So since the last update:

• Graduated with my MBA from MIT Sloan
• Drove across country
• Moved to SF
• Started real life v2.0
• Been lazy about updating websites (but not about eating).

Today I woke up to pouring rain and decide to make pumpkin bread.   It was also about this time that I realized I didn’t have eggs, baking powder or half the spices needed. Phfff. Details.

Thanks to Google I learned 2.5 tbsp of ground flax seed + 3 tbsp of water can be substituted for 1 egg…so that’s what I did.  The other stuff…um, ignored.

The bread was still pretty good, I love improvising.

Pumpkin Bread

• 1 ¾ c flour
• 1 tspn baking soda
• 1 tspn salt
• 1 tspn cinnamon
• 1 tspn nutmeg
• 16 oz. can pumpkin puree
• ¼ c vegetable oil
• 1 c sugar
• 2 eggs or 5 tbsp flax seed & 6 tbsn water
• 1/3 c Chopped pecans

1. Pre-heat oven to 350
2. Sift the first six ingredients together in a medium bowl
3. In a large bowl, add the pumpkin, oil, sugar and eggs
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix
5. Add the mix to a greased bread pan and top with pecans
6. Bake for one hour
7. Let the bread cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan

The chilly weather led me to buy cranberries yesterday.  That of course left me with a bag of cranberries in my fridge (really, I never buy cranberries except at Thanksgiving!)  After a quick kitchen inventory and recipe investigation, Cranberry-Orange-Nut Bread seemed like the perfect Fall recipe.  It also gave me an excuse to try out the mini-loaf pans I bought recently.

Cranberry-Orange-Nut-Bread

• 2 c. flour (I used 1 c. white and 1c. whole wheat)
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/s tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 c. cranberries
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• 1/2 chopped nuts (I used pecans)
• 3/4 c. orange juice**

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F and grease the pans
2. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda together
3. Add the beaten egg, oil, orange zest and juice, stir
4. Mix in the cranberries and nuts
5. Pour into the pans and bake ~55 minutes (~30 minutes for the mini loaf pans)

I know you’re not supposed to cut bread while still warm…but it is delicious that way!

**Ok, I didn’t actually have 3/4 c of orange juice because I only had one orange and no juice in my apartment.  I was able to squeeze out approximately 1/2 cup of juice and then supplemented with 1/3 cup of milk and the recipe came out fine.