Crustless Cranberry Walnut Pie

I bought three days of cranberries the other day, (hey, they were on sale for 99 cents apiece, what was I supposed to do?) so I knew I needed to get a hold of some great cranberry-involving recipes as soon as possible. This recipe was really, really good. The cranberries were just tart enough to counteract the sweetness of the cake/pie. It's called a pie, but it's basically a thin cake to me. My brother happened to be home this weekend, so this dessert was gone within 12 hours! 

I had some cranberries left over, so I froze them in the bag to use in future recipes. Does anyone know what a raw cranberry tastes like? I thought about trying to eat one, but I couldn't get up the nerve! Homework and classwork has pretty much been taking over my life for the past week- two tests, two oral presentations, a portfolio due, and a paper- BUT I got it all done, and I have all As in my classes going into finals, which start this Wednesday. I can't wait for winter break! I'll have so much more time for baking and planning products for my Etsy store. I already know I'm going to sell vintage kitchen items, recipe cards, and dinner menus, but beyond that, I have no clue.

Pumpkin Bread

Get ready for tons of pumpkin recipes because I have 10 cans of pumpkin puree. TEN. I got freaked out a few months ago when I decided to make some pumpkin dog treats for my loves and I couldn't find any pumpkin. ANYWHERE. It was as if canned pumpkin had completely disappeared from South Carolina. Which is basically what happened: due to a pumpkin disease/shortage/something in 2010, Libby's had less pumpkin than usual. So, rationally, when I saw pumpkin back on the shelf a few weeks ago, I grabbed as many as I could. Now I'm paying the price. P.S. Pumpkin isn't my favorite. I have no idea what I was thinking! This was a delicious loaf bread though, the taste of pumpkin wasn't overwhelming and it was extremely moist. This recipe makes three loaves: enough to freeze, give as gifts, or hoard all winter long.

Bread Pudding

I've been babysitting this week, and I've been super busy, so I haven't had a lot of time to think of new dessert ideas, so I decided to go with a recipe I've been making a lot this past year. Bread pudding is a southern comfort food staple, and it also tastes AWESOME! I usually double this recipe and make two because they get eaten fast! This recipe is also really easy to alter- replace the raisins with chocolate chips and throw in some cocoa powder, and you've got chocolate chip bread pudding!

I broke the bread into manageable pieces, drizzled with melted butter, and sprinkled the raisins liberally. If you aren't a fan of raisins, just take them out or add something else in their place :) 

 I mixed the sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla extract, and cinnamon together! Beat with a fork right before pouring over the bread to keep everything from separating

I poured the above mixture over the bread and pressed the bread down with a fork to make sure all of the bread got covered. If all of the bread doesn't get covered, it'll brown in the oven and be crunchy.

Sophia, one of my two adorable Boston Terriers, kept barking at me and looking at the oven; I guess she was hungry too :)

The finished product!

Plated :)

Ingredients

• 6 slices French bread
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk or 1 cup milk & 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 
  
• Directions
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• Tear bread into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan (or really anything you've got; I use a pie dish). Drizzle melted butter over bread, and sprinkle with raisins.
• In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.