Pumpkin Bread

A lovely crafter and artist whose work I admire got me hooked on the idea of a Ghoultide meal. The work of Kristen Beason is truly delightful for lovers of the Halloween season, and I read once in an interview, that every October 1st, she and her family celebrate the beginning of the season by enjoying what they have come to call 'Ghoultide' with a family dinner. Kristen prepares a fantastic dinner of ghoulish delights and decorates her table in a seasonal theme. I loved this idea when I read about it, but until now, I had never thought to do such a thing myself. Well, that has changed! Grant and I have officially celebrated Ghoultide! We celebrated in two parts, the first, a breakfast of some seriously delicious pumpkin bread, and second, a pot roast dinner.

Can you imagine anything more perfect than a breakfast of spiced pumpkin bread garnished with cream cheese and a sprinkle of cinnamon. This was a super easy and delicious recipe passed on to me from my friend Esther.

Easy Spiced Pumpkin Bread

1 pkg Spice Cake mix
1 can pumpkin (not a can of pumpkin pie mix)
1 pkg of cream cheese (set out for an hour before use)
cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and vanilla extract to taste

Simply combine the Spice Cake mix and pumpkin, feel free to add more spices if you want - I added more cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and a capful of vanilla to mine, and follow the baking directions on the cake box, I made ours in a bundt pan After the bread cools, slice it and add a dollop of cream cheese on top with another dash of cinnamon for good measure. I promise, it is simply wonderful! However, the next time I make this, I will bake the bread in a loaf pan. I thought the bundt pan would be a nice touch, but the bread just came out lumpy.

Other variations that Esther and I contemplated for this recipe were the additions of chocolate or butterscotch chips, oatmeal, pumpkin seeds, or cranberries. This recipe leaves lots of room for creativity!

This breakfast got us ready to face not only a long day of school and work, but also a Monday!

And get ready for a report on the pot roast! We're having it tonight so we will have to see how it turns out! I have never made it before, but I am hoping that the experience is similar to the time I made lasagna