CAPE COD CRANBERRY MUFFINS

December is going by so quickly! I don't know why. Twenty-four hours is twenty-four hours after all. December is almost half over and I'm not sure where the first half went. 

I am finished with my Christmas shopping. Wore my fingers raw this year but my shoes still look like new. This is the first year I have not bought something in a store. I did have to go "into" Target to pick up two items I ordered for Madison. The third thing she wanted had to be shipped from Target. It didn't take long though as there was not a line. Now I just have to wrap everything.

Last Monday I got up a little earlier to make these muffins to take to Hillcrest Thrift Shop. I usually bake something Sunday afternoon, but I was busy with other things. When I saw this recipe for Cape Cod Cranberry Muffins from The Thomas Huckins House, a B & B in Barnstable Village, Cape Cod, Mass., I thought they would taste great if I took them in still warm. 

One thing I love about this time of the year is I can get plenty of fresh cranberries in the stores. I will eventually freeze them so I can have "fresh" cranberries all year long.

The recipe makes 12 muffins, but I decided to make 24 mini-muffins. They were easy to make just took a little while cutting the cup of fresh cranberries in halves.

Best of all, they were so-o-o-o good!

CAPE COD CRANBERRY MUFFINS

1       cup cranberries (fresh)

1/4    cup sugar

*     *    *

2       cups flour

1/4    cup sugar

3       teaspoons baking powder

1/2    teaspoon salt

*     *     *

1       egg, beaten

3/4    cup milk

1/4    cup butter, melted (1/2 a stick)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease or spray muffin tin for 12 muffins or for 24 mini-muffins. Set aside.

Cut the cranberries in half and combine with 1/4 cup sugar. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl.

Make a "well" in the center. Set aside. 

In a separate bowl, combine the egg, milk, and butter. (I measured the milk in a glass measuring cup and then added egg. After beating the two together,

I added the melted butter. That saved having another bowl to wash.)

Add the liquid ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients and

stir just until mixed.

Stir in the cranberries and sugar mixture.

Divide batter among the muffin cups.

Bake for 25 minutes for 12 muffins or about 15 minutes or until done for 24 mini-muffins.

 

INSTANT POT 101: DRIED PINTO BEANS

 We love pinto beans and I cook them fairly often. I usually forget to put them in a bowl to soak overnight and end up doing the quick soak method. With that method you wash the beans and cover them with water. Boil for 1 minute and then cover and turn off heat. Allow to sit for 1 hour. At this point you can start over with new water or just use the water they have been soaking in. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about an hour and they are done.

When I got my Instant Pot, I read that you could cook the beans without presoaking them (even though I read where many cooks presoak them anyway). I thought I would give it a try and see.

Well, they turned out really good. Wayne said he thought they were the best ones he had ever eaten. I think he liked the garlic powder I put in the pot to cook them. I have never done that before. 

I admit they took longer to cook than I thought they would but I told Wayne the advantage besides tasting so good was I didn't have to watch them cooking on the stove to make sure they had enough water which is what I am always going when I cook them on the stove.

My pet peeve that I am developing when I read how people cook items in the IP is if they do a NR (natural release) many  never say for how long they do a NR or if they just wait until all steam has released. Since I didn't know I did a NR for 50 minutes and decided that was long enough. The beans were super so it's hard to say if I should have stopped sooner. If you have made them and did a QR (quick release) after a NR of a certain length of time, please leave a comment below to let me know. I am sure I will be making them again and will see for myself.

Anyway this is what I did: (Remember I am still learning myself how to use my IP.)

DRIED PINTO BEANS

1     lb (2 cups) washed dry pinto beans

5     cups warm water

1     teaspoon garlic powder

Wash the beans and

add to inner pot.

Add warm water to inner pot,

and finally the garlic powder.

Add lid and

press the BEANS option on the front.

Increase time to 50 minutes.

Pot will pressurize and

then start cooking.

When cooked, timer will show 00:00.

The timer will then start counting back up and

do nothing for 50 minutes (a NR) or until

all steam has been released.

Remove lid and hit cancel option to stop timer.

I made myself a bean and cheese burrito for lunch...

BANANA GINGERBREAD

 As you might know I have my list of recipes to try ASAP, but that doesn't mean I quit looking at "new" ones. I actually found this recipe in my Blue Binder when I was rechecking one I had written down. The recipe was a 1990 $100 WINNER for Better Homes and Gardens for then 14 - year old Deanna Burch of Mentone, Indiana. 

I was trying to find just the perfect thing to take to Hillcrest Thrift Shop and the recipe caught my eye. I had two bananas that seemed to be just what the recipe was calling for. The recipe called for 1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons of ground ginger so I used the full amount because I love gingerbread and I wanted to taste the gingerbread more than the bananas. It worked, too. I could hardly taste any banana. Deanna made three mini loaves which would be great for gifts, but I made one large loaf since I was taking it to the thrift shop.

BANANA GINGERBREAD

2-1/4          cups flour, divided

1/2             cup sugar

1-1/2  to 2  teaspoons ground ginger

1                teaspoon baking powder

1                teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2             teaspoon baking soda

1/4             teaspoon salt

1                cup mashed ripe banana (2 to 3 medium bananas)

1/2             cup butter-flavored shortening or butter (I used a stick of butter, at room temperature)

1/2             cup molasses

3                eggs

1/2             cup chopped walnuts or almonds (I used walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three mini-loaf pans or one 9 x 5 - inch loaf pan. Set aside.

(Scrape the sides of the bowl often during the preparation.)

In a large mixer bowl combine 1 cup of the flour, the sugar, ginger, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. 

Add the mashed banana, shortening or butter, and molasses.

Beat with an electric mixer on low speed till blended;

then increase speed to high and beat for 2 minutes.

Add remaining flour and eggs;

beat till blended.

Stir in nuts.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan or divide the batter evenly into the three mini-loaf pans.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes (large loaf) or for 40 minutes for the mini-loaves. Test doneness by inserting a toothpick near the center and comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before

removing from pan(s). 

CRANBERRY ORANGE SUGAR COOKIES

 Monday when I went to clean at Hillcrest Thrift Shop Volunteer Lolah told me about these easy cookies that she had been making for her husband's work colleagues. She got my attention with the word "easy" and then "cranberry sugar cookies" sealed the deal. 

She explained completely how she made them and then told me it was impossible to find the cranberry quick bread and muffin mix and she had to order it online. Thanks, Lolah! 😉 

I thought I had seen some at Aldi so when I finished cleaning, I went by there to see. Unfortunately if I had seen some there, they were all gone. I also dropped by Menards because that's where hers ended up coming from. They had several kinds but no cranberry. 

So there was nothing for me to do right then but to come home and check online. I did see that Price Choppers' was supposed to have them but that grocery store is farther away. I also saw that Wal-mart sold the cranberry orange mix which I had forgotten about. I needed to eat some lunch so it was later in the afternoon before I went to Wal-mart and bought three boxes.

I know it wasn't what Lola used, but I figured it ought to work. When I started making them, I found a container of red sugar that I had bought to use with the grandchildren sometimes and hadn't. I thought that would give them a special festive look. 

When I made them, the first cookie sheet, I didn't remember that I was supposed to flatten them until I was making up the second cookie sheet. So I had 12 cookies a little fatter, 12 cookies flatten, and the last ones, I rolled in regular sugar so you can see the cranberries in the cookies. I took some to the Madison and Tyler even though they didn't get to help me bake them.

CRANBERRY ORANGE SUGAR COOKIES

1        box Cranberry Orange Quick Bread and Muffin mix (or if you are lucky enough to find just the cranberry quick bread and muffin mix, use it)

1-1/2  sticks of butter, melted 

sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the dry mix with the melted butter in a mixing bowl.

Stir til dough forms.

(I had a separate container of cranberries to add to the dough.)

Using a small cookie scoop,

scoop out a glob of dough, roll into a ball in the palm of your hands.

Roll in a small container of sugar.

Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Flatten with a glass.

Bake 10 - 12 minutes.

Remove and cool on wire rack. 

The three kinds I made...

The flattened ones...

The ones I forgot to flatten...

The ones with regular sugar...