A little taste of fall ...

I baked pumpkin breads recently and the house smelled just like fall ...

If you're doing any autumn planning these days, bake yourself something spicy and warm ~ your house will smell fabulous! A slice of pumpkin bread with a cup of tea will really put you in the mood for fall thoughts.

Of course, if it's really hot where you live - it happens to be in the 70s here this week - turn the AC up a bit before you start all that baking and brewing. ;)

Have a great Thursday, everyone!

P.S. For Heather ~ My Favorite Pumpkin Bread Recipe:

Mix-and-Match Quick Bread (Frozen Assets)

• 3 cups flour (whole wheat and white make a nice blend)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon (we play with this element ~ ginger, cloves etc.)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 2 cups sugar (we cut this down and see very little difference)
• 2 cups Mix-N-Match (see list below)
• 3 teaspoons vanilla (use pure vanilla not imitation)
• 1 cup chopped nuts or seeds (we leave these out)

Sift together dry ingredients. In separate bowl, beat eggs; add oil and sugar; cream together. Stir in Mix-N-Match and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix well. Stir in nuts. Spoon into two well-greased loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees F. for 1 hour. When cool, wrap bread in foil; label and freeze. Makes 2 loaves.

Mix-N-Match (one of more of the following to equal 2 cups) *we've used this ingredient before

• Apples, grated or chopped*
• Applesauce*
• Apricots
• Bananas, mashed or chopped*
• Berries*
• Carrots, cooked and mashed or grated*
• Cherries
• Coconut
• Cranberries, dry or raw, chopped*
• Dates or figs, pitted and finely chopped*
• Lemon, 1/2 cup juice
• Marmalade (omit one cup sugar)*
• Mincemeat
• Oranges, chopped
• Orange juice, 1/2 cup juice
• Peaches, fresh or canned, chopped* (we've also used peach butter)
• Pears, fresh or canned, chopped* (we also like to use pearsauce)
• Pineapple
• Prunes, chopped
• Pumpkin, canned* (we like fresh, cooked and mashed too)
• Raisins*
• Rhubarb, finely chopped (add 1/2 cup more sugar)*
• Strawberries, well drained* (I dice them)
• Sweet potato or yams, cooked and mashed or grated*
• Zucchini, grated and well drained*

Comments

[Kathy]

Oh, I can just smell those! My 6yo asked me this week when we could make pumpkin muffins again. You've motivated me to surprise her with them this morning before she wakes up.:-)

[Cassidy]

Mmmmm pumpkin bread.. I love pumpkin bread.. Sadly it's about a million degrees here and even with pumpkin bread and tea I'm not sure I can think fall in all this heat, but I'm willing to try. Pumpkin bread here I come!

[Amy]

Oh, I love pumpkin bread and can't wait for fall! Last year Trader Joe's had a wonderful organic pumpkin bread mix but I don't think I can wait this year!

It's hot and humid in our nation's capitol and I can't wait for August to end.

[Ruth]

We're actually baking some today : )

[jenna]

oooh I can almost smell that pumpkin bread. :) I wonder if I can bake some in my crockpot? It is so hot here this week that I cannot imagine baking, however Fall is my favorite time of the year. I like you have an addiction to new school supplies, and organizing and you now have me starting a bunch of notebooks too lol. But I love everything about fall, the crisp clean air, the pretty leaves, and that is just in wa state where I am from, I bet where you are at it is ten times more beautiful. :)

ok so you got me thinking about fall thanks!
Jenna

[Heather]

Isn't that just so cozy? We have been making LOTS of zuchinni bread and it smells divine. Pumpkin will be next. Do you have a favorite recipe?

[Nancy @ Homemade Blessings]

This post really gets me in the mood for Fall! Thank you so much for the great recipe - it will be an valuable resource for quickbreads throughout the year!

Blessings,
Nancy

[Phyllis]

It's still too hot to be fall here, but we were given a pumpkin (already!?!), so I made our favorite pumpkin curry soup yesterday. It gave us a wonderful fall smell, too.

[Veronica]

What a wonderful idea. I have so much zucchini I think I may make bread tomorrow. Thank you so much for your beautiful blog. It makes my day!

[angie]

I am going on a girls weekend tomorrow, and I wanted to do some baking for that and for my family, so your recipe was perfect. I read your blog this morning and made two nice loaves of banana-applesauce bread, one for my husband the kids, and one to share with my friends this weekend. Thanks for sharing that recipe!

[Jen]

Frozen Assests is a great little book. The tips and recipes are fun. We love the bulk spaghetti sauce recipe. As a matter of fact, I'll be making a batch this weekend before the baby comes.

[Stephanie's Mommy Brain]

This sounds delicious! With autumn and apple picking right around the corner here in RI I can't wait to try this recipe!! Thanks for sharing it.

[Heather]

Thank you, Dawn! I appreciate you posting the recipe. Today is going to be rainy and high of 63- perfect for pumpkin bread making! :)

[Jenifer Samaha]

I have a favorite pumpkin recipe from All Recipes. But, considering the fact that I actually have Frozen Assets checked out from the library right now, I just may have to give this recipe a try!

Thanks for sharing...although all this looking forward to fall makes me a bit depressed since I'm in Phoenix and we won't get fall weather until December!

[amy]

Thanks! This looks like a good recipe, so versatile!

I have decided to keep my 4 1/2 year old daughter home from preschool this year. Your blog is such a tremendous resource and blessing, thank you!

peace,
amy