Lemon Cranberry Zucchini Bread

There are a ton of different zucchini bread recipes and they are all good.   They have many different things to go with the zucchini.  I saw this one that used cranberries and lemon and thought it sounded good, so I gave it a try.  During the summer there is always plenty of zucchini to try lots of different recipes. 

I couldn't wait for it to completely cool but warm bread is always better. 

There's some good things in this bread. 

Before I start the bread I grated the zucchini so that the liquid could be pulled out of it.  You don't want that extra moisture. 

Then I zested one of the oranges and set aside.

Then I juiced the lemon.

Now I can start the bread.  One stick of softened butter.

Whip the butter well.

Add 1 cup sugar, mix well. 

Then add three eggs one at a time.  Have your eggs at room temperature.

Mix this well. 

Add 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice.

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Add 2 cups all purpose flour a little at a time.  Mixing well after each add.  Scrap the sides too. 

Add 1/2 cup milk

Add 1 Tablespoon lemon zest

Squeeze the zucchini.

Add 1 cup shredded zucchini

1 cup dried cranberries.  Next time I might toss the cranberries in the flour first.  If you noticed the cranberries sunk to the bottom.

Mix this well. 

Add to a greased loaf pan. 

Sprinkle some more dried cranberries on top. Place in a preheated 350 oven.  Bake for 50-60 minutes.  Test fir doneness with a toothpick. 

Fresh out of the oven. 

Let it cook a little bit before you cut.  It was really good.  Just a hint of the lemon flavor.

Cranberry Lemon Zucchini Bread Recipe

2 cups all purpose flour

3 room temp eggs

1/2 cup softened butter

1 cup shredded zucchini

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350.  Bake 50-60 minutes.

Tropical Pineapple Chicken & Rice Delight

 This has become a favorite meal for us, so I thought it was time to share this recipe with you.  There are several ways you can tailor make it for your family. It will transport you to the islands.

The pineapple makes it so good.

I added the bell pepper this time because I had one.  It was a really good addition so I will be making sure I have one when I make it again. The gold pineapple is some of the best canned pineapple I have had. I have started keeping these ingredients in my kitchen so I can whip this up when I need a fast meal for dinner.

You need about a pound of chicken breast.  These come from Fresh Market.  On Tuesdays here they have it on sale so I stock up my freezer.

Cut the chicken into small pieces and brown with a little olive oil.

While the chicken is cooking, mix up the sauce.  1/4 cup soy sauce.  I always use the low salt.

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup rice vinegar

Some minced garlic.  Add more or less depending on your family's taste.

Red pepper flakes.  Again add as many or as little or not as all.  I added more this time and I think I like it better.  Just a little heat.

Whisk this all together and set aside.  You don't have to be exact with these measurements.

Slice an onion and pepper.

Add to the pot with the chicken.  You can take the chicken out at this point and just saute the peppers and onions.

Whisk the sauce again and add to the pot. Add the drained pineapple too.  Let this cook for a few minutes to flavor the chicken.

Now I wanted to thicken my sauce some so I poured some up in a bowl.

And added about a Tablespoon of cornstarch.  Stir until all the lumps are gone. 

Most are gone. 

Add back into the pot and let it cook for a little bit longer to thicken.  While you would cooking the chicken you can cook your rice.  I like wild rice with this but you could use any kind you might like. 

It is a quick and easy meal and this really good too.

Tropical Pineapple Chicken and Rice Delight

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into small pieces

olive oil

small onion sliced

bell pepper sliced

1 can gold pineapple chunks, drained

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 clove garlic minced

red pepper flakes

Serve with rice.

Traveling with the Grobmyers Days 14 & 15 July 13 &14, 2025

 We left York this morning and drove about an hour southwest to Gettysburg. We have been to Gettysburg several times and toured the battlefields so this time we weren’t doing that. Today we are touring The Eisenhower’s retirement home. I don’t know how we missed it in the past but I saw it when planning this trip. We have made an effort in the last couple of years to tour Presidents homes. You can really learn a lot about them.

So the Eisenhower home is part of the US Parks system. So we had a park ranger give us some background information about the Eisenhowers and the house. Dwight D. (Ike) was born in Texas but raised in Kansas and that is where his library is located. The family left this home to the park service. He parents were born and raised in the Gettysburg area and that is part of the reason he wanted to retire to the area. 

He attended West Point and during World War I he spent time at Gettysburg training tank groups. He learned a lot about strategy and leadership while there, although he wanted to be in the war. Mamie and their son were able to live there with him during this time. The Eisenhowers moved a lot during their life together and never owned a home of their own until this one. He finished his military time as a 5 star general. He thought he would be retiring to the farm. But others had something else in mind. Both Republicans and Democrats contacted him to run for office in 1952. He chose the Republican Party and won two terms. 

Original wallpaper in the house. It has the state or territory seals on it.

Classic 50’s-60’s formal living room.

Mamie’s official White House picture.

Formal dinning room.

Their son’s West Point graduation picture. He graduated on D-Day while his father lead the troops on Omaha Beach.

Mamie was from Denver and Ike was from Abilene. These curtains have scenes from both places.

Mamie was known for her love of pink. It was even called “Mamie pink”. Those bathrooms look very familiar.

The dark room was his “man cave”. The other was his simple desk. Check out the size of the Rolodex.

Their sun porch with the family tv. They would often eat dinner out there on tv trays and watch the evening news.

Golf cart.

Their simple car.

His Presidential car.

A putting green in the back yard.

The Secret Service area with their state of the art technology via 1960’s.

We left there and continued on south. Our plan was to hit New River Gorge National Park on our way home. This is the newest of the National Parks and it is in the middle of West Virginia. We did not get there in time to visit the visitor center but we could walk out to the overlook of the bridge. This bridge is tall!!! It is Washington Monument + 2 Statue of Liberties +20 feet tall. Trust me it feels that tall when you drive across. We drove through some rain showers on the way there so that created some neat effects in our pictures.

It is very wooded in the area. Huge rhododendrons. This park is big for outdoor activities. It is good we got to see it this afternoon because Monday morning it rained again and it was very overcast.

We saw a pretty rainbow when we left the park to head to our hotel.

We drove back to the visitor center this morning. It’s very nice. They have a porch off the back that you can see down in the gorge.

We drove over to another visitor center and viewing area. Grand View area.

This is what we were supposed to to see…

This is what we saw. And the visitor center was closed today.

We tried. We get to check another National Park off our list.

We drove the rest of the way home and got home about 7. We are tired. We have unleaded the car. One load of laundry in going.

These are all my new Christmas ornaments I found on this trip. It makes we want to get started on my trees. Soon.  Soon.

Final by the numbers

States 8

Christmas shops 8

Quilt shops 6

National parks 2

National historic sites 3

National wildlife refuge 1

Presidential homes 2

Crossed the Mason Dixon

Eastern continental divide