Grandmother's Famous Cranberry Bread

There is an old legend about Christmas bread. Any bread given to others at Christmas time is holy bread. IF you give a loaf to someone else, you should divide it with another. The act of dividing it multiplies it. When one does this, one loaf would be enough to feed the whole world.

This is a delicious fruit bread recipe from the kitchen of my Great Grandma Haynie. It makes a great gift at Christmas time for teachers, neighbors, etc.

2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups craisins
1 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp grated orange peel

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda into a large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Add egg, orange peel and orange juice all at once. Stir just until mixture is evenly moistened. Fold in craisins. Spoon into greased 9x5x3 loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
Yield: 1 loaf
Obviously, my great-grandmother did not use craisins since they didn't exist yet in her day. She used 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped and 1 1/2 cups raisins. You can certainly try fresh or frozen cranberries but the craisins are so easy and taste delicious in this bread.