October is Pumpkin Month

I always get excited when the calendars
are turned to the month of October.
I dub October "Pumpkin"  month.
October is when I seriously start thinking
about everything pumpkin.
Whether it be adoring the home with
pumpkins, visiting a pumpkin patch, or
simple baking and cooking all things pumpkin.
I don't know why I have this attraction to pumpkins.
All I know is that I've had this love for
pumpkins since I was a little girl.
I'm sure that there is some psychological
reasoning behind it which I don't really care about.
At least it's a healthy attraction.
We could be attracted to a lot worse things.
Am I not right?
One thing that I bake every year is this
Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Crumble &
Maple Glaze Topping.

Talk about all the yummy Fall flavors and smells.
This bread checks all the boxes.

Although this bread is wonderful without the toppings,

You'll definitely want to add them.

I enjoy a slice of this bread as is with a hot cup of coffee or,

as a snack warmed up with a good slather of real butter.

Love pumpkin?

Give this bread a try.

PUMPKIN BREAD with STREUSEL CRUMBLE & MAPLE GLAZE TOPPING

INGREDIENTS for the BREAD:

1/2 cups Butter, melted

1/2 cups Unsweetened Applesauce

4 large Eggs, lightly beaten

1+1/2 cups Granulated Sugar

1+1/2 cups Dark Brown Sugar

2/3 cups Buttermilk

1 can (15 oz.) Pumpkin

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

3+1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour

2 teaspoons Baking Soda

2 teaspoons Salt

1+1/2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon Ground Cloves

1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger

FOR THE STREUSEL:

1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour

2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar

2 Tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

4 Tablespoons Butter, slightly firm

FOR THE MAPLE GLAZE:

1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

2 Tablespoons Pure Maple Syrup

1 Tablespoon Heavy Whipping Cream

1/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray (3) 7x3 inch loaf pans.

FOR THE STREUSEL:

Prepare the streusel topping prior to mixing the bread. In a small bowl mix together the flour, sugars, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until the crumbles are small pea-size. Set aside.

FOR THE BREAD:

In a large bowl, mix together the melted butter, applesauce, eggs, sugars, buttermilk, pumpkin puree, and vanilla until well blended. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.

Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended, making sure not to over blend.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans. Sprinkle each loaf pan with the streusel topping. Put pans into the oven and bake for approximately 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each loaf comes out clean.

Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes. Then remove from pans and place the loaves on a cooling rack.

FOR THE MAPLE GLAZE:

While the bread is cooling, make the maple glaze. In a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, maple syrup, cream and cinnamon. Drizzle tops of the loaves with the maple glaze.

Recipe adapted from: Terri @that's some good cookin'

That's it for this week,

Until Next Time,

Veronica

The Best Broccoli Potato Soup

Oh my gosh!

Do you struggle with getting your family

to eat their vegetables?

You have to try this soup.

It is out of this world good!
No kidding.

Hubby is not a huge eater of vegetables
but if I make up a hearty soup,
he eats it.

Just look at all that yumminess.

Not a broccoli fan?
Don't worry you won't even taste the broccoli over all
the other flavors. I promise.
Broccoli, potatoes, carrots, cheese, and best of all... Bacon!

I intended on freezing this so that we would have a
hearty soup during the winter months.
I knew we shouldn't have done a taste test!
It never did make it to the freezer.

Lesson learned.

The following Saturday I made a double batch of this soup.
One to eat because it is that good,
and this time I made sure one went into the freezer.

Oh my goodness, this soup smells SO GOOD cooking
and it tastes even better.
Hubby is not a fan of eating soup for dinner
but he actually commented that this was a nice
hearty soup and filled him up.
He didn't even eat anything else with it.

It's a nice way to sneak those vegetables into
those picky eaters.
That's if you can get them to try it first.
One bite and they are going to be hooked.

THE BEST BROCCOLI POTATO SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

32 ounces of Chicken Broth

3 large Carrots, peeled and sliced

4 Yukon Potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

1 teaspoon Onion Powder

2 heads Broccoli, washed and cut into florets

3 tablespoons Butter

1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour

3 + 1/2 cups Whole Milk

4 cups Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

6 slices Bacon, cooked and chopped

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a large pot combine chicken broth, carrots, potatoes and onion powder, stir. Bring to a boil, cover

and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Add broccoli and bacon, cover and simmer an additional 10 minutes.

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter. Whisk in flour and cook for another minute. Slowly whisk in

the milk, stirring constantly. Cook for 5 minutes until the sauce thickens.

Add cheese and stir until well blended and melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour cheese sauce into the pot with the vegetables, stir until well combined.

For a thinner consistency, slowly add more milk.

Serve warm topped with additional bacon  pieces.

ENJOY!

That's it for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica