It's that time of year!

Cranberry Nut Bread time, that is.

Here's my recipe - back by popular demand

Cranbery Nut Bread

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons shortening
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1 egg, well beaten
1 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl. Zest the orange first, then squeeze the juice; top the juice off with the required quantity to reach the 3/4 cup total. Stir in orange juice, shortening, orange peel, and egg. Mix until well blended. Stir in cranberries and nuts. Spread evenly in loaf pan. Bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

My notes: the original recipe calls for chopping the cranberries; I find that this just muddies the batter and denies the eater that wonderful burst of tartness from a whole cranberry, so I leave mine whole. The original recipe calls for 55 minutes in the oven, but mine have never taken less than an hour. I ALWAYS double this recipe, as it goes quickly once it's out of the oven! I use one 12 ounce bag of cranberries for two loaves, even though that's more than the fruit called for in the recipe. Since the recipe doesn't say how to add the butter, I've always cut it in using a pastry blender thing, but I suppose melting it might have the same effect.

ENJOY! Right now our neighbors have one loaf, and I have five more in the oven, and one cooling on the stove. Mmmmm yummy. :-)