cozy...

... that's how I'm feeling today. I woke up to the surprising news that snow is expected in the area today (I know, I know, I'm getting a big eye-roll from my mother and most other midwesterners, but it's pretty rare for the bay area) and I'm having my morning coffee, listening to Vivaldi on the radio and trying to keep my toes warm. I'm working on a new collection of prints today, which means I get to stay in my studio and sketch and paint while it rains outside. Sounds like a good day to me!

We were out of cereal this morning, so I decided to use up the leftover pumpkin from Thanksgiving pies by making my mother's fabulous pumpkin bread. It's actually her zucchini bread recipe (which I realized I promised to share in August and never did - oops!), modified for pumpkin, and it's delicious. She makes huge quantities of it every year, along with cranberry-orange bread, and gives it to everyone she can think of. I wish I'd taken a picture of the pumpkins before I baked them, because they were so cute, but that kind of foresight has just been too much for me lately. Here's the recipe:

Emily's Pumpkin Bread

To prepare the pumpkin:
Use a small thumbelina or baking pumpkin, cut into quarters and cleaned of seeds. Turn pumpkin skin-side up in a baking dish. Boil water in a kettle and add about 1/4 inch of water to the bottom of the baking dish. Cook for 2+ hours in a 350º oven, adding water as necessary, until pumpkin is soft and falls away from skin easily. Let cool and scoop out pumpkin. Process in a blender or food processor until smooth. Or you can just use the canned kind.

Ingredients:
3 eggs, well beaten
1 cup oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups pumpkin
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. clove
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix iin the order given. Pour into greased loaf pans and bake 1 hour at 350º Makes 2 loaves.

 

... and breakfast!

While I'm at it (and on the cozy theme), here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving that I meant to upload last week. We had such a nice time, and a delicious feast. We cooked all day, as well as a good deal of prepping the night before, and I was struck by how fulfilling it was to take the time to really focus on preparing the food and making a beautiful meal. One good way to honor and give thanks for the food that we are lucky enough to have access to.