I know this sounds nuts, but I am a huge fan of rainy days!
I love the sound of the rain on the roof, the warm glow of lights on inside (especially in the kitchen), the cozy feeling of being indoors and warm while it's chilly and wet outside, and the homey smells of something comforting and delicious cooking.
Today, we're just hanging around, doing not much of anything. My daughter's at the kitchen table making window art. I'll get the menus ready for the next two weeks so I can get the grocery shopping done tomorrow, do a few loads of laundry, and put some meatballs into the crockpot to simmer for hours until they're soft and fabulous. Then, it's probably time to pet the cats and watch a Charlie Chan movie. Later, I think I'll bake another loaf of Pumpkin Bread.
Here's a great Pumpkin Bread recipe that I found once in the Sunday newspaper's USA Weekend flyer. It comes out moist and perfect EVERY time (why we have to cook the pumpkin, I don't know, but I do it anyway since the bread is the best ever):
1/2 15 oz. can pumpkin (1 C minus 2 T / you can also substitute mashed bananas or apple butter, which I haven't tried yet)
1/2 tsp each of cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves
3/4 C water
1 3/4 C dark brown sugar
1/2 C vegetable oil
2 large eggs, beaten
1 3/4 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350. Grease metal loaf pan. Heat pumpkin and spices in small saucepan over medium heat until steamy. Stirring continuously, cook until pumpkin is stiff and starts to stick to the pan (about 3 minutes). Transfer to medium bowl and whisk in water, sugar, oil, and eggs. In another bowl, combine dry ingredients and fold into pumpkin mixture. Bake about 70 minutes. Remove from pan after about 15 minutes. Cool, cut and devour.
.
I love the sound of the rain on the roof, the warm glow of lights on inside (especially in the kitchen), the cozy feeling of being indoors and warm while it's chilly and wet outside, and the homey smells of something comforting and delicious cooking.
Today, we're just hanging around, doing not much of anything. My daughter's at the kitchen table making window art. I'll get the menus ready for the next two weeks so I can get the grocery shopping done tomorrow, do a few loads of laundry, and put some meatballs into the crockpot to simmer for hours until they're soft and fabulous. Then, it's probably time to pet the cats and watch a Charlie Chan movie. Later, I think I'll bake another loaf of Pumpkin Bread.
Here's a great Pumpkin Bread recipe that I found once in the Sunday newspaper's USA Weekend flyer. It comes out moist and perfect EVERY time (why we have to cook the pumpkin, I don't know, but I do it anyway since the bread is the best ever):
1/2 15 oz. can pumpkin (1 C minus 2 T / you can also substitute mashed bananas or apple butter, which I haven't tried yet)
1/2 tsp each of cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves
3/4 C water
1 3/4 C dark brown sugar
1/2 C vegetable oil
2 large eggs, beaten
1 3/4 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350. Grease metal loaf pan. Heat pumpkin and spices in small saucepan over medium heat until steamy. Stirring continuously, cook until pumpkin is stiff and starts to stick to the pan (about 3 minutes). Transfer to medium bowl and whisk in water, sugar, oil, and eggs. In another bowl, combine dry ingredients and fold into pumpkin mixture. Bake about 70 minutes. Remove from pan after about 15 minutes. Cool, cut and devour.
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