Cranberry orange bread

Cranberry orange bread-  something cranberry,  other than sauce….(although in my house, my youngest son ate sauce like it was a bowl of ice cream last year). Not sure exactly how he did that, when everyone else kinda just took a little dab, which was later  scraped away.  At least I have one family member that loves the sweet tart seasonal confection.

Now: for the others; I’ve got bread.

This recipes came from a children’s book we read every year, Cranberry Thanksgiving . But: it has been heavily modified. The original recipe called for golden raisins and 2 CUPS (!!!!) of fresh cranberries. I substituted with dried cranberries and 1 cup fresh berries, and I don’t chop the berries, either. Call me lazy.

Speaking of lazy.

I want to be lazy.  There are times I really just want to watch cooking shows and painting tutorials. There are times I want to quit trying so hard every.single.day. There are times I just don’t think anything really matters. As this happens,  I do more and more to distract myself from this haunting feeling that I’m just a speck in a cloud of glitter. And, I am. We all are just little specks in this great big world. We are all little specks of glitter. So, I try to sparkle, I try to shine light.

Of course, this makes for some haters.

Some label makers, gossipers and slanderers. And, the worst part is it’s not the trolls. It’s the people who I think are friends. And, right now- I’ve gotten to the point where I just don’t even want to try to make friends anymore. And, that’s a lonely feeling deep down in my soul, so I try to distract myself with all the “stuff”. The cooking, the baking, the painting, the organizing, the crafting, the going places, the doing…. Which makes it even harder to make friends because the just don’t understand my … well, constant “doing”. But, what they don’t know is why I need to do. It’s because nobody is really there. Sure, I’ve got my kids and a great husband. But that husband works 13 hours a day, and my kids are … not friends, at least not yet: You become “friends” with your kids once they are almost adults, and that is  awesome.

I keep myself busy with all the aspects of life that bring me JOY (and sometimes others when I share food and give away paintings, lol.) Kids, pets, gardening, boating, thrifting and CREATING.

I love the feeling of preparing a batch of cookies, loaf of bread or home cooked meal,  the feeling of completing a much needed organizing project, or finishing a painting that’s half good. But, what’s even better than that- is giving it all to others, and  sharing it all. And, if you’re not my friend or family member, I can STILL share it with you, thanks to social media media and the World Wide Web. So, here’s a recipe- which, I help will also bring your JOY, and just maybe ignite a passion for something in your life that brings joy.

So here’s some bread.