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Little white lies…

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This Cranberry Orange Bread is stuffed with fresh cranberries, orange zest, and chopped walnuts and is easy to make since it’s a quick bread.

Ah, the little white lie.

Chances are  you said one in your lifetime.

If you’re married (especially for a long time) you might say one once a day. 😛

Now we are all taught not to lie.

Your parents teach you that.

I am sure Barney the Purple Dinosaur probably has a song about not lying.

Sesame Street taught me that.

And the ABC after school specials did as well.

But as I got older I realized that they same parents who taught me not to lie, were (wait for it) liars themselves (oh the horror).

Case in point.

My bunny (no, not the one I have now).

Growing up I had several bunnies.

The first one I ever had was an outdoor one in a hutch.

One day when I woke up and my parents had that serious look on their face.

I quickly scanned my head thinking ah crap, what did I do now, but then quickly remember that I was indeed the perfect child, so no worries there. 😉

They sat me down to let me know that my rabbit had run away.

I being the inquisitive little sucker that I am, relentlessly asked questions as to how this tiny little bunny could have escaped from the cage.

Well, my parents must have not been ready for the full court press as their tiny white lie, got a little bit bigger.

They told me that the neighbor (a guy I would later find out they didn’t like) had gone and pet the rabbit (we had no fence between us) and didn’t latch the cage right when he left.

Well, hell hath no fury like a little girl who lost her bunny.

Needless to say, the poor man’s flowerbeds never looked good again.

Years later, as an adult, we were all sitting around talking about something.

And then it came out.

That little white lie from so many years ago.

The neighbor had not accidentally left the cage open.

In fact, what had really happen was that a raccoon had gotten into the cage and ripped it to shreds.

Now I don’t have kids, and even I know it was a good move on my parents part to not tell their young daughter about the true demise of her bunny.

These are the times the little white lie is your friend.

Speaking of little white lies.

I’m coming clean on one.

A few years back for Christmas I got a lot of cookbooks.

I mean a lot.

26 to be exact.

I know some of you are saying to yourself, I don’t even own 26 cookbooks.

But let us all remember that I am a cookbook whore (people are in awe of how many I own).

To set the record straight I did not ask for that many cookbooks.

But when all else fails, people buy me a cookbook.

It’s a safe bet I am going to use it.

But because I got so many that year, a few of them got passed over (I was too busy focusing on the ones I asked for).

One was a book called The Chocolate Snowball.

This Cranberry Orange Bread was in that book.

The book wasn’t on my wishlist (Amazon) and I had actually never heard of it.

It’s a cookbook a bakery in Deer Valley put out.

So months later when the friend who gave it to me asked me how I liked the cookbook, I pulled out the little white lie and told her it was great.

Except that I didn’t actually know.

Because I didn’t actually really look through it yet.

I had planned on doing that when I got home only to realize that I had packed it up.

Yes, I have so many, I pack them up and rotate them through.

It sounded like a season cookbook afterall.

So low and behold a few weeks before Christmas, I opened one of those boxes.

And there it was, mocking me.

Mocking me because there were recipes in there that I wanted to try, like this Cranberry Orange Bread.

And if I had just bothered to look at it in the first place I could have already made the stuff. 🙂

Back when I made this you could still get fresh cranberries.

I am quite sure that dried cranberries would work just as nicely, but I would go the unsweetened route.

Or you could make this with fresh raspberries as well.

This bread isn’t reinventing the wheel or going to cause world peace (like those chocolate cookies) but it’s a all around good quick bread.

So feel free to lie everyone.

I’m sure many of you have even lied to me on here telling me something looks good when you are thinking not so much. 🙂

But remember, a little white lie can go a long way. 😛

And as always it’s a great day to order my cookbook.

Want more Quick Bread Recipes?

Salted Caramel Apple Fritter Bread

Mini Caramel-Glazed Honey Crisp Apple Bread

Apple Cinnamon Buttermilk Bread

Snickerdoodle Marble Bread

Zucchini Walnut Bread with Lemon Glaze

Cranberry Orange Bread

Cranberry Orange Bread

Ingredients

  • 8 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp orange zest
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ¾ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup orange juice (preferably fresh)
  • 1 ½ cups cranberries, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Grease and flour a 12-x-4-inch loaf pan (or three mini pans).
  3. Using an electric mixer (if using a stand use the paddle attachment), cream together the butter, sugar and orange zest.
  4. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl after every addition.
  5. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture.Mix and scrap the bowl.
  6. Add the orange juice and mix until fully incorporated.
  7. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until ingredients just come together.
  8. Fold in cranberries and walnuts.
  9. Spread into prepared pan and bake for 60-75 minutes (about 40-45 for the mini). Cool for 30 minutes before removing from the pan.
© Peabody

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Comments

  1. I absolutely love cookbooks!!! I don’t know if I own 26 (yet) but every time I go to a bookstore or cooking store, I find at least 2 or 3 that I want. So I’m right there with ya! 😉

    Oh, and that bread looks absolutely delicious!!!

    Reply

  3. I love that your blog always has a story… you are one of the few cooking blogs that I don’t skip straight through to the pictures and recipe. You’re always entertaining — and that’s the truth!

    Reply

  4. yummmmmmmmm! I love love love cranberries! Good thing I bought too many fresh cranberries over thanksgiving and still have tons in the freezer! I wonder if I could substitute lemonade for the orange juice. I prefer lemon with cranberry over the orange.

    Reply

  5. I’m a cookbook whore too! It’s sad how many I have, when I rely on recipes I find online (mostly in blogs) 90% of the time. So glad you finally made something out of that cookbook your friend got you; nice choice too–orange cranberry is one of my favorite flavor combos.

    Reply

  6. I have too many cookbooks to count. Some from publishing houses, some from charitable organizations and church fund raisers.

    I don’t believe I’ll ever have “too many”.

    Now, excuse me. I need to make this recipe! It looks divine!

    Reply

  7. Ha, I think that all of us food bloggers must be cookbook addicts! I only wish I had enough time to cook from all of those shiny, unread books I’ve accumulated…

    Reply

  9. I love cookbooks too. I read through them like regular books. This bread looks delicious (and that’s the truth!). I love the cranberry-orange combination.

    Reply

  11. I want a piece of theat bread, please…no lie! No intention of catching up with you, but my cookbook collection is growing. Will you be telling us about the ones you got for Christmas?
    BTW I’m giving you an award. It’ll show up shortly on my blog. Thanks for brightening my day!

    Reply

  13. Yes I have FAR too many cookbooks. Nearly 100 in fact! Some I have inherited, others bought myself or been given as gifts. For my 16th Birthday I asked for another bookcase to put them all on. I never get round to reading them all, but I love them.
    The quick bread looks so delicious. I love the colour of the berries.

    Reply

  16. Cookbook whores unite! I have way over 500 – and that isn’t counting the yearly holiday magazines that I save…that bread looks fabulous! I too have the Amazon wish list – but no one will use – it they don’t want to contribute to my addiction.

    Reply

  17. What to know how sick I am – I posted the above comment at 6:51 a.m. and it’s four minutes later and I’ve ordered Chocolate Snowball. Sick sick sick.

    Reply

  18. This looks so delish!!!

    My mom told me so many white lies when I was below 5 that she’s shocked when I told her how much I remember of them when I grew up. She tot kids don’t remember what adults say. Now she doesn’t tell even one white lie to her grandkids.

    Reply

  20. Oh my goodness. I just made the brown sugar icing from your pumpkin butterscotch cake post from way back in 2007, and it’s amazing. I’ve never made a good buttercream, but this one just knocked me off my feet. I’m so excited and it’s so good, I want to put it on everything!

    Reply

  21. I love that cookbook, I’ve probably made about half the recipes. I used to help my mom deliver flowers to the restaurants in Deer Valley and we always went through the kitchens. So my mom has a copy signed by the author. Seeing your post brought back a lot of good memories.
    Also, I wanted to let you know that I’ve been coming to your blog for awhile and really enjoy reading your posts.

    Reply

  22. Hmmm, I’m not really that good at lying so I tend not to do it 🙂 But I wonder how you’d turned out if your parents did tell you the truth…
    Anyway, I love cookbooks but no-one gives me any. I have to buy my own so I don’t have that many. (Rhyme!) How nice that you rediscovered this hidden gem!

    Reply

  23. Your bread looks great. I have all the stuff to make in my house…guess I should give it a try 🙂 Oh and I totally agree with you about lying. We are told lying is bad, yet told to tell Great Aunt Sandy we loved her sweater she knitted for us. I’m pretty much set on believing that deception is in every aspect of our lives…even if it’s our parents teaching us that deception…:)

    Reply

  26. I love this bread (no lie). I make it every Christmas. And yes, I am in awe of your cookbook collection. But there’s room for one more, isn’t there? Just one small after dinner cookbook?

    Reply

  27. ahh little white lies – when the bf asks suspiciously, “Did you buy ANOTHER pair of shoes?”.. err.. no, these old things? I bought them aaages ago and just haven’t gotten around to wearing them yet *grin*

    Reply

  28. Agreed…this is a fab bread. I have the recipe from years ago and made muffins with it this Christmas. Turned out pretty well, too.
    My kids had a bunny when they were young. A lab got into the cage and did the same thing to the poor thing. Can’t remember for the life of me what I said to them. (Been a lot of years) I’ll have to ask who remembers the story. But white lies are part of a parents “job”. Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy. You can’t get away from it!

    Reply

  31. I have over 100 cookbooks…and still growing. Even with no room on the shelves, the cookbook wishlist continues. 26 for one Christmas sounds amazing! As does this bread, I love the flavours. Delicious!

    Reply

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