Under a Blue Moon

I have been craving something made with pumpkin.  Other than a few cooler days it hasn't quite been soup weather so I can't make my standard pumpkin soup recipes (Susan Branch's recipe from her Vinyard Seasons cookbook which I don't see on her website anymore.  Go buy Heart of the Home if you don't already have one of her books). 

So I made pumpkin bread instead.  Anyone remember the great canned pumpkin shortage a year or two ago?  You couldn't find canned pumpkin to save your life.  I tend to keep a can or two in my pantry just in case.

I looked online for pumpkin bread recipes and ended up tweaking a couple recipes to suit my tastes.   This recipe makes three loaves; one to eat right away, one to freeze and one to take to your Dad.

Pumpkin Bread

4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. cloves
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
3 cups sugar
2 15 oz. cans pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup oil
6 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350 F degrees.  Grease and flour (or line with parchment paper like I did) three 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pans.

Whisk the first six dry ingredients together.  Mix the wet ingredients with the sugar.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until just combined.

Divide evenly between the three loaf pans and bake for one hour (check at 45 minutes, do the toothpick test and remove when the toothpick comes out clean.  Mine actually took about 65 minutes).  Cool in pan for ten minutes and then remove and cool on rack completely before eating or freezing.  Even better the next day.

Printable version

Flickr Favorites (please click link to see the source of these haunting images)

• I adore this pocket planner – the design, the size – adorable!
• This picture is just about the sweetest thing.  A groom seeing his bride for the first time on their wedding day.  Try not to tear up yourself.  From Michelle Newell Photography.
• Speaking of wedding – love these earrings from the JCrew bridal collection.  I don't think they should be for brides only though.  Maybe aged marrieds would like them too.
• The Besotted Brand shop is open!  I swear I'm not on her payroll – I just love her design esthetic.
• Touching story of female prisoners at Terezin, a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, documenting their family recipes in order to preserve them: In Memory's Kitchen.

This has been a grueling work week.  12 hour days, day after day.  I am so happy the weekend is here and we are having house guests!  I plan of just relaxing and enjoying every minute of it.

Have a fabulous weekend!

I thought we were about due for a chicken post.  Haven't done one of those in a while.  

I noticed something interesting today.  I was looking at the eggs in our refrigerator and while I can't tell the Rhode Island Reds' eggs apart I can very definitely tell which ones Grace, the Buff Cochin has laid.  Her eggs have a shell that is a lighter color and rougher texture than the other eggs and they are bigger and pointier.  The Red lay an egg that is a rosy brown color and smooth and almost shiny.  

Well I was counting the eggs in the fridge and we have 20 of them. And 8 of them were laid by Grace.  We pretty much eat the older eggs first so you can figure we are eating them in the order they were laid.  Which means Grace is laying at twice the pace of her red headed sisters.  Eight of her eggs and twelve divided up between the other three chickens.

Slackers.

We are thinking that we will get two more chicks next Spring.  Not sure what type yet.  I kind of want Ameraucanas so we have blue/green eggs but I don't know much about their temperment.

We have settled into a routine with them.  We let them out of their run just about every day (weather permitting) for a few hours.  We can't leave them out unsupervised for too long because we have had coyotes and the occassional stray dog come on the property.  So we only let them out when we can keep an eye on them.  

Doing the weekly coop chores takes less than half an hour.  We clean out the dirty wood shavings from their coop and rake out the run. Wash and refill their waterer (more often in hot weather) and refill the feeder.  About every six months we do a deep scrub down with bleachy water.  

Along with their laying crumble and whatever bugs and greenery they forage on their own, Rick gives them a treat of fresh fruit or veggies every morning – zucchini, tomatoes, kale, oranges (which we stopped because we heard too much citric acid isn't good for shell production), apples – whatever we have on hand.   

They sure have been a lot of fun and I've never once felt like they were too much work.  They are just so fun to watch and they are so personable and friendly.