Lazy Saturday

I love a Saturday when we have no plans. It doesn't happen very often, so it seems like an occasion to have no occasions. This Saturday was like that. It was made even better because it rained. The boys stayed in their jammies all day, despite the fact that Aaron took them to Aroma di Roma for bagels and croissants (neither which are Italian, hmmm). Lilly and I slept in. I went grocery shopping by myself. Everyone took a nap. The sky was cloudy. Inside it felt cozy. It was very relaxing.

After naps, the boys and I made pumpkin bread. This bread is oh so good. Even the batter is good. It fills the house with a deliciously spicy smell and makes it feel like autumn. The recipe is my Mom's and it has been a staple in our family for years. Some of us have been known to make a couple of loaves in a week and not even give any away. It's that good.

James and William love to bake with me. I use the time to teach them about halves and wholes and teaspoons and tablespoons. Oh, and to referee the fights over whose turn it is to dump flour in next. Their favorite part about making pumpkin bread is when we add the pumpkin and the batter turns orange. It gets them every time.

I decided to put the recipe here because I love the idea of making recipes into a family recipes. I have several recipes that were Aaron's grandma's, that his mom makes and that I now make. They are labeled as Grandma Georgia's cheesecake or what have you on the recipe cards,and I plan on sharing them with my children. "This is my great grandma's shortcake recipe", William can say to the girl he is trying to impress. (I always tell the boys, girls love a

guy who can cook) When we make the pumpkin bread, we talk about Granny and how she made this bread for Uncle B a lot when he was little because it doesn't have milk in it. We share a little family history as the Kitchenaid mixes our batter.

Because it was such a relaxing day, I decided to try a new recipe for dinner, thus dinner was a little late, and the boys got to have a nice, warm piece of pumpkin bread before dinner. Thanks, Mom. It was yummy.

(Aaron says the bread in this photo looks a little like meatloaf, but I assure you it's pumpkin bread)

Granny Wujek's Pumpkin Bread

Heat oven to 325

Mix 2 cups sugar and 1 cup oil in a large bowl and blend well (I use my pink Kitchenaid mixer for this)

Add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating well

Add 2 cups pumpkin

Sift together (I actually skip sifting, pour the dry ingredients right into the mixing bowl, and it still tastes great) 3 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cloves, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon nutmeg. Add to wet ingredients and blend well.

Bake in 2 greased loaf pans for about 1 hour. (we always do 1 loaf pan and 1 muffin tin. The muffins freeze great if we don't eat them all first.)