Cranberry and Brie Crostini

These little crostini are the perfect way to used some leftover cranberry sauce. I prefer to make my cranberry sauce, but C prefers the cranberry jelly log from a can.  In fact, next year he wants to cook Thanksgiving so he can have heat n serve rolls and canned cranberry.  His grand plan is to only serve stuffing, gravy, rolls and the cranberry log.  I am not sure how he is going to accomplish this without roasting a turkey, but I would love to seem him try.  Maybe not on Thanksgiving day, but for some other Sunday dinner.  I would love to see what he comes up with.  I loved the cranberry with the brie so much, that I will replace the apricot with cranberry sauce next time I make baked brie.

Cranberry Brie Crostini

1 baguette, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ pound Brie, warmed
1 cup cranberry sauce

Slice the baguette into ½" slices. Brush baguette slices lightly with olive oil and place on a foil covered cookie sheet. Broil the slices for 1 to 2 minutes, just until a light golden brown.

Place the brie on a microwave-safe plate and microwave until cheese begins to melt and is warmed through, try it for 30 seconds at a time, it melts quickly. Spread a tablespoon of brie on each crostini. Top with a teaspoon of cranberry sauce.

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Cranberry Margaritas

I have been wanting to make Confections of a Foodie Bride's Cranberry Margaritas for quite some time. My friend Courtney hosted a booze exchange last Christmas and it was so much fun. She was in the middle of moving this year, so I deicded to take over hosting. I served TexMex appetizers, chips and queSNOW, short rib FELIZ empanadas, chicken and spinach SANTAquitos, vegetables with jalapeNOEL ranch, with Mexican HOHOHOt Chocolate cupcakes for dessert. It was great to get all my girlfriends together for an evening of fun. I thought I had made too many margaritas (2 gallons,) but we polished them all off.

Cranberry Margaritas

1 ¼ cup cranberry juice cocktail
2 to 3 tablespoons sugar, to taste
1 ¼ cup fresh cranberries
¾ cup fresh lime juice
¾ cup tequila
½ cup orange liqueur

Add the cranberry juice, sugar, 1 cup of the cranberries, lime juice, tequila and orange liqueur into a blender. Blend for a minute or so, until smooth. Pour through a strainer to catch the cranberry pulp. Pour over ice and garnish with the reserved ¼ cup of cranberries.

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Cranberry Barbecue Sauce

This sauce is the perfect thing for turkey leftovers. I personally don't like cranberry sauce, but I love it in this barbecue sauce. It has a nice vinegary kick that works perfectly with the sweetness and tartness of the cranberries. I served these sandwiches on brioche buns, which are by far my most favorite sandwich roll ever.  I also added sliced pickles on my sandwich, which worked great.  I had intended to try and make sweet potato tots instead of spicy sweet potato wedges with it, but processing the sweet potatoes was a bit challenging....so I gave up.  I think I need to attempt them with regular potatoes first.

Cranberry Barbecue Sauce

1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup cranberry sauce
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce
½ teaspoon salt

Whisk together all ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes to thicken. Serve with leftover turkey on brioche buns.

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Apple and Cranberry Baked French Toast

I first made this for my breakfast club at work. I made two 9x13 pans of it and every single piece was gone. Some people came back for thirds, it was a definite hit. C had asked for egg nog French toast, but I think egg nog is grosser than gross, so there was no way I was making it. He was disappointed, but still managed to eat three giant pieces. Even Miss F ate an entire slice. And the bonus is we have leftover dried cranberries for her to snack on.

Apple and Cranberry Baked French Toast

Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 teaspoons cinnamon
3 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 loaf French bread or any other sweet bread, such as brioche or Hawaiian.
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla

Combine brown sugar, butter and 1/3 cinnamon in a 13 X 9 baking pan. Add apples and cranberries; toss until you coat the fruit well. Spread apple mixture evenly over baking dish. Arrange slices of bread on top of fruit/sugar mixture.

Mix the eggs, milk, vanilla and remaining cinnamon and pour over the bread; make sure the bread is completely soaked.

Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 24 hours.

Bake covered in a 375 degree oven for approx 40-50 minutes. Uncover and bake another 5 minutes to lightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes; serve warm.

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