to wear a jacket and always kept a supply of alpaca coats on hand for those who didn’t have one, ensuring no one was turned away. Eventually, Harvey extended his restaurants all the way to California.

Harvey Girls

Originally, Harvey hired males to work in his establishments. He soon found that many of them were as wild as the west and came up with another idea to hire women. He recruited women in newspaper ads, requiring them to have an 8^th grade education, be of good manners and moral, and have a cleanly appearance. He paid them a good wage, with free room and board, and upon hiring a girl, he offered her the establishment of her choice along the train route. The girls were outfitted in black shirtwaist dresses, black bows and starched white aprons. In exchange for this, the girls had to agree to six months of employment, that they wouldn’t marry, and that they would obey company rules. With little opportunity for women in this era, the position as a Harvey Girl rose to popularity instantly. 

   

Harvey House Santa Fe (La Fonda)

Harvey’s success didn’t stop with his chain of restaurants. In the southwest, he hired architect Mary Colter to design hotels in Santa Fe (La Fonda) and Gallop New Mexico and in Winslow, Arizona, and at the south rim and at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. At the peak of the Harvey Houses, there were 84 restaurants in operation. Harvey continued to improve his businesses before he passed away in 1901. His sons and grandsons took over and kept the company profitable as long as possible. The inventions of cars and airplanes made that difficult, as most folks no longer traveled by train. The company was bought out by Hawaiian based Amfac in 1968. Amfac has hotels worldwide and adopted Harvey’s strategy for business and his standards. 

PS: If you ever get the chance, spend the night at La Fonda. I have and it's beautiful.

Inside La Fonda

New Year's Day Food Traditions

Can you believe 2014 is here? It seems like families and friends were just sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, ham, stuffing, sweet potatoes and apple pie are some of the foods Americans enjoy on Thanksgiving Day. Many of these dishes are repeated on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with foods from other cultures added to the table. My childhood consisted of an Italian meal on Christmas Day and a German meal on New Year’s Eve. Some years, I stick to tradition. Other years, I don’t, but as I sat down to write a New Year’s Day blog, I wondered what other cultural traditions involve food on this day.  

Worldwide, many countries celebrate a belief that a certain food, or foods, when eaten on New Year’s Day will bring them good luck and prosperity. Revelers in Spain eat twelve grapes at midnight, one grape for each stroke of the clock, with each grape representing the months of the year. The tradition dates back to 1909 when the Alicante region had a surplus of grapes. The idea spread to other countries, such as Portugal, Cuba and Mexico. Peru also joined this tradition and has added a thirteenth grape for good measure.

Legumes (lentils, beans and peas) are small and round. When cooked, they resemble coins and are eaten in the hopes of financial rewards throughout the years. Italians pair lentils with sausage. Germans partner their legumes with pork, usually in split-pea soup. In Brazil, the meal is usually lentil soup or lentils and rice.   

Black-eyed peas or cowpeas in a dish called hoppin’ john are tradition in the southern part of the United States. The peas are thought to bring good luck, or so the legend dating back to the Civil War claims. Vicksburg, Mississippi ran out of food while being attacked. Residents discovered black-eyed peas and proclaimed the pea to be lucky.

New York began a tradition of receiving callers on New Year’s Day. The Dutch held ‘open house’ and served donuts steeped in rum, cookies, and honey cakes. The custom spread throughout the United States, with George Washington opening his house the first New Year’s Day after his inauguration. Some folks advertised their ‘open house’ in the newspapers, listing the hours they would be home to receive visitors. Eventually, this led to disaster, as strangers began dropping in for free food and drink. By the end of the nineteenth century, the practice of advertising ended, but folks still held ‘open house’ for their friends.

For me, the idea of hosting numerous visitors on New Year’s Day is overwhelming. The rush of Christmas is behind me, and I prefer a quite day with the hubby and kiddo. I usually take down the tree, pack away the decorations and fall onto the couch that night and mindlessly watch television, regaining my energy to get through the next few days before the kiddo goes back to celebrate. 

However you celebrate the day, may it be a good one, and may God bless you with health, safety and love throughout 2014.

Julie