Winter wings?

Cranberries. Having grown up in Massachusetts, cranberries were kind of a normal thing for me. I mean really - what kid didn't go to Edaville Railroad at Christmas time? Granted none of us probably really appreciated the cranberry bogs, but I do now when I can't find cranberries easily except for around the holidays.  Luckily, in this case, my recipes tonight need the flavor but not the fresh berry itself. I'm a little bit of a cranberry nut ... love dried ones on my salads and I can always go for cranberry juice. 

Cranberry BBQ Chicken Wings

Ingredients:
3 lbs. chicken wings        12 oz jar of cranberry orange relish        1/2 c bbq sauce
1 tbsp mustard                 2 tbsp. quick cooking tapioca                  salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Cut each wing in half at joint.*
3. Place chicken on rack in broiler pan and season with salt/pepper.
4. Broil 4 to 5 inches from heat 10-12 minutes, turning once.
5. Transfer chicken to crockpot.
6. Stir together relish, bbq sauce, tapioca and mustard in small bowl.
7. Pour over chicken.
8. Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours.

This is a great recipe to do boneless as it sits in a crockpot and then you can put them over rice below. If you do boneless, just slice 3 lbs. of chicken breast up into good size pieces.

Cranberry Walnut Rice

Ingredients:

2 tsp. oil         1 small onion, finely chopped      2 garlic cloves, minced        1 carrot, sliced

1 c. rice          1 1/2 c. carrot juice                      1 1/2 c. water                       3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper    1/4 tsp. thyme     1/4 c. chopped walnuts        1/4 c. dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Heat oil over low heat.
2. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is tender about 7 minutes.
3. Add carrot and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Stir in rice.
5. Add carrot juice, water, salt, pepper and thyme and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until rice is tender (1 hour).
7. Stir walnuts and cranberries into the rice just before serving.

Have a berry good time making these recipes! LOL I am queen of the bad puns. But remember ..... always have fun!