For as long as I can remember, fall has been my favorite season. I love how the humidity of summer gives way to crisp, invigorating air. I love the smell of dried leaves, wood smoke and hot apple cider. I love the feeling of waking up in a warm bed in a cold house, the kind of feeling that makes me want to stay curled up in bed all day napping in a sunbeam. But mostly, I love fall food.
I’m definitely a seasonal eater. In the summer I crave fresh fruit, vegetables, salad and fish. They’re foods that to me taste clean and light, and are refreshing in the hot summer months. But as soon as the air starts to cool down and dry out, I start craving soups, stews, sweet potatoes, squash, pies, muffins and casseroles — comfort foods that are warm and hearty.
Part of what makes those foods so comforting is how they tie me to my childhood and my family. Nothing makes me feel quite as old as when I’m making a casserole that my mom made when I was growing up. I never have a recipe — whenever my mom was in the kitchen cooking, my sister and I were always close at hand, so I learned by observation and degustation. The nice thing about soups and casseroles is that they’re forgiving: You can use what you have at hand, in whatever quantities you feel are best, and usually the meal turns out pretty well. Occasionally I miss a step over the years, like the mayonnaise in my mom’s chicken and broccoli casserole, but for the most part I picked up in the kitchen whatever I needed to cook the same things she did.
Cooking has long been a communal act on both sides of my family. My grandfather learned how to make prize-winning sweet milk biscuits in the kitchen with his mother, and I learned from him. My mother learned how to make my father’s family recipes while in the kitchen with his grandmother, as well as how to make her own family recipes while in the kitchen with her aunt. It’d be hard for me to tell you how to make things like those sweet milk biscuits, or my Aunt Hotie’s potato salad, because they’re made from experience rather than a recipe. Over the years we’ve developed a hunch for how the dough is supposed to feel, smell and look, or how the dressing is supposed to taste. It’s hardly an exact science, but it binds the generations of my family together in ways that few other things could.
So as the months get colder, I get cooking. The smells of fall food warm my house and make it feel cozy, while the taste brings back fond memories. A good start, then, is my mom’s pumpkin bread, which I often make into muffins as something easy to grab as I’m running out the door. The base of the recipe is one she got from a friend back when she was around my age, and then she changed the spices to make the taste closer to her mom’s pumpkin pie.
Pumpkin Bread & Muffins
Start with 5 eggs, beaten.
Add 2 cups sugar, 2 cups canned pumpkin and 1 1/2 cups canola oil and blend until smooth.
Sift together (separate from the wet mixture): 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon allspice and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.
Add the dry mixture to the wet one and blend until smooth.
Add 2 packages coconut cream pie filling (dry), and 1 cup chopped pecans (optional).
Divide the batter evenly among three small, greased loaf pans, or two large loaf pans, or two dozen regular muffin cups (either lined or greased).
Bake at 350 for 40 to 50 minutes for bread, less for muffins. When done, you should be able to insert a toothpick into the center of a loaf or muffin and pull it out clean, but be sure not to over-bake them — the color of the bread should not be significantly different from the batter. Allow to cool for a bit and then enjoy!
Sarah’s column runs biweekly Wednesdays. She can be reached at s.brummett@cavalierdaily.com.
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