Pumpkin Bread

I think I must have been a pumpkin farmer in my former life. 

Every year around this time I just get so darned excited to see them.  I love the shape, textures and all the different colors they dress themselves in.  Just going to the farmer’s market right now sends a shiver down my spine, a tingle of a rekindled love that is pure and innocent.  Ahh, the pumpkin…and in particular the grey-green varieties.  

When I’m buying them at the market I’m inevitably asked the question by a passer-by, “how do you cook with them”, or “what do those taste like”?  I coyly smile and say in an animated way (but with a straight face) “Oh, I only use them to decorate with”.   This response usually warrants a nod of amusement…possibly because they too would never consider eating them, or because my delivery is so full of my passion for fall decorating.  Either way I am rewarded with several prized pumpkin possessions, which will stay with me through Thanksgiving.

Their appearance also marks the exciting start of the yearly pumpkin/squash baking festivities.  The smell of ginger, nutmeg and cloves hold a promise of better days to come…of holidays that are soon on the way and all the eating and gathering that go along with them.  As I peeked outside today it was truly a gloomy sight, nothing but rain and grey as far as the eye could see.  I figured there’s nothing like a pumpkin quick bread to blast away the blues of a dreary day.

 I stepped onto the sidewalk and went about my merry way to the grocery store to pick up the essential ingredient I was missing, the ever-faithful canned pumpkin.  I don’t use a lot of canned items, but this is one I will not bash nor cry out about the necessity of cooking down your own pumpkin.  Would this be a great thing to do?  Of course.  Am I going to take that kind of time today?  No way.  A lot of times I’m even too lazy to roast the seeds of the pumpkin I’m carving, so you can imagine I would have to be in a pretty rare frame of mind to cook the whole thing. 

As I was walking back from the store a most amazing thing happened.  The gloom and doom sky had opened up in the west and an incredible post storm sunset was revealed.  The sky was lit up, and in particular one of our neighbor’s trees.  The light was striking so pointedly that the tree looked like it was on fire, and paired with the smoky aroma of burning logs from neighborhood chimneys it became a beautiful surreal moment.  As the last of the suns rays faded I went in to bake my bread.

I really do love quick breads.  As the name implies they are super fast, and this one in particular took me about 20 minutes to prepare and 45 minutes to bake.  http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/ginger-pumpkin-bread  This bread smells strongly of ginger and pumpkin, but isn’t overwhelming.   Much like me after I bake, spicy-ness and warmth flood the house in a comforting manner.  It’s just who I am.