I grew up in Colorado where we have four seasons, Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. But here in Texas, that is not the case. The leaves are not changing color or falling at my house, it’s still 95 degrees during the day and we are lucky if it cools down to 80 degrees at night. We are still wearing shorts and t-shirts swimming in our pools at night and drinking ice cold drinks like it was going out of style. We just don’t have Autumn in the Dallas area like we did when I was growing up in Colorado and sometimes I think that Summer will never end. So every year after the kids have returned to school and after I have spent a week, cleaning and reclaiming my house, I start transforming my home. Decorating, cooking and baking and burning candles that fill the air with the scents of Fall is how I escape from the heat and mundane life of the eternal Texas summer. One of the first things that I bake every year year to fill my home with the aroma of pumpkin and spices is Pumpkin Bread. I make a large batch and bake loaves in small loaf pans so that I have enough to put in the freezer. It’s always so exciting to pull out a loaf of the aromatic pumpkin bread to share with my family along with a bowl of soup or chili.
My favorite Pumpkin Bread Recipe:
3 1/2 C flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. pumpkin spice
1 1/2 sticks butter
2-3 TBLS molasses
2 C sugar
4 eggs
2/3 cup low sugar orange juice
2 1/4 C pumpkin puree
1/2 C raisins
1/2 currants
Pumpkin seeds
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, sugar and molasses until creaming. (The mixture will be smooth and dark in color) Beat in eggs. Add orange juice and pumpkin puree and mix well. Mix together dry ingredients. I use a whisk instead of a sifter to combine dry ingredients. Mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients one spoonful at a time, incorporating all dry ingredients. Stir in raisins and currants.
Spoon into small loaf pans, (I use the throw away tin kind because I don’ t own enough for a batch) top with pumpkin seeds and bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes. I have a very old oven, so I start checking for doneness after 30 minutes. After the breads have cooled, wrap in foil and then put into a freezer bag. Label with the date and freeze until ready to use.
They also make great gifts!
I love the use of color when decorating for different times of the year. And to me, fall is reds, browns, greens, yellows…Can’t your just picture all of the wonderful colors of Fall? To help you celebrate Fall I have created this wallpaper background for you. The colors I choose are some of the colors that we are seeing this Fall in the fashion industry. I think the colors of Fall will look great on your computer!
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