Saturday, September 5, 2009

Are you ready....

..for some football?!!

We sure were at IrishDad's house today!

Let's go Irish!!
He had bacon sandwiches ready and brought out an old ND cup from the glory days when I was in school!

Are you ready for some football?
Bailey was ready!

Puddles is ready!
So was Puddy-Wuddy!

IMG_1735
That's right! I'm wearing my Lucky socks! And when your team is winning 35-0, you have plenty of time to knit! Go Irish!!!

Pumpkin Bread
After the game, there was baking! This recipe is so well-loved in our house that the page has come out of the cookbook! oops!

Pumpkin Bread
Spiced Pumpkin Bread! Happy Fall!!

This is such an easy recipe and makes two loaves! One for dad's house, one for ours. Or the freezer. It is a staple of football season at our house! And since I knew you would ask....here's the recipe!

The recipe is adapted from The Foster's Market Cookbook by Sara Foster (one of my oldie but goody cookbooks...love the baked stuff in this one!).

Spiced Pumpkin Bread (makes two 9 by 5 inch loaves)

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 Tbs ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

2 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 cup canola oil

1 15-oz can pumpkin puree

1/2 cup water

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. Grease and lightly flour two 9 by 5 by 3 inch loaf pans

3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl and set aside.

4. Whisk together the sugar, eggs and oil in a separate bowl until well blended. Stir in the pumpkin, water and vanilla and mix well.

5. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir just until all the ingredients are moist and blended, do not overmix.

6. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans and bake about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top begins to crack slightly.

7. Let rest for 10-15 minutes before removing from the pans. Serve warm or place on a baking rack to cool.

You can also add 1 cup of nuts (I added pecans to our loaf), raisins (that's what dad wanted in his loaf) or other dried fruits after mixing the flour and pumpkin mixtures.

Happy Football Season!!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

p.s. WOW! Thanks for all the fabulous contest comments! Lots to look forward to! Contest is still open if you haven't left a comment....

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

As an Aussie, I know nothing about American football. But Notre Dame was the favourite team of Jed Bartlett on the West Wing, so they must be good!

Glad you got some knitting in too!

Unknown said...

Looks like you had a great day and the bread looks so good. I'll have to try that recipe.

Neuroknitter said...

Yay for your team! :) I heard the Oregon game was a disaster for my Ducks. Sigh.

That spiced pumpkin bread looks outstanding...I think it has even wafted its way up here!! Yum oh yum!!

And that little sock...could it be a new pattern on the needles?? it looks awfully pretty! :)

Kaye said...

Good lord--SHUTOUT! I hope we're as lucky in two weeks when we play the Wolfpack!

Stacey said...

ooo, I love pumpkin bread! I'm so making this. :)

Darcys Knotty Knitter said...

I love pumpkin bread.
I just pulled two loaves of banana bread out of the oven:)Hugs Darcy

Pooch said...

Those beautiful doggies are just precious!!! Just wanna hold one in each arm and cuddle!
:)

pdxknitterati/MicheleLB said...

Yummy! I love pumpkin bread. But I'm not willing to call it fall, yet. (Wearing a white skirt today, torrential rain notwithstanding.)

Rani said...

Yuuuuuuummy!!

I think I just might try that one! It would make a good breakfast treat for the first day of school!

I'm new to the football thingy. I grew up with all girls and a father who wasn't 'into' football. Now I have a giant kid who has become obsessed and joined the football team. I have no idea what he's talking about but I'm trying my best.

hearthead said...

The game was Awesome! That bread looks delicious. I got a good deal of knitting done too...love football season!

Unknown said...

OMG - I'm all about all things pumpkin. Thanks for the bread recipe. I think I'll bake tomorrow.

Love your lucky socks, and the sock in progress. it's been non-stop football around here since pre-season started. g

Scrabblequeen said...

Adorable doggies, drool-producing recipes, pretty socks...an altogether lovely post. We celebrated the Irish this weekend, too. Stop by soon for a pic of Hubby in his new kilt in the Irish National tartan.

Anonymous said...

wow i don't live very far from Notre Dame, well on the west side of indiana but still!

Bailey and Puddles you two are so sweet!

Zonda said...

Oh yum! Thanks for the recipe! Glad your team won :)

Unknown said...

Ohhhh, I was gonna bake banana, apple oatmeal, & zucchini bread tomorrow. I may have to add pumpkin to that list now. We have some freezer space now that we made jam and got the ton of berries out of the deep freeze.

Carol said...

Thank you so much for this recipe. My granddaughter Alexis wanted to do an activity yesterday, and I had extra eggs from my chickens. So we made your pumpkin bread. I think it helps her with her math skills and I love to teach her how to cook.
We doubled the recipe to get 4 loaves. I put nuts in half the loaves. YUM. My sister came over and between my sister, Alexis and I we polished off one loaf.
Thank you!!!

Manda said...

oh, man. that pumpkin bread looks GOOD. thanks for the recipe. I'm going to have to make it. :D

Jackie's Stitches said...

Goodness that bread looks good!

FSU home opening football tonight. DH is thrilled. I'll knit or stitch through it all and we'll both be really happy!

Jean said...

Sounds like you had a blast! Your pups are just too cute. I'm going to have to try this pumpkin bread once the weather cools down and I get my kitchen back.

Jo said...

ooh - I'll have to try that. I love pumpkin bread.

Mya said...

I saw your recipe and said to my husband "look, it's the one that you make"! Everyone LOVES that pumpkin bread. We make mini loaves to give people at our Christmas party. Yum! I highly recommend this recipe to anyone who wants something that goes great with coffee!

Macoco said...

Thank you for posting the pumpkin bread recipe. I made two loafs this weekend and am enjoying some with my coffee right now. :)

misknits said...

yummy bread! thanks for sharing the recipe!

cupcakefaerie said...

OMG, your puppies look totally into the game--how cute! Thanks for the recipe. But I'll wait until it's actually fall to make it :) Less than two weeks away.

weezalana said...

Mmmm...bacon.

Mmmm...Lucky socks (I really need to get that pattern).

Mmmm...pumpkin bread.

tapmouse said...

Yummy! The bread looks dee-lish! And I love the ST-1 knit in your new pattern! Sad I missed the Danskos, but I consoled myself by getting some shoes after SS09 (not Dansko, but comfy and cute anyways!)

Spinning Ninny said...

Yay for Fosters Market! I love that place....and it makes for a good cookbook too. Mmmm...that recipe looks delightful.

Sarah said...

Thank you for the recipe Carrie - we're always on the look-out for a great pumpkin bread.

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