Recipe of the Week; SWEET APPLE AND PECAN BREAD

I just love to make sweet breads in the Autumn. Like most recipes I share, this one has a special memory attached to it. During my last fall in New Mexico, my wonderful friend Dyan gave me a barrel (literally) of apples that she and her husband Pat had picked while visiting Delores, Colorado. The little, tangy apples reminded me so much of the apples that I knew growing up in PA, they were uneven and lumpy and small, totally unlike the perfectly red, prissy apples you get at the supermarkets. (Some people just don't know that it's okay to look for worm holes before you bite into an apple!)

I had so many, and I needed to use them up. The added bonus is that I get to break out the medieval-looking apple corer/peeler!


So, I had Dyan and another friend of ours, Miss Lori, over for brunch one brisk fall morning. My brunch had an obvious apple theme- right down to the salt and pepper shakers. It was a good day, and my Apple-Pecan Bread was scrumptious! One thing especially nice about this if you want to serve it for a brunch, you make it a day ahead! It was the first time I made this, and it has become something that we'll enjoy at least two or three times during the fall and winter.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbs. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp. double-acting baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup chopped apples
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl cream butter or margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, milk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and stir just until well blended. Fold in apples and nuts. Pour into pan. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack. Once cool, wrap and let stand overnight before slicing.

You all know that I'm a working girl now, so unfortunately I just don't have time to throw together a brunch on a whim. Being time-strapped and less enthusiastic in the kitchen some days, I must say I'm a big fan of the genius who invented a bread machine! Mine is has a timer, so I can set it start at a certain time, like while I'm at work- and come home to a yummy, fresh-from-the oven bread! For those of us with all the intentions of offering homemade goodies but never enough time to actually make them, here is an equally tasty and easy substitute! Put THAT in your bread machine and bake it!, courtesy of Betty Crocker.

INGREDIENTS

Apple-Pecan Bread

1 cup water
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
3 cups bread machine-appropriate flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons bread machine or quick active dry yeast
1/2 cup chopped unpeeled apple
1/3 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted

Measure carefully, placing all ingredients except apple and pecans in bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Add apple and pecans at the Raisin/Nut signal or 5 to 10 minutes before last kneading cycle ends.

Select Sweet or Basic/White cycle. Use Light crust color. Do not use delay cycle. Remove baked bread from pan, and cool on wire rack.