Fall Baking

It's hard to believe that the month of November is coming to a close. That also means our fall baking is coming to a close too. I love baking in the fall - nothing is better than the aroma of apples cooking on the stove or the sweet scent of pumpkin muffins baking in the oven. We've enjoyed so many recipes this season, some of which were tried and true and others that we just discovered.


One of our newly discovered recipes was for homemade applesauce. We've made a batch weekly since (this) post. I recently purchased a counter-top peeler/slicer/corer which has sped up the process considerably. Grace just loves using this handy gadget since it's easy for her to operate with the added bonus of being "super fast".

Homemade Applesauce
Place several pounds of peeled/sliced/cored apples (we use several varieties) into a large pot. Add a half gallon of apple cider in with the apples. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until apples soften and break apart. When they reach a desired consistency, remove the pot from the stove and add several spoonfuls of cinnamon sugar, stir.

As a side note.... I was noticing on our recent trip to Whole Foods that the variety of apples has dwindled. I'm not sure what Grace will do when she needs to go back to eating the jarred variety.


In the photo above Grace is eating a pumpkin muffin made from a delicious tried and true pumpkin bread recipe. I don't actually remember the origins of this family recipe - all I know is that Aunt Cathi must know it by heart, as she's made one tasty loaf after another. When Grace and I make this recipe we think of her.

Aunt Cathi's Pumpkin Bread
3 1/3 cups flour
3 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
4 eggs
1 cup oil
2/3 cup water
2 cups pumpkin

Place all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, whisk until well blended. Place the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, whisk well. Add the wet mixture into the dry, stir with a spoon. Place the batter into a loaf pan and bake for one hour in a 350 degree oven.

Enjoy the recipes and the last days of November!