Pumpkin Spice Bread with Brown Butter Glaze Sometimes a can is all you have

Ive noticed an alarming trend in my grocery shopping:  I avoid going to the grocery store if I have to take anyone from my family there..

I do not enjoy group outings to the grocery store.  I do not like taking Husband with me (as hell buy something I dont approve of) and I do not enjoy very much, three chattering, active, no-longer-sit-in-the-cart-and-look-cute children, who ask and explore and get excited over things that I cannot imagine.

"Mom, did you know that Jello comes in this bright green color?  How do they do that?"

"Mom, can I buy this [points to most sugary cereal with 27 different artificial colors listed] and eat it for all three meals today?

"Mom, lets walk down this [chips] aisle.  I wanna see all the stuff here.  It looks really yummy here."

"Mom, lemonade comes in a BOTTLE.  Like already made!  How do they do that?"

"Mom, look at these applesauces.  It has only apples listed in the ingredients.  Can we get it?"

"Mom, we need more snacks.  There is nothing I like to eat at home.  THIS SNACK is allergy safe!!"

"Mom.  They have FROZEN pizza.  Now you dont have to make it homemade.  Lets get one."

The mass of craziness, questions, activity, and general flurry of three kids running circles around me generally means that I will avoid going to the grocery store by all means, especially when the kids are on break, and right now, my kids are on break.  They are on a three-week fall break, and I made the mistake taking them to the store once, and I subsequently vowed to myself that wed have to be starving in order for me to go again.

Therefore I began rummaging through the pantry to find new things to cook without going anywhere to get ingredients, and I discovered 6 CANS of pumpkin.  Although the weather was hot, suddenly I felt fall.  I wanted to make something warmly spiced, rich, and typically autumn.  I toyed around with all six cans of pumpkin, making various permutations of this spiced bread, until I came upon the recipe that truly satisfied me.  One major requirement was that I had to USE UP a can of pumpkin instead of having one of those "I have 1/4 cup of pumpkin left that I dont know what to do with" situations.  The other major requirement was that I wasnt going to go to the supermarket to get any missing spices or ingredients.  The result was this super delicious bread that everyone who has tasted has been going nuts over.

(In a funny side story, I knew I wanted cinnamon, but could only find cinnamon sticks. In order to avoid the store, I cleaned out my coffee grinder and ground my own cinnamon, sifted it to make sure it was fine, and drank cinnamon perfumed coffee for a few days, only to find my ground cinnamon 3 batches of pumpkin bread later.)

Lucky for you, this recipe makes TWO loaves - one to give away, and one to keep. Or, if youre selfish, one to freeze and one to keep.  Or, if you have a ravenous family who needs to keep busy eating pumpkin bread, one to eat and another to eat.  The icing is optional - and as my #2 likes to say, "When it has icing, its dessert.  When it doesnt have icing, its breakfast."

Pumpkin Spice Bread with Brown Butter Glaze
Makes 2 loaves

Bread Ingredients
2 ?  cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 16-ounce can solid pack pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½  teaspoon baking powder
½  teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½  teaspoon ground cloves
½  teaspoon ground nutmeg

Glaze Ingredients
1 stick (8 tablespoons butter)
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 5 tablespoons whole milk (will vary based on desired consistency)

Bread Method
Preheat oven to 350.  Grease two 9X5X3 loaf pans (or a slightly smaller one, but just know it’ll take longer to bake, the deeper the pan).  Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, eggs, and pumpkin.  Set aside.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

Gently add flour to pumpkin-egg mixture.  Mix slowly and gently, incorporating gently, being careful not to overbeat.  Once mixture is well incorporated, divide evenly between two loaf pans.

Bake for 65 to 75 minutes.  Bake until tester in the center of loaf comes out clean.  Allow breads to cool for 10 minutes, and then turn out onto racks to cool completely.

Glaze Method
In a heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat, until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes.  Carefully pour melted butter into a bowl, leaving excess sediment behind.

Add confectioners sugar, vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons milk and whisk together until uniform and smooth.  If glaze is still too thick, add more milk and whisk again, until desired consistency.  A runny glaze is easier to smooth everywhere but doesn’t set up as easily as a slightly stiffer glaze.  Choose accordingly.

Use glaze immediately.  Pour over bread and allow to set, about 30 minutes.

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I can stay at home for this.  

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Fresh Tomato Sauce Pizza Bread Back to the grind

Its funny.  I always catch myself wishing for the next moment instead of enjoying the moment where I am.  Its a bad habit I have, always planning, thinking about my next move, and anticipating what needs to happen next.  During the three weeks that Daughters were off, I spent a LOT of time wondering how soon school would start again.  There was a LOT of fighting (between the girls and then with me) and a lot of time management struggles I had, trying to get things done in my normal efficient manner, but having to face the fact that there were two additional people to deal with.

Every morning started out pretty similarly with my barking orders about chores, about piano practice, about extra math.  Invariably mid morning, Daughter #2 would begin whining about how we never ever ever have pizza EVER.  I do have to agree that we dont often have pizza because Sons allergies make eating it hard.    Daughter #2 even went as far as to ask if we could have it while Son was at school since he wouldnt see them eating.

As Ive been in "eat everything we have at home" mode, Ive been making some crazy things.  At the moment of Daughter #2s timely whine for pizza, I did a quick assessment of my kitchen.  I had about 2 cups of slightly shriveled cherry tomatoes, a tiny bit of fresh basil, two stale pieces of toast (leftover from breakfast) and some mozzarella cheese in the fridge.  It seemed like I might be able to throw something together so I gave it a whirl.  I cooked up the tomatoes with olive oil and garlic, salt and pepper, and make a quick pizza sauce, tossed it on top of the stale bread topped it with cheese and finished it in the toaster oven.

Youd have thought I was some famous pizza maker from some famous Italian town the way Daughters gobbled down the pizza.  And I was very pleased to use up cheese, slightly wrinkly tomatoes, and the stale toast.  Since I was worried that the popularity of this dish was kind of a fluke, I did go ahead and make it again, this time with fresher, more "presentable" ingredients.  The end result was again super delicious and super worth it.

But as soon as I discovered this fantastic, easy to make at home treat, Daughters have returned to school and suddenly its packing lunches for them every morning that consumes my mind.  If only I had enjoyed how wonderful it was cooking for them at home (albeit with the incessant fighting) before I sent them back to school.

At least I discovered a great use for cherry tomatoes.

Fresh Tomato Sauce Pizza Bread
Makes 6 to 8 pizza breads

Ingredients
2 cups cherry tomatoes, washed and picked over (Don’t let the shriveled ones scare you - use them too)
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
8 leaves fresh basil, chiffonade
salt and pepper to taste

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese OR fresh mozzarella, sliced
Bread, sliced according to desired thickness (I’ve used torta rolls, english muffins, french bread, white bread - it all works)
Prosciutto if desired

Method
In a small saucepan, add cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.  Place saucepan over medium heat and cover, allowing steam to help soften and cook tomatoes. Cook for about 12 minutes and then open lid.  Tomatoes should be watery and soft.  Continue to cook with lid off to help evaporate some of the water and slightly thicken the sauce.  Remove from heat.  Toss in fresh basil and set aside.

Toast bread in toaster oven (if it is fresh - if it is stale, no need).  Remove from oven.  Spread a nice layer of tomato sauce, chunks and all, on top.  Sprinkle cheese and any other desired toppings.

Return bread to toaster oven (or regular oven preheated to 400) and toast/bake, until cheese is melty and the desired color.

Enjoy!!

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Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread The things I wished I said

For JH and RL, and all those who miss them too.

The start of 2015 was a bit rough as I lost two lovely ladies in my life.  After a battle with cancer, Son and Daughters beloved preschool teacher JH passed away.  I wept so much at her passing, because she loved and doted on both my kids and me so much.  In one of our sporadic email exchanges back and forth, she said that she had pulled out the good china, was using new sheets, and was enjoying the time she had left with her beloved family.  Her last days on earth were about enjoying them to the fullest and to live without any regrets.  But her passing was like a candle being blown out; the room suddenly went dark for me. I found myself really missing her and wishing that I told her more often how much she meant to my family and me.  Although she left without any regrets, I found that I had more than a handful.

And then more recently, a fellow mom and lovely human being RL, collapsed while at choir practice with her two children, from a cerebral aneurysm.  It was sudden, unexpected, and so quick that most of us were left shell-shocked and astounded that someone could be here on earth one moment and gone the next. Life shifted in a split second for RL - there and then no longer. I didnt get to say all the prayers I wanted for her; I missed out on asking her for the zucchini bread recipe, and I didnt schedule that extra playdate that we wanted to have for our kids.  The time to do so was already gone.

I mourned very deeply the loss of these two tremendously amazing women. I also found myself upset that I didnt say and do all the things that I had planned to, because they had simply run out of time. And I find myself with the realization that when death occurs, those who are left behind can often spend more time thinking of their regrets and the "didnt dos" and not so much of all the things that they had already done.  Thats where I am. I want to do more but my opportunity is already done.  Im reminded over and over that I shouldnt wait until tomorrow to say what I want to say or do what I want to do.

I honor their memory and our relationships with this post.  Teacher J was a phenomenal gardener and one who enjoyed the growing of plants, and RL was always planting zucchini in the summer that overflowed and produced way more than she could eat.  Both would have loved this zucchini bread: Teacher J, if I had made it for her, and RL because she made something similar.  I miss you both ladies, and have been thinking of you often while baking and trying to prefect this.

If youve never made zucchini bread, for the record, it doesnt taste like zucchini. This is really much closer to a dessert than a vegetable dish.  I like to call it, "Eat your veggies in your dessert."  The zucchini adds tremendous moisture and richness to this bread and even though you can see the flecks of zucchini, it doesnt add to the flavor.  This bread is not overly sweet, but has a rich and deep chocolate flavor that just cant be beat. As you make it, think of the things you want most to say to those around you, and dont hesitate to express your love.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients
1½  cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 tablespoon  vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3  cup baking cocoa (I love Guittard, but if you can’t find it, just use what you have on hand)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½  teaspoon baking soda
4 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method
Preheat oven to 350.  Grease two 8X4 loaf pans with cooking spray or butter.

In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and baking soda; gradually stir into sugar/oil mixture until blended. The mixture will be stiff.  Stir in zucchini. Carefully fold in chocolate chips. Transfer prepared loaf pans.

Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely

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J and R - more than words can say, I miss you.

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