Last year my friend Kelly and I had a pumpkin baking day. We decided to do it again this year but unfortunately our results were not as good. We started by purchasing pumpkins to cook and puree. That part went OK but the rest of the day was a comedy. We started by making a layered pumpkin bar. They took twice as long to bake as the directions said causing our dinner to get later and later. Once they came out we were so excited to try them but felt disappointed the moment they touched our lips.

Without being discouraged we moved onto the pumpkin brownies. Doesn't that just sound wonderful?? Well they were not. When we took them out of the oven and tried to eat them they were so rich with butter that there was no way to gag them down. We ended up throwing most of what we made away.


The night ended with Kelly dumping her plate of acceptable goodies on our front steps. I laughed so hard my husband made me come inside so I wouldn't wake the neighbors.

So I tell you this in hopes that you will share with me some of your favorite pumpkin recipes that would be worth trying. We plan to have a part two pumpkin day and hope that our efforts will turn out better.

I saw these in a post on Money Saving Mom back in November and have been meaning to try them ever since. Today happened to be the day when all the stars aligned (meaning I had all the ingredients and the time) to make these. We also ended up with last minute dinner guests so it all worked out perfectly.

These rolls were amazing! So so so good and not too hard to make either. They also worked perfectly in my quest to clean out the freezer in time for summer. Don't be scared that these rolls have pumpkin in them. Nobody in our group could even taste the pumpkin and everyone thought they were some of the best rolls ever.

I think the pumpkin makes them so moist and a beautiful color. Also the pumpkin adds lots of vitamins to the rolls...bonus! I felt like the Sneaky Chef.

If you have any pumpkin lingering at your house from this last fall please try these rolls. You will be so impressed. One word of advice-eat them in moderation. They were so good I had three and now by stomach feels like it will explode!

The recipe I used was on Money Saving Mom but it originally came from Tammy's Recipes. If you try these let me know what you think!

This is the pumpkin bread that my Mom and I made on Christmas morning. She made this recipe over Thanksgiving this year and I loved it so much that I wanted to eat it again at Christmas. It is from an old church cookbook compiled in 1984 by my great aunt. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!


3 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
3 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs
2/3 c. water
2 c. pumpkin or sweet potato (fresh or canned)

Sift dry ingredients together. Mix pumpkin, water, oil, and eggs. Pour into dry ingredients. Mix well. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour, 15 min., until toothpick comes out clean. Cool before removing from pans.

PS This recipe freezes really nicely and I just remembered that I still have some. I guess I am going to have to get some right now!! That's how good it is.

- Seanna

I hope everyone is having a great holiday! It is tradition for my Mom and I to make divinity on Christmas morning so I thought I would show you how pretty they turned out. It is a secret family recipe so I can't share (yes, I begged my mom to let me but no luck!). You will have to just have a feast for your eyes! We also made pumpkin bread. This is the best recipe ever. I will share this one on a day that I have more time.

Merry Christmas blog world! Hope you eat lots of great food today! And Merry Christmas Sheena! Wish I was there with you guys!!

My friend Kelly and I went to the pumpkin patch today and came back with lots of goodies for plans of a baking day. We started with a list:

1) Steam and mash sugar pumpkins
2) Sugar cookies
3) Brownies
4) Pumpkin Bars
5) Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

My first goal was to steam and mash two sugar pumpkins. I had read a great post at Money Saving Mom about steaming pumpkins in the microwave and making your own pumpkin puree. I thought it sounded like a wonderful idea because canned pumpkin is so expensive this year. Kelly was nice enough to go along with my experiment.

We started after lunch at 1:00 with the first pumpkin in the microwave. As it was cooking I mixed up the sugar cookie dough so it could chill. Not a special recipe just something from an old Betty Crocker Cooky book. When that went into the fridge I mixed up the brownies and popped them into the oven. By then my first pumpkin was done so I took it out skinned it and dumped it in the food processor. When I was peeling and food processing Kelly made the Chocoalte Chip Pumpkin Bread. It is a recipie she got from one of her student's mom but it came from Cooking Light magazine. See the link above for the recipie. The only difference was that we used more chocoalte chips than the orginal recipie we used 2 whole eggs instead of 4 egg whites.


I decided after the bread was in the oven that I needed to make the pumpkin bars with the new pumpkin puree to ensure I liked it before I cut into the second pumpkin. When the pumpkin bars went into the oven we took a break and went outside for a walk in the beautiful sun and left my husband to take them out of the oven.

When we came back the house smelled amazing! We sampled the Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread and the Pumpkin Bars. Both were super and oh so fall like. I decided the pumpkin was totally worth it and put the second one in the microwave to cook. While the microwave was humming away I rolled out the sugar cookies and baked 4 batches.

At 4:30, with everything accomplished, we relaxed by the tv before dividing up the goodies for home. We were very proud of ourselves. The pumpkin turned out wonderful and so did all the treats! I also ended up with 14 cups of pumpkin puree for only $2.70 invested in the pumpkins. I highly recommend making pumpkin puree if you have a little time to devote to the process.

As for the cookies and brownies I now have yummy treats to take to the baby shower I am attending tomorrow.

The day is over, and it was a sucess!