My Pumpkin Addiction

I love Pumpkins. I love to see them lining Autumn-time doorsteps, and I love to eat them; preferably in the form of baked goods. (Pumpkin ice-cream does nothing for me.) It is that time of year when I start to crave pumpkin, and my desire to bake also escalates to an unhealthy level. There is just something about the coolness of the air, and the change of the seasons, that brings out this deeply embedded urge to sprinkle my home with the smell of pumpkin spice. 

It has begun. There is no turning back now. 

Yesterday, I had Sammi bake her first loaves of pumpkin bread. And not just pumpkin bread... it was pumpkin zucchini bread. So it was doubly delicious! I randomly googled a recipe, and found one that looked good. It was more than good, it was fantastic. You can find the recipe: HERE. 

Sammi did a wonderful job baking. She is really good at following the directions, which is more than I can say. If I want a recipe followed exactly, I have Sammi make it. (Sometimes I try to be "creative" when baking, for better, or worse.) But there are directions for a reason, and if you want it to look like the display picture, then following the recipe to exactness is the best bet. 

Like I was saying, pumpkin products are a great weakness for me. It is mostly the breads, cookies, muffins, and that sort of thing. I also love to have my home smelling like pumpkin spice, and I can be found in the store sniffing out the best candles of the season. 

I also absolutely love straight-up pumpkins. I think they are adorable, and I get all sorts of giddy when I see them out on porches, and in large boxes at the store. I don't know what it is, they just make me happy. Yes, pumpkins make me happy. It is the simple things in life, right? 

Seriously, if you want to make some super-moist delicious bread, this recipe receives 5 gold stars from me. 

Pumpkin has been "Temporarily out of stock" at the local Fred Meyers for weeks. I had to venture out to Albertsons to find it. I was glad they had it! I was starting to worry that there might be a pumpkin shortage, or something. Now that would be tragic. 

I have some lovely friends who share their garden's bounty with me. I have been the grateful recipient of some splendid zucchinis. They are also fantastic for baking bread. Zucchini bread is another favorite around here. I love to just bake plain zucchini with spices too. (A much healthier option than the bread, for sure.)

Speaking of healthy... here is a large can full of sugar. I ran out of sugar in the baking process, then I remembered we had cans of food storage. Our food storage supply has saved me a few times when I run out of things.

 Grating the zucchini is not my favorite thing, but it was fun to watch Sammi do it. :)

It is so fun to bake with the kiddos. 

 It smelled so good.

So, I was not fast enough with the camera to get a picture of the whole loaf. Once we pulled it out, and drizzled Nutella on it (oh, yeah!), it was attacked.

 I think this might have been the best Pumpkin Zucchini bread I have ever had.

There was still some pumpkin puree left, and I didn't want it to go to waste...

I made pumpkin cookies today.

(I told you it was an addiction.) 

Hey now, how else am I going to maintain my girlish figure? ;)