Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin bread is one of my favorite fall and winter recipes. It's a quick bread that's easy to mix together and is very moist--it gets better after each day!

I remember both my Grandmother and Mother making this quite often. They usually add chopped walnuts or pecans to their bread but I leave mine plain. I've had pumpkin bread with a variety of additions, including nuts and dried cranberries.

Those versions are good, but I prefer the Pumpkin bread in all it's pumpkin glory:

Sweet, baby Mufasa wanted to see what I had made...

*Don't worry, I didn't let him near it!

Anyway, this bread is super easy to make, easy to store, and easy to freeze. You really can't mess it up.

And it's great to make for homemade gifts!

Pumpkin Bread
from my Mom, Grandma and Lynda's Recipe Box

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
3 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 cup canola oil
2/3 cup water
4 eggs, beaten
1 can of pumpkin puree or 1 3/4 cups fresh pumpkin puree

Directions:

Sift dry ingredients; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk wet ingredients together and fold in dry ingredients. Grease and flour two loaf pans and distribute the batter evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool loaves for ten minutes. Run a knife along edges of bread to loosen, invert onto a wire rack and cool completely. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and store in a container or Ziploc bag. Bread stays fresh up to a week and freezes well.

Christmas Trees

Small, crisp, almond flavored press cookies. So simple and fun to make!

The dough can be tricky but there a few key elements to make the best dough. Use a good quality vegetable shortening and cream well with granulated sugar. Once it's light and fluffy, add the egg, almond extract (I use imitation because of food allergies) and food coloring. Blend for another minute or two, until the eggs are blended well and dough has a little bit of volume. Sift the dry ingredients together and add to the wet ingredients. The dough needs to be slightly sticky in order to press properly.

Load your cookie press and press away!

My favorite Christmas memory is baking cookies with my mom. I loved making press cookies and sugar cookies. What is your favorite Christmas cookie to make?





Christmas Trees
from Mirro Cookie Press Recipes

1 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 salt
Green food coloring
Water, if needed

1. Sift dry ingredients together; set aside. Using a stand or hand mixer, cream shortening till light and fluffy. About 5 minutes. Beat in egg, green food coloring (I used ten drops) and almond extract. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until dough comes together.

2. Fill cookie press and form cookies onto an non-stick, cookie sheet. Sprinkle with red or green sugar, if desired. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-8 minutes. Let cool slightly on cookie sheet and transfer to cooling rack.

Yields: 6-7 dozen cookies.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Stuffed with Pesto

I often have trouble using boneless, skinless, chicken breasts because I run out of ways to fix them. Not only that, they can turn out dry and flavorless.
I have found that bacon and chicken compliment each other quite nicely. The bacon infuses some great flavor into the chicken and the fat from the bacon keeps the chicken tender. The bacon dresses up the chicken nicely so you could serve this for a special occasion; or fix for a quick and easy weeknight dinner.

I sprinkle the chicken with little black pepper and use a simple pesto and Parmesan cheese to stuff the inside of the breast. Do not salt the chicken. The bacon contains salt that will season the chicken nicely. Bake the chicken on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet. This allows for even cooking and excess fat to drip away from the chicken. Turn the breasts over halfway through for even browning of the bacon.


Bacon Wrapped Chicken Stuffed with Pesto
from Tasteful Cuisine

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 tablespoons pesto
3-4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
12-15 slices of hickory smoked bacon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare chicken by trimming away any excess fat or skin.  Using a chef's knife, slice through the chicken horizontally, but do not cut all the way through. Lay the chicken pieces out and lightly sprinkle with fresh ground pepper. Spread pesto evenly on the inside of each breast. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Fold the chicken back over and wrap evenly with strips of bacon.

2. Set a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet and place chicken on rack. Bake chicken for 20 minutes; flip chicken and bake an additional 10-15 minutes until bacon is nicely browned and chicken registers 165 degrees. Allow chicken to rest for 10 minutes before serving.