Pumpkin Bread

We need to take better care of one another. I have this vivid memory of my mother from when I was a child. As soon as the air began to crisp, almost overnight, our kitchen filled with homemade soups and breads. All of the extra would be packaged up to give to our neighbors and friends, marking the container “made with TLC”. This should not be confused with the girl group TLC from the early 90s, although “Waterfalls” is and forever will be, a bop. She made this food with tender love and care. We need more of that today. We need to look out for one another. As the world is burning around us, check in with one another. It’s a simple text. It’s a quick phone call. It’s a letter in the mail (support the USPS, people). It’s a container of soup or loaf of bread made with tender love and care. This is my mother’s recipe for pumpkin bread, slightly adjusted on my end. I hope you enjoy, and more importantly, make this for someone you care about. This recipe conveniently makes two loaves 😉

Pumpkin Bread makes two loaves

2 cups white sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

16 ounces solid canned pumpkin

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups flour

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup extra dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare two 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pans by coating in butter then flour. In a large mixing bowl, which together white sugar, brown sugar and oil until combined. Add in your eggs, pumpkin, spices, salt, baking soda and powder-mix until incorporated. Add one cup of flour at a time, mixing until just combined after each cup. Add in your walnuts and chocolate chips, stir one last time. Evenly distribute between the two prepared pans. Bake for an hour or until a cake tester comes out with just a few crumbs. Allow the loaves to cool briefly, about ten minutes, in the pans. Then turn them out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Enjoy!