Pumpkin Bread

I know its a wee bit early for autumn baking, but I have been looking for the pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks since mid August. :-) I finally decided to research pumpkin bread recipes, and come up with one with good fall flavor. Here is what I ended up with.



Its more than the flavor... its really what Autumn represents for me. Its a time of introspection. A time to reflect on the seasons prior, and to contemplate winter. To contemplate growth and change. To take things a little more slowly, *coolly* and savour the seasons passing and the seasons to come. Of Life. Of Nature. The colors, the textures and the very air out of doors seem to all encourage this solitude within me. And I suppose I am craving that, as well. I have taken up journaling to the babies on the weekends, and its been the nicest way to connect myself with their milestones and "big events". The nicest way to celebrate what they have been, and the little independent children they are becoming.

I served my slice of pumpkin bread with a light caramel sauce and whipped cream sprinkled with cinnamon. Yum!



Here is the recipe I used (I never use anyone's recipe "as is", I take one and change four of five things and end up with my own):

Lizzie's Pumpkin Bread

* 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
* 3 extra large eggs
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 2/3 cup milk
* 1.5 cups white sugar
* 1.5 cups packed brown sugar
* 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Mix wet ingredients, sift together dry, then combine slowly. Bake in a bundt pan at 350 degrees until a toothpick in the center comes out clean- for me this was 1 hour and ten minutes.

This is heavy on the cinnamon. I may have even used *three* teaspoons of cinnamon. I really like a nice cinnamon flavor, so if you don't, start with one teaspoon in the batter and sample.

I know its not Low Fat. This is my weakness my dear readers. I can not go without a sweet cake in this house. Its my only fault. I can't have caffeine, we aren't drinkers, we aren't smokers. BUT I MUST HAVE CAKE!!! :-)

I hope everyone gets to enjoy some "autumn" in their home soon, too.

My dad and Lucas

***

Isn't this adorable? My dad playing with Lucas in early July.

birthdays

So, its been an entire year since I first "met" Ewan and Rowan. They turned 1 years old this month, and Lucas and Tilly turned 2. I took a couple pictures- the one of Duane and Ewan and Rowan was at their kiddie party. The one of Lucas and Tilly was taken at home before we went to their party. We rented one of those "inflatable play centers" and invited toddler and pre-school friends to share in our day. There were ten children there! We had a strawberry cake with "Winnie The Pooh" decor, and it had buttercream frosting with a piped chocolate buttercream on the edge as I wanted a taste of chocolate! :-)




Ewan and Rowan are walking... barely. They take 3-4 steps, then decide to crawl, stand up, take 3-4 more steps, then decide again that crawling is faster. Ewan is walking more than Rowan- who still feels safer cruising with one hand. I think by the end of the month Ewan will be going all over the place, and by mid-September Rowan will, too. They say a few words, but not predictably. They say "Hi", "Bye, Bye", "Mama" and "Dada". The other day Rowan was saying "Eat". I couldn't decide if he was parroting me or actually asking for a meal. Rowan LOVES mealtimes and takes them very seriously. He curls forward over his food tray and concentrates very hard on what bites he chooses. His favorite is macaroni and cheese. Ewan would prefer to be fed from a jar, but he will eat crackers and some macaroni and cheese... I so want the freedom of finger foods, but we are still primarily feeding from a jar.

Here is Rowan's birthday picture:



Here is Ewan's birthday picture:



Lucas is now talking up a storm. He is very sensitive and asks where I am, or where Dada is, or Tilly, anytime we start out of the room. He is fascinated with airplanes and speaks of them all the time! Matilda talks in full sentences now, but they are baby sentences. For instance, last night when we passed Ewan and Rowans nursery, she said "Little babies go night night with puppies and pacis!". Cute! Her hair is getting so long, too!

This isn't from Lucas and Tilly's party, but it illustrates how much Lucas enjoys parties in general:



Matilda twirling in her new dress from her aunt Pat. I love this picture! Matilda is such a "girlie girl":



We received a ton of packages from my family for the kids birthdays- so many that we have reserved a few (Like the Little People villages) for a rainy day. We have a stack in our closet from my parents, aunt and from my sister that we will let them open over time. The "Little People" villages are so cute! We have a Thanksgiving one and a Christmas one put back, too. I ordered those from the Fisher Price website.

I am going through books like crazy. I haven't watched television in about a... year! Ha, ha. At the end of the evening once everyone is down for the night, I just want quiet. So, I have been reading "cozy mysteries". The one I am working on now is by Susan Witting Albert and features the sleuth of... Beatrix Potter! Assisted by her animal friends, too. This is the first of her books I have read, and the first in the Beatrix Potter series. I am also enjoying Maggie Sefton's knitting mysteries, and Emily Brightwell's "Mrs. Jeffries" mysteries about a Victorian housekeeper who helps her Scotland Yard Inspector employer solve murders. These are such a lovely light escape for me at the end of the day... reading about Victorian England, or a homecraft I would enjoy learning set in the midwest, etc. Its so peaceful! Reading definitely keeps me feeling as if I am still active, even if its only my imagination.

I had a terrible computer crash and its taken me a few weeks to get back into the swing of posting. Also, I posted a few months back about how I needed to find a way to deal with friends and family who insist on telling me negative and hurtful things? I finally took care of that after hearing a particularly hurtful piece of information from the primary person who was relaying that stuff. It had the effect I was worried and previously journaled about. The weekly calls about ugly information have stopped and I feel ten times better. I hate that I may have lost that friendship, but if it was rooted in gossip, it wasn't a healthy friendship for either of us. Having removed myself from that situation... I am sleeping better, I am happier, and I feel like I lost ten pounds- all of which were anger, frustration, and bitterness. I do not know if any of you are struggling with this sort of problem, but I recommend telling the person that you don't want to participate as a listener or share negative gossip any longer.