Yeasted is the Best Way

Now that I am home safe and sound upon the conclusion of my (final!?) fall semester, I finally have a moment to post some of the yummy foods I made throughout the semester but didn't have time to blog. This will be the first of many "catch up" posts I have to share with you all, so buckle up and get excited!

This bread is a traditional yeast bread, complete with the double proof and kneading, and I love breads like this. You mix it up, do a bit of kneading, place it in a big bowl and let it raise for an hour (and in my case, work on some homework while finishing my laundry - queen on multitasking right here.) Come back, roll it into the loaf pan, loosely cover again and walk away one more time, then throw in the oven and fifty minutes later, you have wonderful soul-warming yeast bread!

So what is so special about this one? It doesn't use the traditional warm milk or olive oil liquid addition, this recipe uses pureed pumpkin and the traditional pumpkin pie spices to give this bread the great traditional fall and winter warmth you come to expect from pumpkin bread, but with a much lighter texture than a quick bread due to the yeast. 

I used this thinly sliced bread for a twist on turkey and cranberry sandwiches, toasted with split pea soup and spinach salads, and smeared with peanut butter and drizzled with honey for breakfast. I was immensely sad when I toasted off the last slice for dessert one evening (smeared with Nutella of course!)

With a little smear of cream cheese and some homemade cranberry chutney and you will think you died and gone to heaven.

Pumpkin is my Favorite Pie

'Tis the season for pumpkin pie friends! And since pumpkin pie is by far my FAVORITE kind of pie, I decided to start the pie eating season a little earlier than normal this year. Who said I had to wait until Thanksgiving Day breakfast to eat pumpkin pie? (And yes, I do eat pumpkin pie for breakfast on Thanksgiving Day every year. It is totally a balanced meal if you put milk in your morning coffee.)

Here I have served it with a vanilla spiced cream, as I was lacking whipping cream to making my own whipped topping for the top. Just as delicious, and it made me start thinking about experimenting with a bourbon spiced pumpkin pie garnished with chocolate dipped apricots, or orange scented pumpkin pie topped with a vanilla amaretto whipped cream. Oh the variations are endless, now all I need is someone to eat all of these experiments!