Fall is here!...at least for the moment

Well thankfully the heat has passed and the leaves are falling.  It is beautiful outside, but I'm suddenly reminded of just how much fun it wasn't raking an acre of leaves last year.  Oh well, my pumpkin bread makes up for it!  I love pumpkin recipes.  I have more than I can post on here, but I will start this week by posting my favorite pumpkin bread.  I made it last night (2 loaves) and by late morning, we were down to one.  I can't think of anything better to make my house smell wonderful.  I have had this recipe for a long time.  I can't remember if I got it in high school or college, but it's always been a hit.  And thankfully, it's ridiculously easy (anyone who knows me well, knows I have an odd aversion to yeast).

Pumpkin Bread

1 can pumpkin (16 oz)

1 2/3 C white sugar

2/3 C veg oil

2 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

 3 C flour

2 t baking soda

1 t salt 

1 T cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

1/2 t apple pie spice or ground cloves

1/2 t baking powder

Blend together the first five ingredients.  In a separate bowl whisk together the dry ingredients to be sure there aren't any lumps.  Then stir into the wet ingredients.  Grease two loaf pans ( I use Pam with flour, it's awesome) and separate the batter.  I use a measuring cup to be sure of even distribution. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. 

To make it a bit healthier, you can substitute in some whole wheat flour.  As a general rule, you substitute a third without a big difference.  I also suggest using Whole Wheat Pastry Flour.  It's ground much finer and it's even less noticable.

Starting a baking blog

Well, I've decided to start another blog. More for my fun than anyone else's. I'm sure not many people will be interested in what I've been baking lately and whatnot, but I thought this would be a good way to put my thoughts in one place and use it as a reference for things I've made. Hopefully I'll keep up on it. I'm sure I could do a better job on keeping up on our family blog too.
Also, I really hope that people will leave comments and suggestions. I always like more ideas!

To start off, these are a few random pictures I've taken over the last several months. I don't have pictures of the really good stuff, but these were fun times. The picture below was taken when we made halloween cupcakes for our neighbors. I got the spiderweb decoration idea from a magazine. I thought they were the cutest. Of course, the girls have their own decorating ideas!

These were some seriously yummy pumpkin muffins. I love pumpkin recipes, not just in the fall, but all year round. I think I got this recipe off the internet. But they turned out fantastic. I sprinkled sugar on before baking and that gave them a really great texture. yum! Here's the recipe- 1 1/2 C flour, 1 tsp baking powder, sift together and set aside. Mix together 1 C canned pumpkin, 1/3 C vegetable oil, 2 eggs, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 C sugar, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 t salt. Stir in flour mixture. Spoon into muffin pan. Stir together 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 T sugar. Sprinkle over top of each muffin before baking. 350 degrees 25- 30 minutes.

Evelyn enjoying the muffin, wow, her hair has grown so much since the fall!

For her birthday, Ann really wanted a mermaid cake, so this is what I came up with. Obviously, the water is just icing dyed blue. The sand was fun though, first you frost the area, then cover it with crushed graham crackers so it really looks like sand. Ann loved it. I also just picked up a few decorations to stick in it at the local cake decorating shop (oh how I miss The Decorette Shop back in Portland).

These are the best pumpkin chocolate chip cookies ever. I got the recipe from a co-worker back when I lived in Provo. Here's the recipe if you're interested - 1 C canned pumpkin, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 C margarine, 1 egg beaten, 1 C sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 C flour, small bag of chocolate chips. Beat pumpkin, baking soda, and margarine until creamy. Add the egg and sugar, mix well. Add flour, spices, and chocolate chips, mix well. Bake 350 degrees 12- 15 minutes.

Well, I already know what I want to do on my next couple of blogs, so hopefully I'll get to that soon and it'll be a bit more interesting (and not all fall related recipes).