Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread repost!

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and it's that time of year when I repost my FAVORITE pumpkin bread recipe ever. So, without further ado, here it is from 2014. I made a batch just this last week and I'm making it again this evening. I love sharing this with neighbors and friends, and it has never failed me!

  I'm SO excited it's October! I've got great new projects lined up, the kids are just getting over their first cold of the season (as opposed to starting their first cold of the season) and I LOVE FALL. 

So, here's my go-to "welcome to Fall" recipe, Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread. (Don't ask me about the Maine part. I think I stopped in there when I was young, but I don't really remember it. So, in my mind, Mainers sit around and eat this all day. Lucky ducks.)

 Super bright picture of our garden pumpkins! My husband grew a great batch of calabazas this year. In his mountain town, they're serious about growing enough to last through the cooler months. Great vitamins, easy food source.

 I love these looks. "No, Papa! Es MIA!" (No, Daddy, that one's MINE!) For the record, we had about 50 that looked all the same and the littles were convinced it was their special pumpkin every time we cut into one.

 (LOL. Sad face photobomb.)  Here is how you clean out the raw pumpkin.

 Big pot. (Ha! I see my polka dotted shirt. I love polka dots. They're so playful.)

 Someone just brought me a flower.

 So, boiled for about 30 minutes on high, carefully cut away the pumpkin from the skin. It should be really soft. Pie pumpkins are different that the carving pumpkins. Sweeter, easier to cook. Not as stringy.

 Mr. Ninja takes on the cooked pumpkins. Ten seconds. BAM.

 Mmmmm. The first batch was eaten up right away. Cinnamon, sugar, hot from the pot.
 BUT I wanted to make pumpkin bread, so we repeated steps 1-4... except the eating part. One pumpkin gives about two and a half cups of pumpkin. We usually boil about 3 pumpkins at a time so we have some to eat and some to freeze.

• 2 cups of pumpkin
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 cups white sugar
• 3 1/2 cups
• 2 teaspoons
• 1 1/2 teaspoons
• 1 teaspoon
• 1 teaspoon
• 1/2 teaspoon
• 1/4 teaspoon

So, this is all I have of the process. You'll just have to imagine it. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the eggs, pumpkins, oil, water, and sugar. We also added a cup of walnuts.

Ta-DAH! Of course, this is doubled. Your recipe will either give two small loaves (one to freeze!) or one fat loaf like that above. Now, these are the original, but we also added chocolate chips to a batch. YUM. And then we added a cup of walnuts, a cup of chopped green apples and some golden raisins to another batch and it was like the ultimate Fall bread.
  That's all for now! Have a wonderful weekend!