Hey!  Just thought I’d pop in and give you a quick update.  And hey, thanks for stopping by and checking on me.  I know you are out there, I see you on my site stats!  So, thanks.

Guess what?  In October, I (a) sold a house, (b) bought a house, and (c) landed a HUGE contract for my chocolate business.  Oh, and I worked the last 12 days in a row.  The first two things happened with the help of my husband of course – and the third is happening with his (long-suffering) support.  As in, he’s been doing a lot of the cooking and cleaning and general taking care of business around our house!

Guess what else? 

In November, I’ll be (a) moving, (b) working more hours than ought to be humanly possible, thanks to the aforementioned contract, on top of the usual holiday goodies like chocolate advent calendars(!) that throw me into chaos every year at this time.  Sorry, I’m not linking to those because in fact we are already sold out of them for this year.  That’s right, sold out on November 6th.  And I’m not complaining, because busy is good in the business world these days!

I’m super excited to move, and I’m also excited about the upcoming holiday season – even though it means work work and more work for me.  And there is still more to be excited about, but I have to save that for another time – secrets yet to be shared!

But hey, don’t leave yet.  There’s bread to talk about!  With pumpkin!  And oats!  I’m pretty sure I baked this back in September.  It’s been a good long while since I used my home oven.  But I promise you’ll like it just fine now, in November.  This isn’t your usual pumpkin bread – the kind that is more like a cake than bread.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the super sweet stuff too!  I just wanted something a little heartier, something I could slice and toast, add a shmear of cream cheese and still feel like it counted as breakfast instead of dessert.  The oats give this bread just enough heft to un-cake-ify it, while still retaining the pumpkin flavor and a good dose of sweetness.  Hope you like it!

Keep checking in, I WILL RETURN.

One year ago on C&T (plus extra since I haven’t been here lately): Challah, Banana Bourbon Bread Pudding, and Filled Sugar Cookies.  Three of my favorites!

Pumpkin Oat Bread

• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
  
• 4 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Coat a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with baking spray.  In a mixer, combine pumpkin puree, butter, and egg; mix well.  Add sugar and combine.  In a separate bowl, stir together dry ingredients, making sure to fully incorporate baking powder and baking soda into the flour.  Add dry ingredients to mixer and mix just until combined.  Pour into prepared pan.  Bake 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees, continue to bake until loaf is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 45 minutes longer.  Cool in pan 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Makes one loaf.