We've established that I don't like cranberry sauce. However, cranberry bread is another story. In the run-up to thanksgiving, I made two: one with full dairy, and one without. SHOWDOWN.

Cranberry bread 1: based on a Bittman recipe for walnut bread which I found at Emily Blackapple's. I don't do walnuts in baked goods (and we didn't have any anyway) so instead I subbed in lots of dried cranberries. I also used whole wheat flour instead of white.

Result: excellent. The wheat flour gave this a great density and an appealing actual-grain taste. I found it best when cut in massive inch-thick slabs and toasted in the toaster oven, then spread with butter. Peanut butter was also a good choice, especially when eating said bread for breakfast.

Cranberry bread 2: this one was actually meant to be cranberry. I followed the cranberry orange nut bread recipe in Veganomicon, cut out the nuts (again), and used white whole wheat flour, as our straight wheat supply was running low. I hadn't baked anything with fresh cranberries before, so I was curious to see how this turned out.

Result: again, excellent. This bread was lighter-textured due to the finer flour, and sharper due to the fresh cranberries and orange zest. Still, it also worked pretty well with peanut butter.

Both breads were seriously damp; neither succumbed to staleness in over a week. Either would be great for baking in small pans and giving as presents. TASTEABLE.