Pumpkin Loaf

Do you love to go to Buffalo?  For shopping, for wings, for time with your Girls in “The Chamber Of Truth”???  I do.  For all of these things, but also because of Bob.  Bob Evans.  Do you know Bob?    Bob Evans is the name of a US chain of breakfast restaurants.  I looooove Bob.  One year my Hubby & I went to Buffalo for Black Friday.  YIKES!!!  That was madness people.  I was glad that there was a Bob Evans on hand to get me some breakfast though.    And that day, I tasted for the first time, pumpkin loaf.  Oh. My. God.  It was sooo good…  I came home and sought out a recipe that would compare, and after some trial and error, found this one.

I posted this recipe on my facebook page a little while ago.  The last time I made it though, I tweaked it.  Those changes are posted here.

Ingredients

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 cups canned pure pumpkin – NOT pumpkin pie filling
4 eggs
1 cup olive oil
2/3 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the first eight ingredients.
2. Add pumpkin, eggs, oil, water and vanilla; mix well.
3. Pour into three greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

loaves freeze well, so make a batch and freeze the extras!

Squash & Carrot Soup

When I was on maternity leave with my second child, Sam, I did the best thing any woman on mat leave can do: I joined MumNet.  In this group, I have met and made friends with, some amazing women.  One of the nice parts of the 2008 – 2009 session was that a smaller group of us broke off into our own little Monday lunch group.  We alternated between calling ourselves “The Mumday Group” (a play on our Monday meetings) and “The View from the Nipple”.  It was awesome.  It took away the lonliness, and restored my sanity when they could all say, “Yep, experienced that yesterday too!”

Anyway.  We alternated homes for our weekly get-together, and that meant that we each had a turn to cook.  So many wonderful things to eat!  One of my favourite discoveries was this soup, that Lisa made.  I hope you and yours enjoy it too!

Ingredients

1/4 c unsalted butter
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic
1 butternut squash, peeled & cut into chunks
2 large carrots, peeled & cut into chunks
4-6 cups soup stock (I used vegetarian vegetable stock in a tetra pak, the whole thing)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk

Method

1. Melt butter over medium heat in a large pot
2. Add onions and sautee until translucent. Add garlic, stir and continue to cook for another minute or two.
3. Add the squash & carrot pieces, tossing to coat in the onion, garlic & butter. Continue to cook for a minute or so.
4. Pour enough stock to cover the vegetable pieces into the pot, and allow to simmer until the squash & carrot chunks are cooked through, about 20 minutes.
5. Using a hand blender, puree the contents of the pot. If you do not have a hand blender, get one! They are fabulous. In the meantime though, a regular blender or a food processor would work too.
6. Once everything is pureed, you will be able to determine whether or not more stock is needed. You want the soup to be thick, but still a soup like consistency. Add additional stock a little bit at a time and stir until desired consistency is reached.
7. Mix the milk and sour cream together until well combined.  Add to the soup and stir until blended. Allow to cook for a few more minutes and serve.

*if the soup tastes a little flat to you, add some salt.

YUM! I hate squash of all kinds, but find butternut is delicious in a soup. The carrots in this recipe sweeten it up a bit, and lend some depth to the colour.  The best part?  The flavours and the texture also made this a great baby food!