Pumpkin Swirl Bread

I was looking for recipes yesterday instead of working on my Christmas Cards. Bored. I found several recipes for better dinners. Wow, I have been making the same crap (food) over and over. I had a last ditch for Fall for some orders for Thanksgiving. Then pumpkin is gone and bring on Christmas.

I forgot how beautiful and delicious this bread is and I do not like pumpkin. I am sending to my Florida sister. I miss her and she is very busy these days. Sending love from home. Not a mediocre, this is a show piece. I used my large loaf pan, and it was full. You could possibly make two small pans (8x4) and not fill all the way and still have something to give.

Pumpkin Swirl Bread
adapted from Blogs.babble.com
Ingredients

5 tablespoons softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 15 oz can of pumpkin
1/4 cup of milk
2 3/4 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice
8 oz of cream cheese
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar

Topping- 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. MIXED (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray with baking spray or butter 1 large 9 x 5 loaf pan. Set aside

In a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, beat together butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar until fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time, add in pumpkin and milk and mix. Add dry ingredients at once and mix through.

In a second mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, egg and 1/3 cup of sugar. Set aside.

In your large loaf pan, Pour in a thin layer of the pumpkin batter into the bottom of the pan. Spoon half of the cream cheese filling over the pumpkin. Spoon almost all the the pumpkin batter of the cream cheese filling. Spoon the rest of the cream cheese over the pumpkin. Cover with the remaining pumpkin batter and ever so slightly swirl the top only. DO not dive into the batter. Sprinkle with the Cinnamon-Sugar topping.
Bake for 60-70 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool for at least a 1/2 hour. Invert and place on plate.

Just some basic ingredients

Ugly good kind of batter

That is one large loaf of Pumpkin Bread

LOOK at all of that moistness.  Yummy delicious

ALSO -- my Christmas cards are getting SO close to being done..

Sour Cream Raisin Pie

As all the leftovers are finally gone and the last morsel of pie is GONE, I sat back to think about Thanksgiving this year. My Mother had caught a cold, and we postponed are celebration to Friday. It turned out great. My Husband and I were able to do something we have never done before on Thanksgiving day, we went for a motorcycle ride. It was 60 degrees out and some sun.

Sporting some pretty motorcycle hair........

On Friday, the weather had changed and reality was back. We were able to all be at my Mom's house. She was feeling much better. No one had anywhere they needed to go that day, so we enjoyed the afternoon together. My Mom made the Turkey, stuffing and both potatoes. My sisters and I made all the sides and desserts. It was delicious feast and the placemats looked great.

One of our Thanksgiving traditions is Sour Cream Raisin Pie. In our family, a Thanksgiving without Raisin Pie would make the holiday incomplete. Most people probably have never had Raisin Pie and they are missing out. If you love Raisins, you would love Raisin Pie.

The Raisin Pie recipe comes out of the Hope Reformed Church cookbook. 100 year edition. I have had this cookbook since 1992.  Hope Reformed Church is in George, Iowa. Both of my Gandparents are buried in the cemetary next to the church. George Iowa is a blip on the map and a long ways from home.

Raisin Pie is a quick recipe. (have we heard this before) It makes an eight inch pie. It is not a huge pie so it is perfect for that once a year indulgence. This pie SHOULD have meringue. It would look finished, but I have not mastered meringue yet. Mine is always flat and lackluster. The recipe calls for three egg whites whipped up and gently placed on the pie and put under the broiler for a minute until lightly brown. Watch closely.

Sour Cream Raisin Pie
adapted from 2 recipes in the Hope Reformed Church Cookbook

Ingredients

1 baked pie crust
2 cups raisins
1 1/2 cups of warm water
1 cup of granulated sugar
3 eggs beaten
3/4 cup of milk
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup of sour cream or plain yogurt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch of nutmeg

Directions

Bake pie crust to directions and let cool. Or make your own.

Submerge raisins in warm water and let soak for 10 minutes or so. Set aside

In a saucepan over medium heat, add sugar and beaten eggs. Mix together. Add milk and combine.
Stir in flour. Continue to stir until it thickens.
Remove from heat, add sour cream, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix together.
Drain raisins. Add raisins to the custard mixture
Pour into cooled pie crust. Smooth out and let set up. DONE!

soaking raisins in two cup measuring container

Sour cream added to the custard mixture to thicken

Adding raisins and mixing together

Poured into a cooled slightly over-cooked crust and smoothed out

Rich, Earthy and Very Delicious. A compliment to a Thanksgiving Feast.