Hi everyone and please click on the title of this post to read more. First thing: Just a reminder that I will be teaching a workshop at the Montclair Adult School on Monday, Nov. 24th from 6-9 and you can still sign up!
Well, I have been making and freezing food for Thanksgiving so I can be nice and relaxed when the big day comes. One of the food activities in which I have been engaged is that of baking with my kids. I made biscuits and pumpkin bread with them instead of watching T.V. 2 nights this week. In my house, it is a pretty big deal to give up T.V. at night so there must be something special about baking activities.
The biscuits and stuffing are for our Thanksgiving but the pumpkin bread was for a meeting I held at my house as well as a donation to a food pantry where my friend Alison is helping out . Her organization, Cooking With Friends Club, has gotten dozens of people in our town to donate to the Human Needs Food Pantry. If you would like to participate, drop off bread there on Tuesday or email Alison at cookingwithfriendsclub.com The economy has caused a lot more need at soup kitchens so please be generous if you can, in any way you can. Thanks, Alison!
Planning ahead to donate for Thanksgiving and other big holidays, as well as planning and prepping our meal is key. Cooking all or part of a huge meal is not magic, just good old fashioned thinking ahead. See all the food I have made and frozen so far in the video below.
In the video, I mention flash freezing my biscuits which is a very exciting concept: If you put raw balls of biscuits on a cookie sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes or so, they will freeze in their individual shapes and THEN you can stick them in a ziploc all together. This is a great thing to do since it prevents them from sticking together in a big glob when you throw them all together in a bag. You can also see me drink my leftovers….
Here is my recipe for Pumpkin bread which is actually more like a cake, who’s kidding who?
Take Back the Kitchen Pumpkin Bread:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
1 can pumpkin puree (15 ounce- you can get at any supermarket)
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cloves
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
*You will notice I have no cinnamon in it because i am not a fan. If you must, add a tsp of cinnamon.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put parchment paper on two 9×5 inch loaf pans or one 9 1/2 inch square pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine oil, eggs and sugar and beat until smooth. Add water and beat until well blended. Stir in pumpkin puree, ginger, allspice and cloves.
3. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until all ingredients are mixed. Divide batter between prepared pans if you are using 2.
4. Bake until knife comes out clean, about one hour. Enjoy!
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2 Responses
My daughter volunteered us to make pumpkin bread for her class. She then asked me “mom, can we bake the way you are supposed to and not from a bag in a box.” Nothing like being challenged by your 4 year old. So, I tried this pumpkin bread- first going to the supermarket to get baking powder, baking soda, and cloves. It was really fun for my daughter and I. We got messy, laughed a lot, and felt very proud of ourselves. In addition, the bread is absolutely delicious! Next time I bake it for children I will probably leave out the ginger and put a little less allspice and cloves… it is a little strong tasting for some 4 year olds.
I’ve made pumpkin bread for my son’s preschool class (not this exact recipe, but very similar) and I’ve substituted whole wheat flour for half of the flour called for in the recipe. It comes out great and gives a nice nutty flavor to the pumpkin bread.