Scents of Fall in the Air.

The time of final harvest has begun; the Fall Equinox occurred on September 22^nd.  How fitting was it then to see snow on the lovely Abajo Mountains the next morning?  The Horse Head outlined for all to see clearly; surrounded by warm colors of gold, red and orange from the changing leaves.  The temperatures have begun to change also with 30s during the night, 60s during the day, and maybe a 70 trying hard to hang on to summer.  Windows may be closed at night, but during the day opened to catch those clean breezes before the bitterness of winter winds. 

But wait, what are those scents that come upon those breezes?  It is not just the aromas coming from canning; peaches, apples, pears ready to be made into cobblers, pies and other tasty pastries during winter.  There are the last of the green beans, squash of yellow and green; tomatoes being made into sauces.  No, no, it’s something more; scents that have a heady aroma, a bite at the back of the tongue…cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves.  It’s pumpkin time!  Pies, cakes, breads, cookies and soups; all spiced up and ready to be devoured with joy.

When I decided to do a pumpkin recipe for an article, I went through “The Mormon Pioneers Cookbook”, but only found one recipe, that being for Pumpkin Pie.  Now I had to do some thinking about the pioneers coming to Utah from the Eastern and Midwestern states, and the only recipe was for pumpkin pie?  Then it hit me, the San Juan County pioneers came from the western side of Utah much later than the Salt Lake City pioneers.  Growing pumpkins out there, even from seeds was probably not a picnic in the least.  Bringing seeds, using the waters from the San Juan River, or runoff from the Abajo Mountains; it still would have been many years before the soil was properly cultivated for good crop yields.  Now the one recipe made more sense, but I sort of feel sorry for all the good pumpkin eating these folks missed out on.

Never fear though, according to an article, “Pumpkins in the Garden” by Rick Heflebower and Dan Drost, Vegetable Specialists (Utah State University), “Autumn Gold, Connecticut Field, and Spirit Hybrid are large (18-25 lb.) fruited orange pumpkins that can be used for pies and carving. Jack Be Little, Wee-B-Little and Baby Bear are small (0.5-1.5 lb.) orange fruited types suited for small children. Lumina is a medium (8-14 lb.) white skinned pumpkin used for painting. Big Max and Big Moon can produce fruits that weigh in excess of 200 pounds. There are many other good pumpkin varieties for sale at local gardening outlets and through seed catalogs. Most grow well in Utah.” (http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1279&context=extension_curall  for the full article.)

In these modern times, driving to the local supermarket and purchasing canned pure pumpkin makes it all so easy.  Then again, seeing those dark green leaves shading white, orange and yellow pumpkins kind of brings a sigh to the heart.  It’s beautiful, it’s fall, and it’s pumpkin time.

 

 

Pumpkin Bread

 

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked pumpkin puree or 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree

4 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups sugar
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp each ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and allspice
½ tsp ground cloves

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350; lightly butter and flour (or use baking spray) three loaf pans.

In a large bowl, mix together well the pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar.

 

 

In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices; add 1/3 of dry mixture into pumpkin mixture and mix well; repeat until all dry ingredients have been incorporated into the wet mixture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Divide batter between prepared loaf pans; use a soup ladle to get three full cups into each loaf pan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out cleanly. Let loaves cool before inverting and removing.

Makes 3 loaves.

Mary Cokenour

Time to Cook the Pumpkins.

Now that the elections are over in the United States, it is time for us to get down to the important issues, namely the impending holidays.  With Halloween, also known as All Hallows Eve or Samhain, traditional jack o'lantern pumpkins were hollowed out, craved with scary or funny faces, and a candle inserted to light them up in the dark.  Now while the seeds, once roasted and salted, make a yummy treat, the flesh is not that great for baking, since it tends to be stringy.

While living in Pennsylvania, my mom and I learned from Amish bakers that the best pumpkins to use were the crooknecks. Pumpkins are from the squash family, with this type the skin is easier to peel off, like with butternut squash, and the flesh will cook up easily for pureeing.   The crookneck pumpkin can grow to a large size; the largest we ever purchased was almost 30 pounds, and we got lots of breads and pies from it alone.


Now when making pumpkin bread or pie, you can always find a canister of premixed spice blend in the supermarket.  However, I recommend mixing your own up as you can never rely on how much of each spice is in the premix.  I and my family tend to like extra spiciness, so I can measure out the separate spices and get exactly the right flavoring for us.  Perhaps you like more cinnamon and dislike the flavor of cloves; mixing up your own blend gives you that priviledge.  Another option to making pumpkin bread especially is to add chopped walnuts, dried cranberries, raisins, chocolate chips or a combination.  They can be added into the batter or simply sprinkled on top before baking.  For pumpkin pie, consider adding crushed walnuts into your pie crust mixture for some extra, surprising flavor.

Go traditional or set your own trend; remember you're the artist...I mean baker.  Enjoy!

 

 

  Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked pumpkin puree or 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups sugar
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp each ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and allspice
½ tsp ground cloves

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350; lightly butter and flour (or use baking spray) three loaf pans.

In a large bowl, mix together well the pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices; add 1/3 of dry mixture into pumpkin mixture and mix well; repeat until all dry ingredients have been incorporated into the wet mixture. Divide batter between prepared loaf pans.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out cleanly. Let loaves cool before inverting and removing.

Makes 3 loaves.

Mary Cokenour