Thanks!

Every year I make cranberry bread for Thanksgiving, specifically "Grandma's famous cranberry bread" from the above treasured book of my youth Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wendy and harry Devlin.

This year, while gathering all the ingredients and mixing them up I paused to gather a few blessings to be tha thankful for:

1.) I am grateful for my health, complete use of limbs and mind! Sadly, so many people in this world don't have even that.
2.) I am grateful for all the people in my life who see me through, friends, family, online readers/posters, any kind soul who stopped to drop a kind word, every little bit has helped!
3.) I am grateful that I've been able to keep my head above water(thus far!) in this economy, although check on this one next year to see if it's still holding!
4.) I'm grateful I live in a country that has such a high comfortable standard of living. let's not forget even the poorest of the poor here in the US have it better than a great deal fo the population elsewhere on the planet. I bitch and moan when my water isn't hot enough!!! How many human beings on this planet have no home, let alone running water and/or a toilet!

And I'm grateful for continuity and tradition in my life. For those of you that would like to try a little cranberry bread, I am glad to share the recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ cup butter, softened
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon grated orange rind
• ¾ cup orange juice
• 1 ½ cup raisins (steeped in boiling water for 5 minutes, discard water)
• 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
• ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Cooking Instructions

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a large bowl.
2. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly
3. Add egg, orange juice, and orange peel all at once; stir until mixture is just moisr.
4. Fold in cranberries and nuts.
5. Spoon into a greased an lightly floured 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.
6. Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for one hour and ten minutes.
7. Insert a toothpick into the center of the loaf. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. If not, bake for another 15 minutes.
8. Remove from pan; cool on a wire rack.
9. If you choose, you may eliminate the raisins and increase the amount of cranberries by 1 ½ cups.