Cranberry Nut Loaf... Mmmm!

This blog post is here to negate any effects of yesterday's blog post on the topic of humanity's collective think-power over the actual existence of the universe.

So, I had some leftover stale mixed nuts and some really old OceanSpray® cranberries that had been sitting around the kitchen and kind of smelled like cat pee, but I didn't want to trash them because lately, I'm so broke that trashing still semi-edible food really upsets me. What did I do? I made up a recipe!

Here's how it goes.

I start with the cranberry nut bread recipe on the back of the Ocean Spray bag:

CRANBERRY NUT BREAD
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
2 tablespoons shortening
1 egg, well beaten
1 1/2 cups Ocean Spray® Fresh or Frozen Cranberries, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped nuts

BUT, here, I need to do something to fix those mealy nuts and the fetid cranberry stink. So I boil the cranberries with an additional cup of sugar and a cup of water. It makes a sort of cranberry sauce. I only boil it until I hear the cranberries pop.

THEN, I take the nuts and sort out all the cashews and peanuts and throw them out. I use the almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, and whatever else is in there. I place those remaining nuts in 2 tbsp butter and simmer that for 5 minutes.

Then I follow the

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in orange juice, orange peel, shortening and egg. Mix until well blended. Stir in cranberries and nuts.

Here, I spoon the cranberries and nuts out of the sauce and butter so the recipe won't get too runny. To make up for the added sugar in the cranberries, and the butter that sneaks in with the nuts, I add an extra 3/4 cups flour. Then, I

Spread evenly in loaf pan.

Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely. Wrap and store overnight. Makes 1 loaf (16 slices).

And it turns out wonderfully. I will serve it warmed, with vanilla ice cream. And here's what OceanSpray® has to say about it's nutritional value: (keep in mind that the butter and added sugar in the cranberries pretty much turns it into this, plus the nutritional value of a slice of caramel.)

PER SERVING (1 slice): Cal. 211, Fat Cal. 54, Protein 3grams, Carb. 37grams, Fat 6grams, Chol. 18mg., Sodium 313mg.