Pumpkin Bread and Preparing for the Holidays

Like it or not, the holidays are just around the corner. No joke. My asparagus fern is already getting into the holiday spirit.

And before long you'll be contemplating teacher gifts, a little something for coworkers or maybe you just want to let someone know how much you appreciate them. Those types of gifts don't have to cost a lot to be special. Especially when they're made with love.

I've been making this pumpkin bread since my kids were little. It's a perfect Thanksgiving or Christmas gift for anyone you appreciate. The best part is that you don't have to try to cram baking it into your busy holiday schedule. Instead, you can make it now. Matter of fact, it will be better if you make it now, because it's always better after it's been frozen.

This makes a very large batch, one that typically yields me 17-18 small loaves, but you can cut the recipe in half should you so desire. Of course, you can also make larger loaves. 

So here we go. You're gonna need A REALLY BIG BOWL. I have a commercial size one I use almost exclusively for this recipe. You can mix by hand or use an electric mixer. I usually start off using an electric hand mixer, then switch to a large spoon or spatula when I start adding the flour.

Here's what you'll need:

• 2 1/4 cups (that's 4 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon molasses
• 6 cups sugar
• 12 eggs 
• 2 cups orange juice 
• 6 cups pumpkin puree (2 - 29 oz. cans)
• 10 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground cloves
• 3  cups raisins (regular or golden)

Cream butter, molasses, and sugar until light and fluffy. 

Beat in eggs, one at a time until well blended.

Add orange juice and pumpkin and mix well.

Whisk dry ingredients together into a large bowl and add to pumpkin mixture a little at a time, stirring well to thoroughly combine all elements. (I use my mixer as long as I can, but switch to a spoon as it thickens and, frankly, is too deep for the mixer to properly blend)

Now stir in your raisins.

Spoon into greased loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour for large pans, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. For the smaller pans, check them after 35-40 minutes.

Cool in pans for 10 minutes.

Then turn out onto racks to cool. 

Once the loaves have cooled, I wrap them in plastic wrap, then foil and store them in the freezer. They keep for months. Then, when it's time for gift giving, simply place the unwrapped bread (sometimes I leave the clear plastic wrap on) into a cellophane bag and tie with some burlap or a pretty ribbon.

Now who wouldn't want to receive this? (barring any food allergies, of course)

You can see the bits of golden raisins I used in this batch. Coupled with the cinnamon and cloves, this bread is a feast for the taste buds. And a tasty treat friends and family look forward to every year.

So, I have to ask, have you started your holiday shopping yet? I prefer to start early so I can space things out, but there are those who like to wait until the week before Christmas and others who will take a single day and knock everything out at once. Which category do you fall into? And do you give any gifts from your kitchen?

Three time Carol Award finalist Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she's not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more a mindyobenhaus.com.

Let the Holiday Baking Begin with Pumpkin Bread

Mindy here, fresh off of this year's first holiday baking weekend. For me, baking a big batch of pumpkin bread signals the start of the holiday season. It's a tradition I started when my kids were little. I'd bake up all these small loaves of pumpkin bread early in November, freeze them (because not only do they freeze well, they're even better after freezing), then package them in cellophane bags tied with a pretty bow for all the kids to give to their teachers for Thanksgiving.

Well, my kids are adults now, but I still make that same batch of pumpkin bread every year. And while most of the loaves go to them and their families, I still hold onto a few for gift giving during the holiday season.

Here's what you'll need for this delectable treat:

• 2 1/4 cups (that's 4 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter 
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon molasses
• 6 cups sugar
• 12 eggs 
• 2 cups orange juice
• 6 cups (2 - 29 oz cans) pumpkin puree 
• 10 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground cloves
• 3  cups raisins, regular or golden

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease inside of loaf pans with butter and set aside.

As I mentioned earlier, I make lots of small loaves, but you can use regular size loaf pans, if you prefer.

In a VERY large bowl (mine is 13 quarts) cream butter, molasses, and sugar with hand-held electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Mindy tip: Molasses has the consistency of tar, so spray your measuring cup/spoon with some cooking spray before measuring the molasses. Just a little bit means all of the molasses releases into the bowl and I'm not scraping out what refuses to let go of the utensil.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, until completely mixed and light colored.

Add orange juice and pumpkin and mix well.

 

Place dry ingredients into large mixing bowl.

Mix to combine with wire whisk.

This is akin to old fashioned sifting, but much easier. It also disperses the spices, because nobody wants to bite into a clump of cloves.

Now's when you're forced to ditch the electric mixer and switch to a sturdy wooden/metal/plastic spoon.

Stir dry ingredients, two cups at a time, into pumpkin mixture, mixing until everything is combined. 

Stir in your raisins.

Spoon batter into greased loaf pans and bake for 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Since I use the smaller pans, they only bake for about 35-45 minutes.

Everything was going smoothly up until this point. Then, about 20 minutes into the baking, I smelled something burning. When I checked the oven, I discovered that one of the pans had tipped onto its side and the batter had spilled onto the bottom of the oven. I turned off the oven, wiped off the side of the wayward pan (there was still batter in it) and set it back in upright, and proceeded to scrap out the batter from the bottom with a long spatula. That's when I heard the gunshot.

Did I mention that Saturday was the first day of deer season?

Yep, one of the boys got a deer on the other side of the pasture. Next thing you know, I'm getting a phone call to come out there with my big camera (that's as opposed to my phone). So, I finished cleaning out the oven, closed it up, turned it back on and, with 15 minutes to left on the timer, I hurried out there, snapped a couple of pics and got back just before the timer went off.

I removed the pans from the oven and placed on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes. Then I removed the bread from the pans and allowed to cool completely. Unfortunately, with so much going on, I forgot to take a picture of the finished pumpkin bread, so I'll have to share this old one from years ago.

Once the bread is cooled, wrap in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil before freezing.

Not only are these great gifts for teachers, neighbors or friends, they're great to have on hand for hostess gifts or anytime you need something impromptu. Simply pull a loaf from the freezer, remove the foil, place plastic wrapped loaf in a cellophane bag and tie with a pretty ribbon. Instant gift for any occasion.

Now it's your turn. What is the first thing you usually make to kick off your holiday baking? If you're not a baker, what favorite holiday treat kicks off the season for you? 

Three-time Carol Award finalist, Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com 

Christmas Foodie Gifts for the Food Challenged

Before I had my own food allergy issues and other diet related concerns,  I didn't think about food gifts beyond sending Southern Season baskets to my friends and family, especially those who moved up north and couldn't find the great regional specialities the South has to offer.

Most folks have to order online but I am close enough to make a road trip to Chapel Hill, NC and walk around in awe of this store that has everything for the gourmet, the chef, the child in everyone. Their selection is so large and diverse that I've been able to find things there I can't find anywhere else. Walking through the aisles gives me cooking inspiration and options for getting out of the GF and corn-free rut.

Southern Season is also the perfect inspiration for coming up with gifts for those who love food but sometimes food doesn't love them back.

Here's a sample in the aisles of this huge store:

Hard to find gluten-free snacks like Brussels sprout bites!

Every kind of hot sauce, barbecue sauce and any other sauce known and unknown to man!

Everything from gorgeous Christmas dishes to...

Yep, duck fat caramels!

We all don't have a Southern Season near by to help us shop for foodie gifts for the food challenged. But never fear, there are plenty of options thanks to on-line shopping, expanding speciality aisles at local grocery stores, and general awareness about food allergies and health issues.

Here are my tips for gift shopping for food challenged foodies:

Give food related gifts that have meaning.  ManO knew my favorite eggnog glass was fading away to nothing but glass so he searched online for the decades old Dairy Queen give away. Jackpot. My kids found NC State Howling Moo eggnog for me, only to discover it had corn syrup after they gave it to me.   They went on campus during finals, with all that traffic, to seek it out and were so excited, they didn't check  the ingredients. No worries, I can make do with organic cane sweetened nog. But I was really touched they went to all the effort. Such a great family!      

The original Dairy Queen glass is on the left!

Give kitchen gifts that make cooking fun again.   It can be stressful to have to relearn recipes or make sure a meal is "clean." My daughter gave me a cutting board that I could use for my blog. It made me laugh. What a daughter! Colorful mixing cups, an apron, sharp knives....the list is endless.

I had a dachshund growing up. Now I have a wooden one.

 
Give blank cook books: As much as I love allrecipes.com and the Food Network, if I adapt a recipe and don't write it down, it'll disappear. So I bought a lovely recipe book filled with blank pages. It has become my go-to holiday cookbook because my favorite new recipes are in one spot.

Give ingredients:  Let's face it. Living with allergies or food issues is not cheap. Most folks with food allergies often just do without rather than spend the money.  A bag of GF baking mix, spices that turn ground pork into pure breakfast sausage, organic ingredients for soup, all put in a gift box with a recipe or two make a thoughtful gift.    

 So, do you have a favorite foodie store you like to visit in person or on-line? Have you received a food related gift you loved and what made it great?  Have you given a food related gift that was a hit?