The Recipe for Blogging and “Berry” Special Friendships
Conni Dahl Smith has been an active duty Army wife for more than 22 years and now lives at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama with her husband and 3 children. She’s a modern day spouse that has a tremendously success food blog.
She originally began with a “home page” in 1998 to share family photos and stories with friends & family. Later on, she was part of a homemaker’s yahoo group, and found herself sharing recipes over and over again.
In 2006, a friend introduced her to a new way of sharing information called a “blog” and she thought it was the perfect place to share recipes. She has since completely integrated her love for cooking and military life through this venue. She has thousands of followers where she shares recipes and her Army wife adventures.
When asked to share a recipe, she immediately thought of her Orange Cranberry Quick Bread. Because she spent 12 years at Fort Bragg, she knew of every “secret berry patch” of blackberries in the area. Each summer, she would make blackberry jelly, preserves, gobs of cobblers and other desserts. When she moved to Alaska, she discovered the area had an abundance of wild blueberries and raspberries along with military other spouses who shared her love for baking. Together they would make blueberry muffins, homemade cranberry sauce, jellies, orange cranberry bread, and other goodies with the fresh berries they would find.
Every time she makes these desserts, she’s reminded of the sweet influence of military friendships.
You can read more about Conni and her great recipes at TheFoodieArmyWife.com
Orange Cranberry Quick Bread
2 cups Flour
1 ¼ c Brown Sugar
1 ½ tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Salt
1 egg, beaten
¾ cup Milk
¼ cup Butter, melted
1 Tb vanilla
zest of an orange
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 cup (generous) dried cranberries
1 Tb raw/Demerara Sugar
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, with oven rack in the lower-middle setting. Grease & flour a 9×5 loaf pan, set it aside for now.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set it aside.
In another bowl, mix together the egg, milk, butter, vanilla, brown sugar and orange zest.
Add the liquids to the dry mixture, and stir it together until it just combined. Fold in the nuts and cranberries. Pour the batter into the loaf pan, smoothing the top with your spoon or spatula. Sprinkle the raw sugar over the top of the bread. Bake this for 75-80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Run a knife around the edge, and then remove the bread from the pan. Cool it on a baking rack.
