keep your diet real

I am convinced that there is no better place to be than New England during the fall…

If you have never experienced fall in New England then I would highly recommend a trip in the next few months. The crispy air, the changing leaves, and the smell of campfires are a few of the reasons I look forward to this season each year. Each fall for the past eight years I begin the season by making a loaf of this cranberry bread. Even when I lived in Florida, and it was 90 degrees in November, and I desperately missed autumn in New England, I would still make this bread with my roommates. We would turn up the AC, put on wool sweaters, drink mulled cider, and have pseudo fall in our apartment.

I have no idea who gave me this recipe but I’m blessed by it. I could sit down and devour the entire loaf with a single glass of milk (though I would not encourage you to do that). I usually like to wait to make the bread until after I have seen at least one leaf change color, but today I caved. After months of ruthless taunting by a package of cranberries in my freezer, I surrendered, and welcomed fall a few weeks early.

Here is the recipe for Cranberry-Raisin-Orange-Pecan-Bread:

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¾ cup light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter (room temperature)
• 2 whole eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon grated orange rind
• ¾ cup milk
• 1 cup cranberries (fresh)
• ½ cup golden raisins
• ½ cup pecans (chopped)

Directions

1. Grease a loaf pan or muffin pan with butter.
2. In one large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
3. In a separate bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
4. Into the bowl with the butter and sugar, add the wet ingredients: eggs, orange rind, vanilla extract, and milk. Beat for about 1 minute.
5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, mixing wet and dry ingredients alternately.
6. Stir in cranberries, golden raisins, and pecans.
7. Transfer the batter to the loaf pan (or muffin pan if you would prefer to make muffins)
8. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 55-60 minutes (until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and top is brown). Transfer pan to rack. Cool 15 minutes. Enjoy! *The bread is easiest to slice when it has fully cooled (about 2 hours).

What’s your favorite thing about fall?