Apple Bread

I still have apples everywhere, waiting for cranberries to be in the stores so I can make batch after batch of cranapplesauce. In the meantime, it's high time to use up some of these apples! I posted on Oct 16 about making apple pie jam. Today I'm going to make some apple bread, a nice quick bread. I've had this recipe for so long that I can't remember where it came from - my original copy is actually a handwritten recipe card. This only uses about 1 large apple per loaf, but it's very good and freezes very nicely. It's also a very simple recipe with very few ingredients, making it an easy quick bread to tackle. While apples are $1/lb in most places, buy some apples and do apple week with me!

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. shortening
2 eggs
1 1/2 T buttermilk (you can use fresh milk or add 1/8 tsp lemon juice or vinegar)
1 tsp vanilla
2 c. flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 c. chopped apples (peel, core, chop, then measure)
1. Grease a bread pan. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cream the sugar and shortening (mix until creamy, smooth, slightly whipped).
3. Mix in the eggs, milk, and vanilla.
4. Mix in the flour, salt, and baking soda, then stir that into the wet mixture.
5. Stir in the chopped apples.
6. Spread into the prepared bread pan, then bake for one hour or until a toothpick poked into the center of the bread comes out clean.