Robin Haas, of Cranston, Rhode Island was named the winner of the 2011 National Festival of Bread’s Cranberry Award with her ‘Sweet Potato Cranberry and Bacon Rolls’. Haas’ recipe was selected among 125 other cranberry recipes submitted to this nationwide baking competition.

Every two years, the Wareham-based Cranberry Marketing Committee sponsors this competition in conjunction with the National Festival of Breads where more than 500 home bakers, from around the country, enter their recipes with the hopes of being considered for the best original bread recipe.

“Cranberries, because of their taste and culinary versatility, make a terrific ingredient for baked products. So it’s only natural for us to sponsor this nationwide contest and to have a cranberry specific category”, states Ashley Chard, the CMC’s Domestic Promotions Program Manager. “And, with recipes submitted from all over the country it’s great to have the winner right here in our own backyard."

Robin Haas is no armature when it comes to using cranberries, she states “When I was in high school, I decided I wanted to prepare Thanksgiving dinner on my own, all from scratch. That year I learned to make homemade cranberry sauce, “says Hass who describes making extra cranberry sauce to freeze and use on top of ice cream or to complement salsa as a dip.  “When I discovered that the wonderfully deep, richly layered, sweet and tart condiment was nothing like the canned sauce I had refused to try at my grandmother's table, I was hooked on the fabulous little fruit.”

As the discovery and use of cranberries often begins around the Thanksgiving table, there is no reason why it should end there. Hass says she particularly likes to add dried cranberries to salads, pastas, muffins, paring with salty cheeses, and of course, breads!

Hass, a clinical social worker in private practice, considers baking a science and an art. She can attribute her interest in baking to the encouragement she received as a child from her culinary-inclined parents to experiment with different recipes and ingredients in the kitchen. While Robin hopes to someday explore the possibilities of her baking talents further, she expressed that she was “so happy to learn that there has been a resurgence of interest in whole grains, baking at home, and natural ingredients”.

The 2011 National Festival of Breads hosted by the Kansas Wheat Commission, and sponsored largely by King Arthur Flour and Fleischmann’s Yeast, takes place every other year, highlighting home bakers from around the country, while also helping eradicate childhood hunger. This year the festival raised more than $2,000 with their Great American Bake Sale, a program sponsored by the Share Our Strength organization.

The Cranberry Marketing Committee (CMC) represents the US cranberry industry and was established as a Federal Marketing Order in 1962. The CMC promotes the use of cranberries through a generic promotions program. For more information and to find more great recipes, visit www.uscranberries.com .