It's Time for a Study Break

Saturday was a stormy day for much of the east coast. My husband and I spent the morning taking a computer class, and then decided it was the ideal afternoon to begin preparing for the holidays. I'm a believer in stocking the freezer when I have the time to prepare ahead, thereby making it a little less hectic when Thanksgiving (or any holiday) arrives. Plenty of recipes are well suited to be frozen, and need not be made at the last minute. Six recipes later, we made significant headway! My husband often remarks that “the freezer eats better than we do". Sometimes it feels like there's some truth to that statement.

Going to college, and living on your own, are an ideal time to begin experimenting with your culinary talent. It's a skill that will evolve with practice. Personally, many of my favorite recipes have the longest history, and the fondest memories. All of us can easily equate a recipe with a time, place, or person in our lives.

One of the recipes we prepared today was pumpkin bread, and it actually stems from my graduate school days (thanks, Janet). It's simple to prepare, seasonal, and worth sharing. This recipe easily makes 2 to 3 loaves. So, share one loaf with your friends, pop the second in the freezer for a group study break during finals, and surprise your family with the third loaf when you head home for Thanksgiving, storing it in the freezer temporarily. (Your freezer can also learn to eat well!)

Let's get cooking!

Pumpkin Bread

2/3 cup oil (canola)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 lb can of pumpkin (plain pumpkin, not pumpkin pie mix)
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups of flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans) - optional
2/3 cup raisins (or dried cranberries) - optional

Beat together oil, sugar, eggs, pumpkin, and water. Sift dry ingredients together and blend into the pumpkin mixture. Stir in nuts and raisins. Pour into greased loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.


Notes: Use two 9 x 5 loaf pans or three 8 x 4 loaf pans.
You can also bake this recipe in mini loaf pans, cupcake tins, or mini cupcakes (which I chose for the Thanksgiving meal). If you use smaller tins, keep a watchful eye on your oven since you will need to reduce the overall cooking time.

Did you know that you can save energy by not warming your oven to temperature prior to baking? Let’s face it, sometimes a recipe takes much longer to prepare than we anticipated, and our oven has been unnecessarily left on coming to temperature. Consider turning it on as you load your oven with the loaf pans. You will need to increase the baking time by 5 or so minutes.

Reminder: See the prior posting Warm Your Soul (November 11, 2008) for suggested ways to reduce your costs when purchasing spices.

Allow the breads to cool COMPLETELY prior to wrapping them up for storage.

Now, call a few friends, put on a pot of tea or coffee, and enjoy yourselves!