Yummy Pumpkin Bread

Here is another recipe that I love but haven’t made in ages. I don’t really have a whole lot to say about this recipe so this post will be short…..bet you’re happy about that. I got this recipe out of my favorite, all-purpose cookbook, the Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham. This is my go to book for answers to any baking and cooking questions I have like, “How to truss a chicken or turkey”, and other questions. I also used to give copies of this book as housewarming gifts. 

I like making this recipe and the Cranberry Nut Bread recipe that is in here, and which I hope to make sometime within the next few weeks, in mini loaf pans and give them to family and friends. Back when I baked this a lot, Reynolds was still making plastic wrap and I could buy it in red and green and I would use it to wrap my small loaves of bread,which made them look quite festive.

I apologize for the quality of my photos, which aren’t always good anyway, but are worse than normal. This time of year since the days are getting shorter my chance of using natural light is slim. That’s what happened here, by the time my bread was done, it was dark outside. Then, at the time, I wasn’t sure what was wrong with my camera, but I must have gotten something on the lense because it looks like there is smear of some sort in most of my pictures…the hazards of taking food pictures. At least it wasn’t a problem with my camera.

Pumpkin Bread
Print Recipe

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Sift together the flour, salt, sugar and baking soda
3. Mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, water and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. Stir in the nuts.
4. Pour into a well-buttered 9x5 inch loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until a straw comes out clean.
5. Turn out of the pan and cool on a rack

Sift together the flour, salt, sugar and baking soda.

Mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, water.

Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice

 Add spices, to pumpkin mixture.

 Then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. If adding nuts, stir them in next.

 Pour into a well-buttered 9x5 inch loaf pan.

 Bake 50-60 minutes until a straw comes out clean...or in my case, a toothpick.

 Turn out of the pan and cool on a rack.

Mmmmm....this smelled so good while it was baking. It tasted even better....I love pumpkin and all those delicious spices that are used in this bread.

Apple Crisp

Whenever I think of apple crisp I think of school lunches. By the time I was in high school I refused to buy lunch at school mostly because the food was normally pretty awful. I would either take my lunch or, usually, not eat lunch at all and save the weekly $3.00 - $4.00 to buy gas for the car. Yes, back in the old days $3.00 would buy a lot of gas….I think gas was around seventy cents a gallon, maybe less. I would save my lunch money, combine that with babysitting money and/or allowance (babysitters made about $1.00 an hour) and I could fill up the car for around $10.00 and still have plenty left for a movie or going out to eat…maybe even buy a record or two, especially If they were 45’s.  Those were the days! Anyway, back to my story. One of the few times that I would buy the school lunch was on the day they served chili. The chili was actually quite good and along with chili I would get a peanut butter and honey sandwich and, one of my favorite desserts, apple crisp. The only time I ever got apple crisp was at school, Mom never made it and back then, I had no interest in cooking but I loved that stuff.

Many years later, I was in my 20’s and living on my own, I had some apples that I had been enjoying but wanted to do something with them other than just eat them raw, so I decided to try to bake something. I was new to cooking and baking at the time so wanted to make something simple. I pulled out my Betty Crocker cookbook and found a recipe for apple crisp…it looked like it would be similar to the apple crisp I had at school.  I peeled and sliced the apples, made the topping and put it in the oven. The aroma was heavenly, I love to smell apples, cinnamon and sugar baking, reminds me of home when my mom would bake apple pies. After it had baked and cooled a bit, I tasted it and was very pleased…it tasted just as I remembered, maybe even a little better than the apple crisp I enjoyed at school.
 
Apple Crisp
Print Recipe

4 cups sliced, peeled tart apples (about 4 medium)
2/3 - 3/4 cups brown sugar - (packed)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup butter

1. Heat oven to 375 F.
2. Grease a square 8x8x2 inch pan.
3. Place apple slices in pan.
4. Mix remaining ingredients thoroughly.
5. Sprinkle over apples.
6. Bake 30 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden brown.
7. Serve warm and, if desired, with light cream or ice cream.

Servings: 6

Source: Betty Crocker's Cookbook
Copyright: 1969 Twenty-first Printing 1974

Place 4 cups of peeled and sliced apples in an 8x8 inch pan. I don’t know what apples I used, I had some Jonathan and Cortland that I just mixed together.

 Mix together brown sugar (I used 2/3 cup), flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg and softened butter.

You can either use a fork, pastry blender or, as I usually do, your hands to mix the topping.

Spread topping over apples and bake.

I baked mine just a little over 30 minutes, until the apples were tender.

Serve warm and, if desired, with light cream or ice cream

Once again, someone decided to dig in as soon as I turned my back. About half of the Apple Crisp was gone before I had a chance to eat any. It was definitely Michael approved!