Cranberry Pear Crumble Pie

This is a recipe I adapted from Kraft Kitchens.  Their recipe calls for a refrigerated pie crust, but I opted to add a special touch by making a batch of my Maw-Maw's pie crust.  This pie is the perfect balance of sweet and tart and is especially great at Thanksgiving.

Cranberry Pear Crumble Pie

Ingredients:
Your favorite pie crust recipe or 1 ready-to-use refrigerated pie crust (1/2 of 15-oz. pkg.)
24 Vanilla Wafers, crushed (about 3/4 cup)
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup butter, melted
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup chopped cranberries
3 large fresh pears, sliced (firm pears work the best, I used Bartlett)
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
Whipped Cream (optional)

Directions:
1.)  Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Line 9-inch pie plate with crust. Bake 5 to 6 minutes or until lightly browned, then cool.

2.)  Meanwhile, mix wafer crumbs, sugar and butter until well blended.

3.)  Reduce oven temperature to 375ºF. Spread cream cheese carefully onto bottom of crust and sprinkle with half the wafer crumb mixture.

4.)  Combine fruit in large bowl. Add dry pudding mix and cinnamon; toss to coat. Spoon into crust; top with remaining crumb mixture.

5.)  Bake for 35 minutes or until fruit is tender and crust is golden brown. Cool completely. Serve topped with whipped cream if desired.

Cranberry Salsa: A borrowed recipe that turned into the hit of the holidays

This is not one of my original recipes, but as I've mentioned before, I am fond of combining contrasting flavors whether they be salty/ sweet or spicy/ sweet, so I had to give this one a try.  This Cranberry Salsa combines sweet, tart, and spicy plus a salty kick when coupled with tortilla chips.  As it turns out, this salsa was requested so much in my family over the holidays, that I ended up making ten jars to give away as gifts.

You'll need:
1 bag of fresh cranberries (frozen would work as well)
6 small green onions
3 small jalapeno peppers (seeded and chopped)
1 bundle of cilantro
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
juice from 1 lime

Place your cranberries into the food processor.  Allow them to go through the food processor until they are finely chopped.  Pour them into a separate mixing bowl.

Chop up the green onions, jalapenos, and cilantro.  Finely blend in the food processor.  Add to the bowl of cranberries.

Stir in the sugar, olive oil, and lime juice.  Mix well.

Serve chilled with tortilla chips.  We also used pita chips and they worked great as well.  Each batch will fill two 16 ounce jars.  They made the perfect gift!

Cranberry Orange Bread + Coffee = Heavenly

I find it funny that when I started the blog, I mentioned that I didn't consider baking a specialty and didn't attempt it often.  However, somehow all the baking recipes have made it on here, partially due to the holiday season.  This one is actually one that I was a little afraid to try since I'm also not too experienced with making bread.  I am so glad I did though, because it turned out to be amazing.  The tart fresh cranberries and citrus coupled with the sweet denseness of the bread make the perfect partner for a cup of coffee.

You will need:
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup of juice from an orange
Orange peel, zested from one orange
2 cups flour, (I used 1 cup white and 1 cup soy flour)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
2 tbsp. butter, melted
2 tbsp. hot water
1/3 cup milk

In a mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, beat the egg.  Add the orange juice, peel, butter, hot water, milk, and vanilla.  Add to the flour mixture, stirring until it is just moistened.  Fold in the cranberries. Spoon into a greased loaf pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick to the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.  This will have a dense texture, much different than a cake.  Next time, I will be adding crushed walnuts or pecans.

Cranberry Orange Bread cooling.