Grandma Sally's Cranberry Bread

# 66 on my list of 101 in 1001 is- Make cranberry bread for the neighbors at Christmas. It also ties in with #69 which is- Learn the names of my neighbors.  We're still working on that.

I only had time to make 4 loaves of cranberry bread, one of which my roommates and I enjoyed and one that I brought to work to share today. So that left only two loaves to give to my immediate left and right neighbors (of course I forgot to do that before I left today so they're chilling in the freezer and will be given as New Years treats instead).

We always have cranberry bread at Christmas and my mom used to  make it for Sister and I to give to our teachers growing up.  I called up my Grandma to get her recipe and it's so easy I'm sharing it below:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp melted shortening
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup orange juice
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp hot water
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped nuts ( I used pecans because that's what I had)
1 cup sugar
chopped rind of 1 orange ( I did a combination of rind and zest)
1 egg-beaten
1 cup cut cranberries

1. Sift together all dry ingredients.
2. Add beaten egg, melted shortening, orange juice (I also added a splash of cranberry juice) and hot water.
3. Combine until dry ingredients are moistened.
4. Fold in nuts, cranberries and orange rind.
5. Bake in greased 8 1/2 loaf pan ( or two 5 1/2 in pans ) at 350 degrees for about 1 hour and 10 mins.
6. Cool and wrap in foil or saran and place in refrigerator for 24 hrs.

I doubled the recipe and made 4 smaller loaves.  I found these so cute paper loaf pans with coordinating cellophane, ribbon and labels (courtesy of Martha Stewart, duh, at A.C Moore).

(If using paper pans be sure to place them on a baking sheet first)

The yummiest holiday gift!