Pumpkin Bread

Tonight I made the last of the quick breads I'm giving as Christmas gifts. I can't remember where I got this recipe; the only memory that comes to mind is my family history with the One Pie canned pumpkin and squash brand.

I come from a family of cooks and bakers. Everything we ate (except bread) was homemade. In the summer we had a big garden; when I was very young we lived on a farm with chickens, cows, geese, and pigs - all of which contributed to our food supply. Later, after we moved to a suburb of Boston, my father worked as a salesman for a frozen food company, so if the food wasn't fresh, it was frozen. I don't remember eating anything that came from a can (except tuna fish - my school lunch of choice for 12 years - and the One Pie brand pumpkin and squash that my mother used for her pies). I continue that legacy today - One Pie canned pumpkin is my choice for most of my the recipes that include pumpkin. So, for tonight's pumpkin bread, I ignored the two sugar pumpkins that I purchased at the local farm stand and turned to my stash of One Pie pumpkin...

Pumpkin Bread
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Makes two standard loafs or eight mini loaves.

2/3 cup butter
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 can One Pie Pumpkin (16 ounces)
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
2/3 cup raisins

Grease 2 9x5x3 inch loaf pans or 8 mini loaf pans.
Cream butter and sugar, then stir in eggs, pumpkin, and water.
In separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves.
Gradually add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture, mixing well after each addition.
Last stir in nuts and raisins.
Pour into prepared pans. Bake large loaves for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Bake mini loaves for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool on wire rack for ten minutes, then turn loaves out of pans. Continue to cool.
Wrap tightly. Loaves freeze well.

Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake

The Mouse House is back!

I took what was meant to be a short break this fall - which turned into a four month sabbatical. I’ve been cooking all along – and meaning to share (I have the pictures to prove it) – and instead got caught in a bout of ennui.

Today’s the beginning of a new year – 1.1.11 – the perfect day to break the cycle. I’m starting with an old favorite: apple sour cream coffee cake. It is a recipe I used to make regularly – it’s one of Allison’s favorites; after she left home for college I stopped making it.

I got the urge to make this at Thanksgiving; a perfect time to bake and share. So in honor of breaking my Mouse House sabbatical, I give you Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake.

Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake

½ cup finely chopped walnuts

Sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Medium cooking apple, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

½ cup butter

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 teaspoon double acting baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

About 2 hours ahead or day before:

In small bowl, combine nuts, ½ cup sugar, and cinnamon; set aside.

Peel, core, and thinly slice apple. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 9” tube pan.

In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat 1 cup sugar with butter until light and fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and beat at low speed until blended, constantly scraping bowl with rubber spatula. At medium speed, beat 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl.

Spread half of batter in pan. Top with 1/3 of the nut mixture, then add 1 medium cooking apple, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced, then 1/3 of the nut mixture. Spread with remaining batter and nut mixture. Bake 65 to 70 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Banana Bread

This recipe is from Shirley Murray, who worked at Camp Rice Moody in Reading, Mass., the Girl Scout day camp my grandmother Norma Cox (Coxie) ran for many years. I spent many summers at that camp beginning when I was too young to be a Brownie Scout; one summer while in college I worked as a swimming instructor/lifeguard at Rice Moody.

Shirley Murray had two daughters and what I remember about all three of them is that they always wore their hair in braids: Mrs. Murray wrapped hers around her head and the two girls each had two long braids.

I've made this banana bread for years, as has my mother, and when she was alive, my grandmother. It is quick, easy, and delicious.

Banana Bread
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

3 or 4 very ripe bananas mashed with fork
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted shortening (I use butter)
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cups chopped walnuts (optional)
1 egg

Mash bananas, add shortening and sugar, mix with fork.
Sift dry ingredients onto banana mix.
Add vanilla and nuts if using.
Drop in unbeaten egg.

Bake in standard loaf pan for 45-50 minutes.
May also be made in 3-4 miniloaf pans; bake 30-35 minutes.
When done, remove from oven and cool 10 minutes on wire rack.
Run knife around edge of loaf to loosen; invert pan and remove loaf, leave on wire rack until cooled completely.
Wrap; may be frozen.

Cranberry Orange Bread

For many years I made and gave Christmas cookies to co-workers: several different kinds. The past two years the cookies haven't happened until after I start my Christmas vacation; what do I give my co-workers?

When giving gifts, I try to give only things that are consumed; things that get'used up' rather than taking up space. Last year I decided to give miniloaves of quick breads: cranberry orange (a favorite since childhood - my mother's is still the best..), banana bread (quick, easy, and tasty), and pumpkin bread.

Today's recipe: Cranberry orange bread. A childhood favorite of mine. Moist, flavorful, and tasty. A Thanksgiving and Christmas staple in our house.

Cranberry orange bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 orange
2 tablespoons melted butter
boiling water
1 egg
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped raw cranberries

Sift first five ingredients together.
To juice and grated rind of orange, add 2 tablespoons melted shortening, and boiling water to make 3/4 cup liquid.
Add with beaten egg to dry ingredients, mix well.
Add nuts and cranberries, mix well.

Bake in standard loaf pan for 1 hour or in three or four mini loaf pans for 25-30 minutes. A toothpick inserted into center of loaf should come out clean when done.

Cool for 10 minutes, in pan, on wire rack. Run knife around edge of pan, turn breads out of pan(s) onto rack and cool completely. Wrap well. May be frozen.