Fall Pumpkin Goodies

On Tuesday, we cooked an entire pumpkin and pureed it. It made 10 cups of fresh pumpkin, and had 1-1/2 cups of seeds to roast in the oven. From oven to freezer, this process took around 4 hours. I know this sounds like a lot of time. But, the pumpkin spent one hour in a 400 degree oven, one hour cooling, and once it took a spin in the blender, it sat in a colander lined with coffee filters for two hours to let excess liquid drain off.

So far, we've made one batch of pumpkin bread, and one pumpkin pie. We have 6 cups left in the freezer. We're trying to build relationships with our new neighbors, so we delivered a loaf of pumpkin bread to each of them.

The following recipe is from a very special person in our lives. She and her family were members in the church Heath and I were married in, and the first church Heath served in vocational ministry. She is a mother to seven children, and she is one of the best cooks I know!

Marilee's Pumpkin Bread
3 1/2 cups flour
3 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
2 cups pumpkin
**My husband LOVES when I add half a bag of chocolate chips**
Sift together dry ingredients including sugar in mixing bowl (I never sift...LOL). Mix well and add all other ingredients. Mix until smooth. Divide batter into 3 loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cool on wire rack. Freezes well.