pumpkin eater

what’s up buddies! how was your tuesday? i’m kinda ready for the weekend…

actually, the last two days weren’t so bad. i spent monday at the mall and today i got my bake on. not bad at all!

monday morning, i had a breakfast burrito. i’ve been craving salty over sweet in the mornings lately.

and then i went to the mall and tried on like two gazillion things at forever 21.

this hippo ballerina makes me happy! but why is the shirt so long?

i love love LOVE this dress. the skirt on it is organza. pin a big ol’ flower on it and it’s totally carrie bradshaw in paris…right?

back in the day, if you searched for “SATC carrie” on ebay, you could find the cutest vintage dresses. does anyone else love ebay?! i used to be such an addict.

my comfy shopping outfit for the day:

cus all the cool kids wear sunglasses and their hood up at the mall.

anyway…i bought nada cus after hitting up sephora and vs, there was no more cash in my wallet…and i accidentally left my cc’s at home. (probably a good thing!)

shopping always makes me abnormally hungry…does this happen to anyone else? thank god for this larabar in my purse! cherry pie is the best flavor ever!

i also ate/drank 2 teavana chai tea samples, 1 smoothie sample and 2 garlic bread samples from sbarro.  🙂

i ended up spending a good chunk of time at the mall and made some mental notes for christmas gifts. when i got home it was dinner time and i was starrrrving. i made myself a quick pita with half a pea burger, broccoli slaw and peanut sauce.

also had a piece or three lindt dark chocolate squares.

and now onto today which i spent hacking up a halloween pumpkin.

i came across this recipe for pumpkin bread by alton brown and was intrigued because unlike most pumpkin recipes, it calls for fresh pumpkin.

Alton Brown’s Pumpkin Bread
courtesy of foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar (i used half brown sugar)
  
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups shredded fresh pumpkin
• 1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds (my pumpkin only produced half a cup of shelled seeds)
  
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (my addition)
  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.

In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla. Combine both mixtures and fold in the shredded pumpkin and pumpkin seeds. Once the ingredients are all incorporated pour into a non- stick 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan. If your pan is not non- stick coat it with butter and flour.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. At this point a knife inserted into the middle of the loaf should come out clean. Cool for 15 minutes and turn out onto a cooling rack. Cool completely. For muffins temperature should also be 325 degrees F., but bake for 30 minutes.

it’s a miracle that i still have all my fingers because cutting and shredding pumpkin was not an easy task! i shredded a third of that pumpkin for the recipe, steamed a third and i have a third left that i don’t know what to do with. any ideas?

the whole time i was shredding that pumpking- i kept thing this BETTER be worth it…and oh, how it was! the pumpkin bread turned out really well!

the bread has a nice crust on top and it’s soft and moist in the center. tastewise, the pumpkin flavor comes through and it’s not too sweet. now that i think of it, i guess adding shredded pumpkin isn’t that unique- it’s pretty much the same idea as zucchini bread.

i made a small loaf that is currently hanging out in my freezer

and i also used this pumpkin patch pan that i bought from crate and barrel ages ago. it was my first time using this pan and my pumpkins didn’t come out looking so cute. i thought about making some frosting and adding leaves and stuff…but grating that pumpkin took half the day .and i was sick of being in the kitchen.

i stuck the two halves together with some pumpkin butter…MMM!!! the pumpkin bread is just sweet enough, so pumpkin butter is perfect to spread on it if you want a really dessert-y treat! yum!!!

i’m not gonna bother posting my meals from today since this is already really long and it’s pretty predictable stuff.

have you ever cooked with a halloween pumpkin?

earlier this year (in february) i used a leftover halloween pumpkin (yes, i still had it around in feb!) to make veganomicon’s pumpkin baked ziti with caramelized onions.

what’s your favorite (fresh or canned) pumpkin recipe?

i’m gonna have to go with good ol’ traditional pumpkin pie.