Cranberry-Orange-Walnut Quick Bread

This recipe makes two loaves of fragrant, seasonal bread from fresh ingredients available at the grocery store: whole cranberries and seedless oranges.

Ingredients:

1 cup white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 seedless oranges
One 12-oz bag of cranberries (fresh or frozen)
2 eggs
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup broken walnuts

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease two loaf pans.

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg). 
2. Cut in the 1/2 cup shortening using a fork or your fingers to distribute it until you get an evenly coarse grain.  Set aside.
3. Peel the oranges, reserving the peel. Place the orange peel into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until ground.  Add two teaspoons of the ground orange peel into another mixing bowl.  (Preserve the rest of the ground orange peel for future baking by sprinkling it on a dinner plate and setting it out of harm's way to dry naturally.  It will take a day or two to dry, then you can store it in a small air-tight glass jar.)
4. Section the oranges and place the sections into the bowl of the food processor. 
5. Set to the highest setting to liquify them. 
6. Pour the liquid (including all pulp) into the mixing bowl containing the ground orange peel. 
7. Place the fresh or frozen cranberries into the bowl of the food processor and pulse until ground.  Add the ground cranberries to the bowl with the orange pulp and peel. 
8. Add two eggs to the orange-cranberry mixture and beat well. 
9. Mix in 3/4 cup water. 
10. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat until smooth. 
11. Mix in the broken walnut pieces. 
12. Divide the mixture between the two greased loaf pans. 
13. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until fully baked. (Insert a fork into the middle of the breads; if it comes out clean the breads are done.  If there is batter stuck to the fork, continue baking another 3-5 minutes and test again.)