Butternut Squash-Banana Bread with Cranberries

I have a huge collection of cookbooks. It’s really huge, in fact a little too big. I need to find new, loving homes for some of my cookbooks, and I really didn’t know where to start. I thought about taking them to a used bookstore, donating them to a charity, giving them away on Craigslist or maybe having a garage sale and hawking them off… oh, what to do! I ultimately decided to give them away, to my readers. That’s right; I am going to give away my cookbook collection to my readers!! One a week until they are gone – perhaps during the holidays it will be one every two weeks…

This is how it will work: I will post a cookbook up for grabs, if the book is of interest to someone, all you have to do is mention it in a comment. At the end of the week I will take all the individuals interested in the cookbook and pick a reader at Random.org – then I will send that person the cookbook that is up for grabs. Shipping is on me, that’s why we are doing these once a week folks. :) Whatever books do not get picked will all end up going to a charity that has not yet been selected.

This will be fun and I am looking forward to sharing my cookbooks with all of you! The first one up for grabby-grabs is The Frugal Gourmet written by Jeff Smith. This was the first of eleven cookbooks written by Jeff Smith, the host of The Frugal Gourmet TV show that aired on PBS from 1983-1997. I can’t give a review of it because I have never cooked anything from it, as is the case with most of my cookbooks. I love them, I love to collect them – but I rarely use them, hence the giveaway.

I will pick the new owner of The Frugal Gourmet on January 28th and will contact via email – so be sure to include it in your comment. :)

Ok… so about that Butternut Squash-Banana Bread with Cranberries. I received the Butternut Squash in my produce box and wanted to do something fun with it. Since I have been on a Quick Bread kick lately I decided to look around for a Butternut Squash Bread recipe and was OH SO LUCKY to find one at My Baking Addiction. Jamie from Baking Addiction also has an awesome recipe for Butternut Squash Purée, so check it out if you are in need. :) I ended up not having enough Butternut Squash since I was making two loaves, so I substituted the rest with bananas. Since I was not sure how the cranberries would work out I only added them to one loaf – however, if I had to do it again I would have added them to both. These 3 flavors ROCK together. Yes, ROCK!!

Butternut Squash-Banana Bread with Cranberries
Ingredients
1 cup butternut squash purée
1 cup mashed bananas
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup dried cranberries, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees, grease two 6-cup loaf pans
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg
3. Mix together butternut squash, bananas, eggs, oil, water and sugars
4. Combine flour mixture with butternut squash mixture - making sure to not overmix
5. Fold in cranberries
6. Pour into loaf pans
7. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean
8. Let cool, enjoy!