Finally Fall!!

I'm a summer girl through and through. I love the sun, the warm weather, my nike shorts, my chacos, green trees, ice cream, the pool, the beach, the lake (any body of water, really), fresh vegetables, and sitting outside. It all just makes me so happy. I always get a little sad when I see it going away--when I need a jacket to step outside, when the leaves turn colors and then fall all over our porch, when I have to swap out my nike shorts for jeans (oh the horror)!

This year, though, I'm really excited about fall. Why you ask? One word: PUMPKIN! Oh, how I have missed you, pumpkin. MMMMMmmmm. Seriously, anything pumpkin instantly becomes my favorite! So because of my weird almost-obsession with pumpkin and because I went to the grocery store the other day (and because there were beautiful, whole, orange pumpkins on sale), I hereby declare that October is pumpkin month!

First things first, I decided to make pumpkin puree (partly because I was feeling adventurous and partly because I couldn't find any canned at the stores). I figured out how to by reading this awesome blog post. I was going to post a step by step with my pictures, but let's be honest, her pictures are just better than mine.

So here is a boring (non-picture) version of how to make it: Buy 4 pie pumpkins (also sometimes called sugar pumpkins). Cut off the stems. Cut each pumpkin in half from top to bottom. Scoop out the stringy part and seeds and put them in a bowl. DO NOT scoop out the flesh part on the inside of the skin. Put the halves on a rimmed baking sheet or in a baking pan with enough water to come up the sides just a little bit. Bake at 350F for about an hour. Let them cool then scoop out the flesh and puree it in a food processor until smooth. drain it in a sieve lined with a paper towel. Make sure to drain it over a bowl so you can catch and save the liquid to use later. After an hour or so, you can use the puree. Easy, peasy!

With that pumpkin puree, I made a pumpkin spread to go with my whole wheat oatmeal molasses bread.

Pumpkin Spread

2 c. pumpkin puree
2 oz. cream cheese (at room temp)
1/4 c. ricotta cheese (at room temp)
6 T. confectioner's sugar.
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. allspice
1/4 t. ginger

Combine all ingredients except for confectioner's sugar in a bowl and beat with a hand mixer until combined. Beat in confectioner's sugar by the tablespoonful until mixture is somewhat fluffy. Chill in the fridge until ready to use. (It is pretty good at room temp too.) I kind of did the proportions of cream cheese and ricotta cheese based on stuff I had in my fridge I needed to use up. Next time I would probably have done a little more cream cheese to make it more spread-y if ya know what I mean. But you should totally make this and play around with it. Just have fun with it and get cookin!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Molasses Bread (aka the best bread ever!)

2 c. boiling water
1 c. oats
1/4 c. molasses
1/4 c. melted butter
2 1/2 Tbsp. honey (plus extra for the top)
4 c. whole wheat flour
2 c. all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting the work surface)
1 1/4 tsp. dry instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
cinnamon

In a really big bowl, pour boiling water over oats. Pour in molasses, butter, and honey. Stir and let cool until lukewarm. Meanwhile, in another bowl, stir 2 cups of whole wheat flour, yeast, salt, and brown sugar. When oat mixture is cooled to lukewarm, stir in the flour mixture until combined. Stir in the all-purpose flour, one cup at a time. Ditch the spoon and knead in the whole wheat flour with your hands one cup at at time just until combined. Then turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and continue kneading only for about 5 minutes until dough sticks together well.

Grease a bowl with some cooking spray and put the dough ball in the bowl and roll it around to coat it all over. Cover with a clean dry towel and let it rise in a non-drafty place like the corner of your kitchen or a still oven until doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours).

Punch down and spilt into two sections. Knead each section for just a minute or two and then shape into a rectangle. Place the two loaves on a greased cookie sheet, cover and let rise another 40 minutes.

Put some honey a couple of teaspoons and some water on a plate. Microwave for about 25 seconds. Dip top of each bread loaf in honey and then sprinkle with cinnamon and anything else you want (you could use oats, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, etc). Bake at 350F for about 50 minutes or until golden brown. (Sometimes it's done after 45 minutes, so just watch it while it's in there.)

Eat, and ENJOY!!