Pumpkin Bread

I made pumpkin bread last weekend, tossed some plastic wrap over the loaf pan, and it stayed moist and delicious until I finished eating it on Thursday! It's best when warm (or toasted) in thick slices with butter. I highly recommend this recipe, which is another one from Joy of Cooking:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together:

1 3/4 cups flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

In a large bowl, beat until light and fluffy:

1 1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup shortening

2 eggs

Add and beat in:

1 cup canned pumpkin

Now add the sifted dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with:

1/3 cup water or milk (I used milk)

1/2 tsp vanilla

(I found that particular section of instruction to be confusing. Just mix into the sugar/shortening/eggs combination 1/3 of the dry, 1/3 of the wet, 1/3 of the dry, etc etc until you have it all blended together).

Do not overbeat between each addition. Fold in (optional, I didn't do this part) :

1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts

1/3 cup raisins or chopped dates

Pour batter into a greased pan and bake about 1 hour or until a toothpick, inserted into the bread, comes out dry.