Cranberry Bogs Forever!!

Hey all 43 of you!!! ^-^ Ya have to start from somewhere right??

So my blog is kind of growing up stories of my own as a McNeal, current kitchen moments and my own Hazzard-ous Family Tales.

Current kitchen moments: Ive been whipping up new creations left and right, seven recipe entree's in all, and thats just with cranberries. Ocean Spray Cranberry was running a create a recipe contest that needed to include...you will never guess. Cranberries. Yes, imagine that. Fortunately for me - I love the ruby redberry. After 7 Cranberry dishes I must say my skin tone was taking on a crimson glow all it's own. Kidding, just kidding! This contest did not require photographs, just ingenious new ways to take on the cranberry, or the cran juice, or jellied cranberries or craisins.

Once the judging is complete, I'll post the recipes but for now - here are the titles of my 7 recipes plus a little blurb about each one of them.

My family loved them all BUT their 2 favorites were:

Ruby-Gold Corn Breat & Pink Zesty Butter
& the dessert dish:
Crimson Cranberry Treasure Chocolate Kicked Up Cupcakes, the alternate name was
Cranberry Cayenne Chocolate Cupcakes - can you believe I have forgotten which name I actually went with! OMG.
* The corn bread was gorgeous and moist and a wonderful texture. Fresh out of the oven you could see the beautiful ribbons of crimson color running thru the cornbread, crisp gold edges from the dollops of brown sugar, stray golden nuggets of corn popping through the surface and confetti size bits of jalapeno. The zesty butter..would take your breath away! Butter, honey, cranberry and a hit of anaheim peppers...equals wonderful!
** The cupcakes. So different, they hit on all your sense of the palate. Sweet dark chocolate with a nip of spice somewhere in that bite. When you hit the center of the cupcake I had tunneled in whole cranberry jelly, with 4 cranberries per cupcake, just a bit tart, and juicy. The icing was a creamy rich cream cheese frosting, a perfect end to that bite!

Then I whipped up:
*** Cranberry Apricots Almonds Oh My! Soooo much more then your standard granola bar! Oats, honey, chocolate bits, almonds, dried apricots, craisins. Super easy and deliciously
chewy and crisp.
**** Cranberry Chicken Spinach Islands. Boneless breast of chicken dredged thru
blended whole jellied cranberry sauce, then in panko crumbs. Placed on a baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil, then on top of each chicken breast swiss cheese slice, spinach then more bread crumbs. WOW. The bite of the cheese with the tart cranberry and savory spinach chicken, golden and crisped. Sensational.
***** Crimson Pots Of Gold Appetizers. The beauty of those little wonton wrappers! Filled with spicy jack cheese, shaved deli turkey, cream cheese and yes.. whole cranberry sauce. It s just a reminder of how cranberry is not just a Thanksgiving thing!
****** Cranberry Thai Seasame Pasta Salad. Craisins, fresh ginger and lime juice, chopped peanuts, angel hair pasta, scallions, thin slices of cucumber and shrimp. WHAT a combination!! Sinfully delicious.
******* Cranberry Laced Layer Salad. This recipe could convert you to being a vegetarian!
Whole cranberry sauce, mandarin oranges, roasted almonds, lettuce, red onion, bacon with a sesame ginger dressing. Yumm!

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