Success in crochet and fall color

I gave my friend Mrs. S a pair of wrist warmers for her birthday. She's very happy with them and put them right on.  Mrs. S has perpetually cold hands due to a thyroid issue.

I added some tatted decorations to them, some of Jane's little tatted flowers on a button. They're tatted in Lizbeth 130, size 20. Cute, huh? I'll crochet some more of these.

My pumpkin bread was featured on Wee Folk Art. They made the bread in a lovely pumpkin shaped pan. I'll be making it soon - the bread's a big family favorite. The Stooges beg for it. But I don't have the cool bread pan.

We are full fledged into fall. No hard freeze yet, but the color around is lovely. This is a maple tree near my office.

And a bush in a local neighborhood. Isn't this gorgeous?

And I took this sunset sky shot in the parking lot at work. So pretty.

We're preparing for Thanksgiving and then Christmas. Lots of things to make...

And Vader doesn't care.

Upon request - a fall recipe

Recently, I sent a recipe to Traci of Amazing Mae. She loved it, and asked me to post it. It's an easy recipe for delicious pumpkin bread. (I don't cook things that are hard.  Tatting and parenting are hard enough.)  I wish I remembered where I got the original recipe. I'd link back if I knew.

I usually have some of this sitting out at Thanksgiving for guests to eat while I am finishing cooking the meal. The Stooges beg for this bread.  You need to have a stand mixer and a big bowl to fix this, as it's a large amount. I usually use 3 of those disposable foil loaf pans to bake it. That way I have one loaf to eat, one to share, one to freeze. Mmmm

Pumpkin Spice Bread


Any way you slice it, this pumpkin spice bread won't last long once your kids sample it. That's why this recipe makes two loaves - 3 if you use disposable foil pans

 INGREDIENTS:

2 cups canned pumpkin (I use one 15 oz can)

3 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

3/4 tsp. ground cloves

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, sugar, water, vegetable oil and eggs. Beat until well mixed.

2. Measure the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and ground cloves into separate bowl, then stir until combined (a great job for kids). Slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, beating until smooth.

3. Grease two 9- by 5-inch loaf pans and dust them with flour. Evenly divide the batter between the two pans. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Then remove from pans by inverting them onto a rack and tapping the bottoms. Slice and serve plain, buttered or with cream cheese.

My mouth is watering just thinking about this.  I think I need to go get some pumpkin now.