If you’re as big of a fan of State Fair-style food as we are here at the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center, you’re going to LOVE our newest product! Featured at this year’s Wisconsin State Fair, “Cran on a stick” was a huge hit with fairgoers who are always on the lookout for the latest and greatest in the foods-on-a-stick often featured at state fairs nationwide.
These delectable delights, made in partnership with the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association by Niemann’s Candies of Wauwatosa, WI, feature sweetened dried cranberries lying in a bed of luscious dark chocolate atop the convenient stick handle. To make this treat even more delicious, white chocolate is drizzled over its top for the perfectly pleasing finish. Honestly, the only thing that could make these things any better would be if the sticks themselves were edible!
If you would like to make summer last a little longer – or even the whole year through – you can visit our store or our online store to pick up a supply (available for $2.50 each) to get you through to the next Wisconsin State Fair.
Just in time for the hot months of summer, the Taste Test Kitchen staff at the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center is proud to announce the introduction of its newest float, the _________________.
That’s right; the new treat is simply so delicious – we don’t even know what to call it! Now’s the time to pull on your thinking caps as the staff of the Discovery Center ask for your help in naming our new ice cream float!
Known for serving many flavors of cranberry ice cream, our new, nameless float combines two scoops of Cranberry Delight ice cream with Ocean Spray’s® new Sparkling Cranberry drink. The bubbly Sparking Cranberry drink mixed with our cool, creamy cranberry ice cream is the perfect way to cool down after a day exploring the bogs!
Starting Monday, July 11th and running through Friday July 15th, the Discovery Center will accept name suggestions via Facebook or email (marketing@discovercranberries.com). If you have a name you would like to recommend, simply post it on our Facebook wall or send our staff an email.
After receiving name suggestions, we will host a poll on our Facebook wall for you to vote on your favorite name during the week of July 18th! Watch for more detail on Facebook and Twitter and help us name our nameless float!
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7/25/11 UPDATE: Late last night we tallied all of your Facebook, email and online votes and determined the winning name of our new ice cream treat. After seven days collecting submissions from the public and another seven of open voting, the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center is proud to announce that the winning name is…
The CRANBERRY DREAM FLOAT.
Combining two scoops of our creamy cranberry delight ice cream with Ocean Spray’s Sparkling Cranberry drink, our all new Cranberry Dream Float is the perfect way to cool down this summer! Be sure to stop by our Taste Test Kitchen soon to enjoy your very own Cranberry Dream Float.
Just in time for the hot summer season, we’re proud to announce our latest cranberry-themed recipe contest; Cranberry Salad. Green and leafy or cool and smooth, we know everyone has their favorite way to incorporate Wisconsin cranberries into delicious salads.
Be sure to submit your favorite recipe today as time is limited! Please be as specific as possible with ingredients and measurements to insure we are able to best replicate your favorite cranberry salad. Contest ends August 31st.
Attention cranberry fans! The Cranberry Discovery Center has a new website that gives you a glimpse of everything our museum offers and makes it easier than ever to try your favorite cranberry foods or send a cranberry gift item.
Visit us at www.discovercranberries.com, and enjoy a special website launch promotion of 10% off your online order – just for being one of our supporters! Simply enter promo code WCDC10 now until August 1st, 2011.
Also, if you’re a fan of our tour or any of our Wisconsin cranberry products, let us and the world know! We’ll be adding more product reviews and testimonials – like yours – in the future.
Thanks for your past and continued interest in Wisconsin cranberries and happy touring and shopping!
There’s no “I” in team, but there is an “I” in pie, and the employees from Tomah’s U.S. Cellular store found out that there’s a lot more in common between pies and teams than they may have thought.
Bypassing traditional teambuilding activities, Manager Melonie Lamb instead chose a “Make, Bake and Take” class at the Cranberry Discovery Center. Melonie and her co-workers spent a Saturday morning in June baking cranberry pies together.
“A pie is made up of many separate ingredients, and when you put them together it all works,” Melonie explained. “Within a team, it is important to understand how every person is a ‘different ingredient’ and that you can have great results when all the ‘ingredients’ come together.”
As a former volunteer at the Discovery Center, Melonie knew the welcoming, warm atmosphere well, and figured it would be a neat opportunity for teambuilding.
Although six of the eight participants had never made a pie before this class, both Melonie and Natalie, the Discovery Center baker who led the class, agreed the whole group felt a great sense of success following the lesson.
Because of the low-level of experience within the group, Natalie’s class focused on making a simple, one-crust cranberry pie. The filling bubbles and cakes over the crust slightly as it bakes and is a great introduction to pie making.
“Everyone got to take home warm, oven-baked pies when they left, and you could see the feeling of accomplishment on everyone’s faces,” Natalie said.
Make, Bake and Take classes are offered through the Cranberry Discovery Center, and can be arranged by calling at 608.378.4878. Class capacity is 12 participants, and participants can make treats ranging from cran-apple pies to scones to cinnamon rolls.
Mary Mack of Black River Falls placed second in our July 2007 “Berry Favorite Salads” contest with this recipe for her Quick Cranberry Salad.
6 ounce package cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
1 16-ounce can cranberry sauce
1 10-ounce tub Cool Whip, thawed
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
In a large mixing bowl, cream the cream cheese and sugar together. Fold in the pineapple, cranberry sauce, Cool Whip and walnuts. Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve the same day.
“This is a very easy and delicious salad that compliments any meal. I have used it many times during the holiday season, but it is also good during the summer as a light, refreshing addition to a cookout. A neighbor shared this recipe with me and it has become a favorite in my family,” Mary wrote.
Sweetened dried cranberries to this adds both color and flavor to this lettuce salad!
Salad:
1 large head romaine lettuce
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup cashews
1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1 red apple, cubed
1 yellow pear, cubed
Dressing:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup lemon juice
2/3 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon poppy seed
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
In large bowl, combine salad ingredients and toss to mix.
In a covered container, combine all dressing ingredients. Shake vigorously until well mixed. Wait until ready to serve to add dressing to salad. Pour over salad and toss to coat evenly.
This recipe was demonstrated by the Warrens Cranberry Festival Royalty at our “Cooking with Cranberries” program.
Carol Rusnak of Tomah won second place in our Fall 2007 “Harvest Season Favorites” contest with this salad recipe featuring two of Wisconsin’s major fruit crops – cranberries and apples.
1 3-ounce package raspberry gelatin
1-1/2 cups hot water
1 12-ounce package fresh cranberries
1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
1/2 orange (leave peel on)
10 ounces crushed pineapple, drained
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup mini marshmallows
In a large bowl, prepare gelatin with hot water; stir until completely dissolved. Let cool. Using a food processor, grind cranberries and orange. Add the ground cranberries and orange, along with the pineapple, sugar, walnuts and marshmallows to gelatin. Transfer to a serving dish or gelatin mold and refrigerate until set.
Marlene Bremer of Medford, Wis., was the second-place winner in our February 2008 “Berry Best Cranberry Muffin” recipe contest. Cranberries and oranges compliment each other in many recipes, including this one!
1 cup quick oats
1 cup orange juice
3 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, sliced
Topping:
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease two muffin pans or line pans with cupcake liners.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oatmeal and orange juice; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar; mix well.
To the oatmeal mixture, add the vegetable oil and beaten eggs.
In the center of the dry ingredients, make a well and add the oatmeal mixture. Stir only until all ingredients are moistened. Gently fold in the cranberries.
Spoon the batter into muffin tins, filling about three-fourths full. Prepare topping and sprinkle over the top of the batter.
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 2 dozen standard-size muffins.
Midwest Living Editor-in-Chief Dan Kaercher visited the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center and after sampling our cranberry zucchini muffins – made using a recipe developed by Taste-Test Kitchen Baker Donna Stebbins – requested a copy for inclusion in his book, “Taste of the Midwest,” published in June 2006.
2-1/2 cups flour
1-1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups zucchini, grated
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
In a medium bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil and vanilla. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients. Fold in the zucchini, walnuts, pineapple and sweetened dried cranberries. Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 25 minutes. Makes 2 dozen.
Testimonials
"Such a fun place to spend the day! We explored the shop, toured the museum, and snacked on cranberry ice cream and cranberry coffee. LOVE IT!"
