The rise of the pumpkin bread

Big N's Pumpkin Patch at the end of September
We had a bunch of volunteer pumpkins in the garden this past summer. They began from the compost pile and with a little neglect and a lot of water, we had quite the pumpkin patch. We even had one pumpkin that could not decide if it preferred the inside or the outside of the garden and opted to grow right through the fence.



At the end of the summer, we had a mixture of jack-o-lanterns and sugar pumpkins. I set the sugar pumpkins aside with plans to bake. I finally roasted the pumpkins and froze the puree for later.

I came across a recipe for a yeast based pumpkin bread and I was intrigued. I immediately made grand plans to bake. With my typical schedule, this means it happened about 6 weeks later.

Last night I started the dough and it took 3 hours for the first rise to complete. I am blaming that on how cold our house gets. When I put the dough in the loaf pans, I opted to use an overnight proof and popped the two loaves into the fridge.

This morning, I baked the bread. It smells heavenly in the house. I am now planning on making pumpkin rolls for thanksgiving next year just so I can have this on hand for a leftover turkey sandwich.



Here is the wonderful recipe with my alterations.

Pumpkin yeast bread
1/2 cup warm water
2 packages (2 tablespoons) active dry yeast
2/3 cup warm milk
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups puréed pumpkin, either fresh or canned
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

In a bowl of a stand mixer fit with the mixing paddle, stir yeast into water to soften. Add warm milk, eggs, pumpkin, oil, 4 cups flour, brown sugar, salt, ginger and cardamom to yeast mixture. Mix vigorously for 2 minutes. Change the mixer paddle to the dough hook when needed.

Gradually add remaining flour, a little at a time, until you have a dough stiff enough to knead. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead, adding flour as necessary, until you have a smooth, elastic dough.

Put dough into an oiled bowl. Turn once to coat entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Turn dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface. Divide dough in half. Shape dough into loaves and place in well-greased 10 x 5-inch pans or, shape half into a loaf, and other half into 12 large dinner rolls. Cover with plastic rise and let rise in the refrigerator overnight.

Bake in a preheated 375°F oven. Loaves bake about 30 minutes, rolls about 20. Check the internal temperature of each with an instant-read thermometer; a reading of 190°F means bread or rolls are done.

Immediately remove bread or rolls from pans and cool on a wire rack to prevent crust from becoming soggy. For a shiny crust, brush tops of bread or rolls lightly with vegetable oil. Makes 2 large loaves, or 1 large loaf and 12 dinner rolls.

White Chicken Chili and Cornbread

Crock-pot Chili and cornbread!

3 large chicken breasts
1/2 a large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
1-2 Cups frozen white corn
2 Cans white beans, drained and rinsed
1 7oz can chopped green chilies
Juice from one lime
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
32 oz chicken broth
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
water

Add chicken broth and cumin to a large stock pot. Roughly chop the chicken and bring to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes, or until the chicken is fork tender.

While the chicken is cooking, saute the onion in olive oil until translucent. Add the garlic and saute for a minute or so. Add the onion and garlic to the crock-pot. Add the rinsed beans and corn to the crock-pot.

Dice the cooked chicken and add to the crock-pot. Add the broth that the chicken was cooked in into the crock-pot. Add the lime juice, chilies and spices. Add water to bring the liquid level just to the top of the ingredients, but not covering.

Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8.

The last 30 minutes the chili is cooking, make the cornbread.

Corny cornbread

1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix
1 egg
1 can creamed corn

Mix everything together in a bowl. Bake in either a greased 8x8 pan or muffin pan (fill the muffins half full) for 15-20 minutes, until just brown.

Some quiet time

I am not posting as much as I used to. I'm not sure what changed, I definitely have things to say. I am feeling as if I am talking to myself these days. Perhaps it is working by myself that is doing it. I am spending so much time alone that I don't need to write notes to myself, too. I need to find an outlet that involves real people.

Girls like dinosaurs, too!

Princess dinosaur Hat
Auntie Sarah gave Big N a dinosaur hat when he was three. He still loves this hat and it miraculously still fits now that he is almost 8. Little N tries to steal it on occasion, which never ends well for her. However, I can see her point. What is not to love about wearing spikes on your head?


Big N wearing his hat
When I spoke to Little N about making her a dinosaur hat, she was very specific on the color combination. It had to be pink. It had to be purple. It had to be all that and made for a princess. It also could not have purple spikes.

Little N helped me make the pattern. We traced Big N's hat and added a 1/2 inch seam allowance. She then cut out the pattern pieces for me. I opted to sew it when she was in bed to surprise her this morning.


Little N was thrilled! I skipped the velcro chin closure because it covers her ears just fine. I think it looks a little more feminine as it is.

Apple Pie Jam

This jam is awesome! I make this from the apples off of our tree in the fall. The jam tastes like an apple pie in a jar. It is delicous on toast, delightful on ice cream and to die for as part of your glaze on an easter ham.

Enjoy the recipe! It is best made with fresh apples from a fruit stand. Stick to the apples that are good for baking. Golden delicious and Brauban apples are wonderful in this jam.

Apple Pie Jam

About 8-10 fresh apples
2 Tablespoons real lemon juice (no bottled juice!)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 box pectin
4 Cups white sugar
1 Cup packed brown sugar

Peel, chop and finely dice the apples. There should 4 cups of apples. Pack the diced apples into a 4 cup measuring cup. Add water to the apples to fill space between the apples and fill to the 4 cup line on the measuring cup.

Put the apples, the water, fresh lemon juice into a large pan. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the pectin and stir. Bring the mixture to a full boil. When you can no longer stir down the boiling apple mixture, add the white and brown sugars. Stir continuously and return to a full boil that you can no longer stir down. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off any foam.

Ladle into hot, clean jars leaving 1/4″ headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a paper towel and cover with a lid and ring.

Process in boiling water for 10 minutes.

Very Persuasive

Little N is in half day kindergarten. I pick her up just before lunch to drive her to day care on the days Pete is unable to. On some special occasions, we have taken her out to lunch. It is fun and I enjoy it because I know we won't have this opportunity next year.

One day when I picked her up, she asked, "Mommy, can we go out to lunch with Daddy?"

I wasn't able to that day and told her no. She asked again, "Please Mommy, can we go out to lunch we Daddy?"

I repeated my earlier answer and told her no. She then got very upset with me. "Mommy! That isn't how it works! You say no, I talk you into it and then you say yes!"

It appears I am a push-over.

Little N starts Kindergarten

Little N is now in Kindergarten. She was very excited to start on her first day. Her big brother walked her to her classroom, even though she already knew how to get there.

She got right down to business when her teacher suggested that she go play, she did just that! She also was very good at picking up her toys (never her favorite task at home).

She was fine when I left, barely looking at me as she said good-bye. Little N was very happy to finally follow her big brother's footsteps to kindergarten.

When I picked her up, she had a great day. Her only complaint was that she had to leave.