Pumpkin Bread

Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away... the holiday of over-eating and family.  It's one of my favorite holidays and a great time to relax and rest (and yes, I do tend to fall asleep on the couch while the turkey is cooking).   

Here's a super easy recipe for pumpkin bread that you can bring to any Thanksgiving celebration or just serve at breakfast on Thanksgiving Day, so you can get back to preparing that turkey!  The key to recipe is all the spices, so don't leave any out...

Ingredients
1 cup of pumpkin puree (or 1 small pumpkin to use to make the puree, instructions below)
2 eggs
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
4 tablespoons of water
1 cup of sugar
1 1/3 cup of flour
3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon of ground ginger
Butter for the loaf pan

Preparation
1.  If you are making homemade pumpkin puree, heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cut off stem, cut the pumpkin in half, and then scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff.  Place on a baking sheet (I lined my with foil, but you don't have to) and roast pumpkin in the oven for about 45 minutes until tender.

2.  Allow to cool and peel off skin.  Cut pumpkin into chunks and throw in a food processor.  Blend until smooth, and add a tablespoon of water if needed to achieve desired consistency.

3.  Take 1 cup of pumpkin puree, eggs, vegetable oil and water and whisk together in a large bowl.

4.  In a separate bowl, blend together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.

5.  Add dry ingredients to the bowl with the pumpkin puree and stir until well blended.

6.  Butter a loaf pan and pour in the pumpkin mixture.  Cook in the oven at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

7.  Cool on a wire rack and serve immediately!  (I like it warm, but you can always refrigerate and serve the next day for breakfast)