Cranberries & Drury Lane Neighbors: Two of My Favorite Things

This post just makes me happy bringing two topics together that I love. First: cranberries. I just adore them. While most years that means I’m eating them in a yummy cranberry sauce at the holidays or tossing dried cranberries with sauteed kale and pine nuts, I always wish I were doing more with these small round pops of tartness in my meal-creating repertoire. In the past, I have baked a delicious cinnamon cranberry rolls recipe from my favorite magazine Where Women Cook (sadly, this publication was discontinued a couple years ago) which was amazing, and I have indulged in some other baked goods from time-to-time with cranberries. But this season as we have been renovating our home and experimenting with recipes during these quarantine weekends, I have gotten the cranberry bug to find ways to feature the cranberry in both savory and sweet dishes and baked goods. Of course, the fresh version of this pop of tart is only available in the late fall through the holidays. Beyond that we have to resort to frozen cranberries. So I’ve committed to exploring what’s possible with frozen cranberries during the upcoming long Chicago winter months of quarantine-time kitchen experimentation once we are back in our Happy Boolo home using our newly renovated kitchen — woohoo!

After doing a bit of quick reading on how to grow these deep red pops of color, I have also said to Mike, “what about growing cranberries?” I have seen enough content online indicating that indeed we may be able to grow certain cranberry plants in the area. Perhaps our landscape/water harvesting guru Marcus will laugh at me when I ask this, but I’m wondering if they could be a feature in our rain garden in the front.

Second favorite topic - Drury Lane neighbors! Much of the inspiration for our Happy Boolo Project was the street on which we live and our larger community of Arlington Heights. When you live on a street where people know your name and actively connect with each other, you just can’t beat that. So that also means I have some built-in taste testers who live right around me. As my cooking and baking has ramped up in recent years, several of our nearby neighbors have been generous recipients and providers of feedback of some of my recipes - particularly baked goods. When a neighbor tries a recipe and immediately asks for it, I’ve hit on something yum. And that’s what happened with this new recipe. I was searching for easy and yummy cranberry treats to make at holiday time, and I ran into a yummy cranberry cake recipe to which I added orange zest. Voila — a sure crowd-pleaser that is super-easy to make and seamless to serve as well. The crisp golden brown top, the bursts of sweet tart of the berries embedded in the buttery, moist cake, further dimensionalized by orange zest makes a piece of this a perfect holiday treat and one that you can easily share with neighbors, family and friends. The best way to serve it is to cut it into small pieces. Given the texture of it, it can be neatly eaten with your fingers.

This particular December 3rd instance of making the Cranberry Holiday Cake was inspired by our dear neighbors to the north at 635 Drury Lane. When we moved into our home, 635 was occupied by the original owners, George and Lillian Edwards, contemporaries of the Whites who sold us 631 North Drury Lane. We enjoyed chatting with them when we were both out in the garden. George would share stories about earlier times including his experience serving in the U.S. Navy during WWII. One year Lillian gave us beautiful peonies which are still in our garden. We were sad to see them leave.

The Ellen’s bought 635 from the Edwards in 2010. For the last 10 years, we’ve enjoyed living next door to them as they added to their family: first their dog Seven, then two adorable daughters Delaney and Abby, and most recently a son, Arthur, affectionately known as Ace. As is typical on our street, Brian and Erin are friendly and courteous neighbors who watch out for the rest of us as we all do. They also have been understanding more than once when Mike and I have been busy growing loads of produce, and some aspects of backyard clean-up get away from us. Like most Drury Laners, they have valued being a part of the neighborhood family, contributing to and participating in organized neighborhood events. In recent years over the course of having more personal chats, our neighbor relationship has moved to friendship.

Mike and I are very grateful for how interested in and supportive Brian and Erin have been of our Happy Boolo Project. When we had them over for dessert and to share our plans, they had loads of questions, so curious about what we were up to. They generously offered to support us if we needed to pursue any official Arlington Heights approvals. When it was time to go in front of the village to request permission to construct a front porch beyond the average setback of the front yard, Erin joined our dear friend and neighbor Julie, to speak at Village Hall. On October 15, 2019, Erin stood at the podium in front of the Zoning Board of Appeals endorsing how our porch would contribute to the neighborly spirit of Drury Lane. She even spoke beyond the question of the porch as she said “Amy and Mike’s commitment to sustainability is admirable including repurposing all the wood from the tree in front that has to come down because it’s buckling the driveway for use in various structures inside and outside the home.” From their front row, side seats, they’ve watched the progress day-by-day on our renovation, asking us about the latest developments, and notifying us right away if they see anything that looks out of place.

Erin and Julie on the right along with two other great neighbors, Karen and Lauren!

As their family grew, Erin and Brian recognized they would outgrow their ranch house in the coming years, and started to debate renovating versus buying a bigger home. Their commitment to Drury Lane was strong; they were considering several different renovation floor plans to open up the space and provide their growing family with more flexibility. However, one day this fall, the universe gave favor to the move option, surfacing the perfect house to move to just a few miles from Drury Lane with four bedrooms, loads of storage space, a sizable yard and a floor plan that was all ready for their growing family. They were going to be leaving us.

Seeing the movers there this past Wednesday made it real. So making Cranberry Holiday Cake was in order as a way to say “farewell,” “happy holidays in your new home,” and “thanks for being such great neighbors!”

We will miss you guys Erin, Brian, Delaney, Abby, Arthur, and Seven! And one day when we come to visit, Mike will finally give Seven that bone he’s been talking about for years. ;)

It's really happening - Movers are here.JPG

And now for the yummy Cranberry Holiday Cake recipe!

Ingredients:

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
zest of 1 orange
2 cups all-purpose flour * see note below for gluten-free alternative
12 oz fresh cranberries

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar until slightly thickened and light in color, about 5-7 minutes. The mixture should almost double in size. The eggs work as your leavening agent in this recipe, so do not skip this step. This mixture should form a ribbon when you lift the beaters out of the bowl.

Add the vanilla and butter. (Make sure your butter has fully softened). Mix 2 more minutes. Add in the orange zest and mix for 30 seconds to 1 minute to ensure it is fully folded in.
Stir in the flour until just combined. Add the cranberries and stir to mix throughout.
Spread in a buttered 9x13 pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until very lightly browned and a toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean.
Let cool completely before cutting into small pieces easy for serving and sharing. Enjoy!