Cranberry-Orange Bread

My family loves to eat homemade breads in the morning and Cranberry-Orange Bread is one of their favorites. Each Christmas I bake this bread for our neighbors as a gift, and of course I always let the kids help to measure and mix. One Christmas, when Emily was 2, I let her stand on a chair at the counter and mix the batter. I didn't notice that she was secretly licking the spoon while she mixed because I was busy videotaping, not only her cuteness, but other things going on as well. A few days later we watched the video and cracked up over the fact that Emily had been licking the mixing spoon, but we had, unfortunately, already given the loaves away. Oh well, at least I learned to pay more attention while vidoetaping!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour (I use 1 cup of white and 1 cup of wheat)
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 TB. shortening (I use vegetable oil)
3/4 cup orange juice
1 egg
1 cup chopped cranberries

Combine the first five ingredients in a bowl. Combine the next three ingredients in another bowl. Mix the contents of both bowls together and them add the cranberries. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan. The bread tastes best if you wrap it in plastic wrap overnight.

(I originally found this recipe on the back of a package of Oceanspray cranberries.)

Enjoy!
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Today I am thankful for my relationship with my dad. Growing up, things were prickly between us and a close relationship seemed like an impossibility. Over the last few years God has been restoring the years that the locusts took away (Joel 2:25) and I am finding a wonderful friend in my dad. He is a mentor, an advisor and he is the most interesting person to talk politics with because his opinions are outside of the mainstream. I have learned a lot from my dad and he has become my biggest encourager when it comes to homeschooling. I look forward to our relationship growing stronger and one day I hope to live closer to him.

I love you daddy!