Leftover Cranberry and Cooking RED to Remember

I've been reading for days all about what to do with all that leftover turkey. Guess what, I had almost no left over turkey. Potatoes, cranberry sauce, salad, yep plenty, turkey not so much! I had invited my sister and my dad and didn't get a response until the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I was so happy they could come down from Tampa. It's been a few years since we had Thanksgiving dinner together. I had already purchased the turkey, it was just over 17 pounds. How six adults and two children ate 17 plus pounds of turkey is beyond me. It was a really nice dinner.

The menu was a traditional one, included sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, giblet gravy, whipped sweet potatoes, fresh cranberry sauce, homemade apple sauce with cranberry and raisins, Aunt Joan's mayo salad, green bean casserole, handy dandy brown n serve rolls, pumpkin pie with spiced whipped topping, and chocolate pie. My sister made mom's Jewish Coffee Cake especially for Red, his birthday was that Tuesday.

I had three "first time preparing" menu items, pumpkin pie, whipped sweet potato casserole, and fresh cranberry sauce.

The pumpkin pie needed more filling. Hubby joked, what's that a pumpkin pizza? I was kinda freaked out, called it pathetic and started thinking, fast. I found a recipe for spiced whipped topping somewhere on the web. Thanksgiving morning I whipped that up and after it chilled, I coated that pumpkin pie. Looked great and tasted pretty darn good too. Since it wasn't a deep dish pie, problem solved!

The whipped sweet potatoes found on all recipes, were a no brainer, came out great! And the fresh cranberry sauce, well that was superb. Of course I found that cranberry recipe on Mary's blog, Deep South Dish, so I knew it would be good! I think my sister and I were the only ones who liked cranberry.

What to do with the leftover cranberry sauce? Well, I read this post today by Joan, over at FOODalogue, Cooking RED to Remember. You see, December 1st is World Aids Day, so Joan was Cooking RED in support and remembrance. That got me thinking... I have some almost dead bananas that I was going to use for banana bread. I'll just add some of that cranberry to the banana bread and post for December 1st, Cooking RED to Remember. I lost a good friend to aides years ago. How horrible it was. Now, my niece is loosing her Uncle to the same dastardly disease. I am honored and saddened to support this day of remembrance.

Bread Machine Banana Cranberry Bread

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2 eggs
* 2 bananas, peeled and mashed
* 3/4 cup leftover cranberry

Directions

1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine.
2. Select the Dough setting, and press Start. Mix the bread for 3 to 5 minutes until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Use a rubber spatula to push the dough from the sides of the bread pan. When 3 to 5 minutes have passed on the clock display, press Stop. Do not continue mixing. Smooth out the top of the loaf with the rubber spatula.
3. Select the Bake setting, and press Start. The Bake cycle time may vary with machines, but should be about 50 - 60 minutes. Mine was done in 60 minutes. To test the bread, insert a toothpick into the center top. Remove the toothpick. If the bread is done, the toothpick will come out clean. Remove the pan from the machine, but allow the bread to remain in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the bread to cool completely on a wire rack.

Very moist and a nice balance of flavor with this quick bread. The photo depicts what I found on the counter this morning. Evidently Red really liked the bread too!

♥