Pumpkin Bread

Because we have so much pumpkin, I thought I'd try making pumpkin bread. It was very easy and tasty. It's especially easy if you have a standing mixer.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 C sugar

1 tsp soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp salt

1-2/3 C flour

1/2 C oil

1/2 C water

1 C pumpkin

2 eggs

1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix all ingredients well.

Pour into greased loaf pan or pans.

Bake:

• Large loaf pan: 1-1/2 hours
• Small loaf pans: 30-35 minutes

Check with toothpick. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove and finish cooling on rack.

Great with butter or frosted with cream cheese frosting.

One Crazy Girl's Note: Although the chocolate chips taste great in the bread, they all sank to the bottom during cooking. Next time, I will try chopping them up a bit before putting them in the batter. Or using mini chips instead of regular sized ones.

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Pumpkin Soup

It's that time of year when my fancy turns to making soups. Homemade soup is just nice comfort food. This soup is especially good if you use fresh pumpkin. We also used the rosemary bread recipe to make bread bowls.

Ingredients:

6 C chicken stock

1-1/2 tsp salt

4 C pumpkin puree

1 tsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)

1 C chopped onion

1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 C heavy whipping cream

5 whole black peppercorns

Heat stock, salt, pumpkin, onion, thyme, garlic, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.

Puree the soup in small batches (1 cup at a time) using a food processor or blender. Return to pan, and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for another 30 minutes, uncovered.

Stir in heavy cream.

Pour into soup bowls and garnish with fresh parsley.

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Processing fresh pumpkin

Processing fresh pumpkin is easy, but it also a bit time-consuming. You should plan on at least 1-1/2 hours to complete it all, depending on the size of your pumpkin. I did two pie pumpkins (the small, sweet ones). It was really fun to see them growing in the garden, harvest them, and turn them into something as wonderful as pumpkin soup.

Needed:

Fresh pumpkin

Big knife

Microwave-safe dish with a tight lid

Water

Blender or food processor

Wash the outside of your pumpkin with water, but no soap. Cut your pumpkin open.

Remove the seeds. Keep these for planting next year or roasting. Remove the stem.

Cut into quarter or smaller pieces. The smaller the pieces, the quicker it cooks and the easier it is to remove from the skins after cooking.

Arrange in dish so that the lid will fit all the way. Add 1-2 inches of water. Cover.

Cook for 15 minutes on high, check to see if it is soft, then repeat in smaller increments of time until it is soft enough to scoop the innards out. It make takes as little at 15 minutes or as long as 30.

Scoop out the pumpkin. It should already be separating from the skin, so this should be easy.

Put in blender or food processor and puree.

Freeze, refrigerate, or use right away.

That's it. Really. It's that easy.

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