Established 1826 — Oldest College Newspaper West of the Alleghenies

Recipe: Pumpkin bread for any season

Ingredients:

3 cups of sugar

1 cup of vegetable oil

4 eggs

3 cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp of cinnamon

\0xBD tsp of salt

1 tsp of nutmeg

2 tsp of baking soda

1 tblsp of baking powder

2/3 cup of water

2 cups of mashed pumpkin

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(15oz can)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix sugar and oil then beat eggs in one at a time.

Sift all dry ingredients together.

Add these alternately to sugar/oil/eggs with water.

Add mashed pumpkin.

Stir well.

For 2 5x9 pans bake for 50 minutes approximately.

I remember crossing the finish line of my first fifth grade cross country race and breathing heavily as the world dizzyingly spun out of control. My vision blurred as the multi-colored flags that lined "the chute," each runner crossed to finish the race, swirled together in my mind.

I ended up sitting cross-legged on the grass, and my mom came over to me to offer some water and the promise of pumpkin bread when I got home. I remember looking up at her and smiling, the only news that was worth sharing in comparison to my abysmal mile time.

For some reason I always associate my mom's pumpkin bread with this day. The homemade bread has always reminded me of my family: whether it was fighting over the last piece with my sisters when we came home from school, or being able to taste a little piece of home when my mom sent me a loaf during my first semester after a particularly brutal round of exams and papers right before my birthday.

This past weekend I got the opportunity to test out my, albeit never before seen, baking skills during our weekly Sunday Night Dinners, hosted by future B&B owner and TMS' very own, managing editor Emily Williams. Our dinners are normally comprised of a hodgepodge of TMS staffers and Emily's housemates and friends in PSE who all come together to enjoy home cooked meals provided by our fearless leader.

This weekend we took a new approach and actually tried to contribute to dinner rather than tear through food cooked outside of a dining hall.

Despite the unconventional seasonal timing, my pumpkin bread baking in March was well-received. I thankfully was assisted by my friend and PSEr, Brian McDonald, and we proved to be a formidable duo in our corner of the kitchen. I cracked eggs and measured out mashed pumpkin in \0xBD cup segments while Brian perfected his stirring skills before pouring out the batter.

Our end result was very successful, not only had we avoided starting a fire in Emily's kitchen, but I was happy I could share a piece of my Doyle family tradition with some of my best friends in our home away from home.