eclaire (what’s in a) name?

i know pumpkin recipes are ubiquitous this time of year, but i just have to share this pumpkin bread recipe with you. it’s everything i want in a breakfast bread – moist, full of delicious spices, not too sweet, and replete with pecans and raisins to add some texture. when i realized that my weekend would be full of fun with my family – my sister flew in from michigan, my dad and b drove into town to spend some time with us on saturday, and we celebrated my mom’s 60th birthday on sunday – i decided i had to whip some of this up to munch on throughout the activities.

but really, who am i kidding? i’ve actually just been looking for an excuse to make this recipe, as it’s become a fall tradition in our house over the last few years. we usually make it as soon as the mornings and evenings get darker and darker, as it offers an incentive to get out of bed and eat some for breakfast.

in fact, this bread has become so much of a tradition that i look forward to making and eating it almost as much as i look forward to the day after thanksgiving, when elf season officially begins. yes, that’s a little hard to put in print, but mike and i have an elf tradition based around the theory of seasonal things: you have to enjoy them in their appropriate window of time, or you won’t appreciate them as much (so we, like my sister-in-law, only watch elf from thanksgiving through new years day).

in order to try to appreciate the cold months a bit more (which is hard for this sun and summer loving woman to do), i plan on jumping into my fall and winter recipes with gusto. i will focus on how much i love hearty root vegetables, legumes, and fragrant spices instead of mourning the absence of berries, stone fruits, tomatoes, and fresh basil. if i do this, then i’ll enjoy the spring and summer foods even more when it gets warm, right? right?!?! ah, well, i’ll just keep telling myself this until the days get lighter and warmer again.

pumpkin bread

adapted from bed and breakfasts online
yields 2 loaves of bread

• 1½c white sugar
• 1½c brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1c canola oil
• 15oz can pumpkin
• 3½c flour
• 1t baking powder
• 1t baking soda
• 2t salt
• 1t ground cloves
• 1t ground cinnamon
• 1t ground nutmeg
• 1t allspice
• 2/3c water
• 1c pecan or walnut pieces
• 1c raisins
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1. preheat oven to 350° and grease two loaf pans
2. whisk together sugar, oil and eggs, then add the pumpkin
3. in a separate bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice together
4. add the dry ingredients to the liquid ones with the water, nuts, and raisins, stirrring until just combined
5. bake for 60 mins, or until a toothpick inserted off center comes out clean
6. allow to cool in pans, then turn out, slice, and enjoy