Laurie, I made this recipe a couple of weeks ago. I doubled it and it was really good. I make quick breads all the time and when cool, cut in pretty thick slices....at least an inch thick. Pkg in sandwich bags and stored in the freezer. Kim grabs one every morning to eat at work. Tides her over from 7am to 12 or 1pm. Raw Apple Bread CF--Readinglady [Beard's comment: "A rather unusual baking powder bread that you will find delightfully textured and interesting in color and flavor. It keeps very well and, as a matter of fact, will be better if left to mature for at least 24 hours. It is a fine bread to give as a gift."] (1 large loaf) 1/2 cup butter or margarine 1 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder 2 tablespoons buttermilk or soured milk 1 cup coarsely chopped, unpeeled apples 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or grated lemon rind Cream the butter or margarine, add the sugar slowly, and continue to beat until light and lemon-colored. Beat in the eggs. Sift the flour with the salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Stir in the apples, nuts and vanilla or lemon rind. Butter a 9 or 10x5x3-inch loaf pan. Spoon the batter into the tin and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven 50-60 minutes, until the loaf pulls away slightly from the sides of the tin or until a straw or cake tester inserted in the loaf comes out clean. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then loosen from the pan and turn out on a rack to cool completely before slicing. VARIATION: Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon chopped nuts on top of the batter before baking. Nancy

Hi April, the flour girl, I thought that, though I'm on my second bread machine, I don't have any advice to offer. The original one, that used 4 cups of flour, had about a 4 hour run-time - I think 3:50, and this one, that uses three cups, has a 3 hour 20 minute run-time. I haven't watched it closely enough to have an idea at what point of its total operation it has arrived at any given time. Actually, I don't know whether it does a double rise: sorry that this Baker (by name, if not by profession) can't offer any idea regarding that second rising. Do you have a bread pan available- or do you figure that you might need two? If not, do you have a neighbour from whom you could borrow one/two for a few hours? If you must use a flat pan and aren't enthused about the idea of having the loaf be quite thin at the edge (possibly very crusty, or even burned?) you might choose to make a circle of cardboard, about three inches high, about the size that you think that the loaf should be, and staple it, pin it, then drop the lump of risen dough inside. I hope that some of our skilled bakers/pastry cooks will have their eyes turned this way enough to give you a definitive answer. Have a really great New Year: I hope that you can rise to whatever occasion is called for throughout the year (and not get burned in the process - or too crusty, either, for that matter). ole joyful

I have a cranberry quick bread that is very VERY labor intensive. Calls for cutting a cup up cranberries in half....and I've triedw ithout doint that and they explode and make pockets in the cake and I have tride coarsly chopping them and that doesn't work well either... AND it calls for a fair amount of grated orange peel. Delicious but a pain....not even going to post that one! But this also makes a single loaf, not as tidy looking as the other, but lots easier. cook a loaf about 40 minutes. Best Cranberry Muffins 1/4 cup butter (melted) 1 1/2 cups flour 2 t. baking powder 1/2 t. salt 1/2 cup sugar 1 large egg 1/2 cup milk 1 cup chopped cranberries 2 TB cinnamon-sugar Cool melted butter. Stir dry ingredients together in a bowl. In another bowl, beat egg and milk, then add in cooled butter. Add wet ingredients to dry. Stir quickly to moisten. Add cranberries. Fill muffin cups half full and sprinkle tops of batter with the cinnamon sugar. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

I have a Bundt cake recipe with chopped apricots and it's one of my favorites. It's called orange apricot yogurt bread. Nice for summer. I've found another recipe from the Boston Globe. The ratios look better than the other ones and I'm gong to substitute chopped chocolate for the blueberries and use a ganache glaze. Blueberry Buttermilk Tea Cake 2 1/4 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup fresh blueberries, picked over 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3/4 cup buttermilk Confectioners’ sugar (for sprinkling) 1. Set the oven at 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan. Dust the pan with flour, tapping out the excess. 2. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to blend them. 3. In another bowl, toss the blueberries with 1 teaspoon of the flour mixture. 4. In an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the butter for 2 minutes. Add the sugar in two additions, beating for 1 minute after each. Blend in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. 5. With the mixer set on low speed, beat in half of the flour mixture, then the buttermilk, then the remaining flour mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula once or twice. 6. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand. With a large rubber spatula fold in the blueberries and any excess flour in the bowl. 7. Spoon the batter into the loaf pan, mounding it slightly in the center. Bake the cake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake is clean when withdrawn. 8. Set the cake on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Turn the cake out of the pan and return the cake to the rack to cool. Dust the top with confectioners’ sugar. Cut into slices with a serrated knife. Lisa Yockelson