Apple Days are here!

My parents were out visiting last week and on our "to do list" was to visit the lovely, quaint town of Julian, California.  Famous for it's apple orchards, we used our Living Social deal of the day ($10 for 2 bags of apples) to pick apples again at Raven Hill Orchard.  Having been their the previous year with our dear friends, The Delgados, I knew the apples were a plenty and Patrick Brady, the owner of the orchard, and "renowned artist" would make my dad smile a bit.  For those of you that don't know, he's an Irishman who came over here because of "destiny" and purchased this orchard which is home to his metal sculptures.  Let me just say, he is an interesting fellow who could possible still believe it is 1965.  

Mom and Dad showing off their Golden Delicious

4 bags of apples later (Empire and Golden Delicious) as well as a Dutch Apple Pie and Cherry Pie from Julian Pie Company, we headed back home.... Now WHAT to do with all of these apples?  

I love baking breads--they are my favorite to eat in the morning with a cup of coffee..and I can pack them in the kids lunches as well. This turned out delicious and I doubled the recipe because of the ABUNDANCE of apples we have at the house.  This bread is nice and sweet and I do think you can cut back on the sugar if you'd like..especially if your apples are nice and sweet....I attempted to add a bit more "healthy" to the recipe by using whole wheat flour in addition to all purpose.  Never change the entire amount of flour in a recipe to whole wheat--but halving the amount with whole wheat works fine.

Fresh Apple Bread

1.5  cups all-purpose flour

1.5 cup whole wheat flour

• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cups white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups apples - peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
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1. In bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside. In large mixing bowl, place oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and apples. Stir into flour mixture.  Divided mixture between two greased 8-in. x 4-in. bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until bread test done. Cool for 10 minutes on wire rack before removing from pan.