Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Last week, I had a sudden urge to do some baking. It was a dreary fall day (as most have been lately) and I decided to whip up something with pumpkin to fit the mood. Using a combination of recipes from All Recipes and The Hungry Housewife, I forged ahead.

Because I didn't have any buttermilk on hand to make Leslie's recipe, I found a suitable one on All Recipes. The basics are as follows:

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups canned pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 cups white sugar
6 eggs
4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

DIRECTIONS:
1.)Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 9x5 inch loaf pans.

2.) In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; stir into the pumpkin mixture until well blended. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.

3.) Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The top of the loaf should spring back when lightly pressed.

I got to work mixing everything. And, threw in some extra cinammon because I'm crazy like that.

Then, because things only get better with chocolate, I eye-balled some milk chocolate chips for an addition.


Then, I mixed up some of Leslie's crumb topping, minus the oatmeal (we were out).


CRUMB TOPPING INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup oatmeal (1 package of instant oatmeal)
1/2 cup walnuts

In a medium bowl, combine first five ingredients with a pastry blender or fork, so it resembles, well "crumbles". Mix in oatmeal and walnuts.

I poured my pumpkin mixture into the prepared loaf pan and muffin tins.

Note: This recipe makes a ton (3 full loaves). I went with one loaf and the rest muffins, but plan accordingly.


And, added the crumb topping.

Into the oven they went...
And, after...the house smelled wonderful!

These were a huge hit and I'll definitely be saving the recipe because it was so simple to throw together. My husband swears that the bread only got better as the week went on... Everything stayed very moist and fresh (the last of it was being finished by family and friends a week later) and the flavor was full without being over the top pumpkin-y.

I just love this time of year for baking, don't you?

28 Weeks

So, I'm a bit behind on these, but here are some recent belly pics at 28 weeks.

Ladies and gentleman, time is really flying now. At my doctor's appointment last Thursday, we scheduled everything thing through December (37 weeks). Holy hell, that was a reality check. Olivia will be here before we know it.

I'm still feeling pretty good and working out 4 to 5 days a week. I had to give up my step aerobics class, but I'm keeping up with the light weights, elliptical and stationary bike. And, to make squeezing in some cardio even easier (now and when the baby's born), we now have this pretty little thing in our finished basement.

I told Josh it could be my Christmas, birthday, push, whatever-we-need-an-excuse-for present. Staying fit is obviously important to me, and getting to the gym is going to be a much more difficult task with a newborn. Problem solved :).

In other pregnancy news, I gained 5 pounds this month for a total of 20. It's hard for me to make peace with any weight gain, but this is obviously a necessity. And, I'm still right on track in terms of what is recommended so I can't complain too much.

As far as eating goes, during the week I keep it all healthy, and then I allow myself some splurges on the weekend. If I'm craving pizza, cookies or donuts, I make myself wait until Friday through Sunday for the most part, and I think it keeps me from going too crazy. But, I'm not going to say no to those things entirely. I mean, I'm pregnant for goodness sake. What indulgences do I have besides food???

The doctor also commented on the very faint linea nigra that has appeared on the lower half of my stomach. It's barely noticeable at this point, but she said with my darker, easily tanned skin tone, it'll probably be out in full force by the end of my pregnancy.

Turning over in bed is becoming quite the challenge, as is bending over. I've had three instances of sciatica in the past week, and all I can say about that is it's pretty horrible. It has to do with Olivia shifting in my pelvis and she'll temporarily place pressure on the nerve, causing shooting pain all down my right side. The best I can describe it, it feels like a charley horse, total numbness, and pins and needles all at the same time. It lasts anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes and provides a perfect opportunity for me to practice my pain management techniques :).

Speaking of pain management, we're halfway through our 4 week childbirth classes and I'd have to say that we're both really enjoying them. The three hours go by pretty quickly and I think my husband especially appreciates all of the information. I've read every book under the sun and he's read his fair share as well, but the added visualization is a plus.

Her room is coming along, we're shopping for a new car and our baby preparedness is in high gear. Just over 11 weeks to go...

Apple Pie Rave

The hubby recently had a birthday, and requested some apple pie to celebrate. And, while I love to bake, I'm not the type of person who typically likes a complicated four hour recipe. So, Jennifer's apple pie over at This Girl Loves Pink, seemed like the perfect compromise.

I knew I wanted a crumb topping, and it called for a pre-made pie crust, so all that left was peeling and slicing the apples and then throwing it all together.

Unfortunately, I failed in the photo department because I didn't think to take a picture until it was 2/3 gone and sitting in the fridge. But, oh my goodness, this pie delivered and will definitely be a part of my dessert repetoire.


It was perfect without being too sweet, and still delicious when re-heated. We served it while warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it was divine.

25 Weeks

My Lord, how time is flying!! I've passed the six month mark and will be in my third trimester in a couple of weeks.

Little Olivia is now over a foot long and is working on fattening up, and my uterus is approximately the size of a soccer ball - feels like it too!

Some of my most recent belly shots at 25 weeks, 2 days:

I've noticed that my belly button is starting to decrease in depth. I still have quite a ways to go until it's an outie (I have a pretty deep belly button), but I can tell that some of the former inner is now the outer :). According to the doctor, I've gained 15 pounds so far - currently right on track for the recommended 25 to 35 pounds, so I'll take it.

Olivia is kicking like crazy and moving all around. At times, I feel her way down low kicking my bladder, and the next minute I feel her up near my ribs. Her kicks have gotten so strong that not only can Josh feel them, but he can sometimes see them as well.

In other belly news, it is evident that my abdominal muscles are beginning to separate. For instance, below is a picture I took leaning over my relaxed (round) belly.

And, here is a picture of me leaning back, thus slightly flexing my ab muscles.

Nice cone, huh? And, it feels really weird to. On either side, my stomach still feels really hard as my ab muscles are there. But, when you push in the middle (the height of the "cone") it actually feels really soft. No muscle there...

And, would you believe that in the midst of my pregnancy I managed to sprain my ankle!?! I rolled it Wednesday night at the gym. It's an old injury that I guess just couldn't stand up to the loosened joints that come with carrying a baby. As if I needed another reason for uneducated gym-goers to look at the pregnant lady like she's a cripple who should be on bed rest.

I was in a good amount of pain through Friday and couldn't walk on it at all. Did I mention that my husband was out of town?? Yeah, it was a miserable couple of days. I realized how much one can take for granted things like getting to the bathroom and showering, when you don't have the use of all four limbs.

Thankfully, by Friday evening I was able to put some weight on it without crutches as we had a wedding to attend. Did I mention that we had a wedding on Saturday as well? I was quite a sight I tell you...

Oh, and for documentation purposes here's a picture of my injury with 4 days of healing time. The golf ball is gone, but it's still a bit swollen and a lovely shade of purple.

Looks like I'll be sticking with some light weight training, the elliptical and stationary bike from now on.

Finally...

Our dining room furniture arrived from Thomasville.

We had waited quite a few weeks to receive it and were so excited to finally see it in our home.

We are tried and true adults.

Of course, my always organizational husband immediately unloaded our boxes of Vera Wang china (yes, still in the boxes from our November 2007 wedding) and we went about situating them in the china cabinet. I wonder if it'll take us just as long to finally eat off them...

We still need drapes, a new chandelier and are tossing around the idea of an area rug under the table, but I think we're off to a great start.

Today I'm Wearing...

OPI's Done Out in Deco from the very successful South Beach collection.


Believe it or not, I've had this shade for awhile and have never actually used it. Given the very "in-between seasons" weather we're having in St. Louis lately, it seemed like the perfect time to give it a try.

I'm not really feeling my bright summer colors, but I'm not ready to jump into my deep gray, burgundy, and plum shades yet either. Why not give lilac a try?

While it reads a bit gray in photos, the shade is most definitely a matte lavender.

And, for those who have asked about my nail painting techniques in the past...unfortunately, I don't have any great pearls of wisdom. I do it so often that by now, I'm just really good at it and can paint both hands fairly quickly without any smudges.

I can tell you that I don't actually use a base coat. Just two coats of nail polish and one fantastic top coat. Typically, I can get 5 to 6 days without chipping. And, I'm usually ready to change it up by then anyway :).

A Piece of Pi

What feels like forever ago (probably 2 months now), Josh and I finally checked out Pi off Delmar for dinner. I blame it on good ole' pregnancy cravings, but at the time, I was jones-ing for some Gino's Chicago deep dish pizza. Obviously, Gino's wasn't an option, but I decided that it was a great excuse to finally give Pi a try. And, boy am I glad that we did.

The place is always packed and they don't take reservations, so we arrived at about 6:15 to hopefully avoid the big crowds. We had to wait about 30 minutes for a table and grabbed a seat at the bar (thankfully, the whole place is smoke free). It was a shame that I couldn't partake in an adult beverage because they had a great set-up and an awesome draft beer list.

Once we were seated, we ordered the garlic bread and prosciutto bites. Both were absolutely phenomal. They literally serve the French bread with a bulb of roasted garlic on the side for you to spread yourself. So authentic and yummy! And, thank God there were only 8 prosciutto bites (between 4 of us) because I would have ruined my dinner with them.

garlic bread – warm fresh bread served with a blend of butter & extra virgin olive oil and a bulb of roasted garlic

8 prosciutto bites – fontina blended with prosciutto, rolled in house-made breadcrumbs, then oven-blazed. Served with red sauce

From there we moved onto the pizza. While my husband's favorite is typically a thin crust, we decided to stick with their specialty and order all deep dish. We got the Bucktown, the Hill (normally thin crust made deep dish) and because I'm traditionally a bit more boring with pizza, a pepperoni, chicken and onion with minced garlic

bucktown – mozzarella, roasted chicken, artichoke hearts, red bell peppers, green olives, red onions, feta, and sun-dried tomatoes

the hill – mozzarella, pepperoni, salami, onions, green bell peppers, kalamata olives, and pepperoncini

And, let me tell you, when THIS finally arrives to your table...you can barely contain your excitement.

The food was absolutely outstanding!! It was definitely different than Gino's, but it was wonderful just the same. Their famous cornmeal crust was yummy and substantial - more crisp than doughy, and the sauce - oh my Lord, the sauce... I could have probably eaten a bowl of it with a spoon. It tasted like it had simmered for days in a fabulous blend of spices. And, I was surprised at how not greasy this pizza was. It tasted very light and fresh compared to other deep dish varieties.

For me, Pi lived up to the hype and I definitely have plans to return in the near future. Hopefully, with some of our pizza-loving family. It's the type of place you want to share with others. And, with their Kirkwood location scheduled to open in October we'll have two locations to choose from.

All pictures from www.yelp.com.