Recipe for the Wedding Bell Blues

This pumpkin recipe is good medication for whatever blues you've got since it is delicious, terrible for you, and kind of good for you too! Plus your kitchen will never smell better.

Weddings are funny. At the same time that they are a super-fun, incredibly happy event celebrating a couple's love for each other, they also feed on whatever doubtful, self-destructive, anxiety-ridden cocktail you have brewing inside you. I am not saying that I wish it was me in the beautiful empire-waisted gown walking down the aisle but part of me wishes I could fast forward to a nice August day in the future when I am walking down the aisle in a similar wondrous gown awaiting 'til death do us part'.

People in my newsfeed are getting married, engaged and having babies like everyday. Everyday! I'm not jealous - well not all that jealous - I just want to find a way to creatively filter these events so I don't have to feel the pressure. Everyone's doing it! It's like ninth grade all over again.

So you go to the wedding and it is beautiful and fabulous and all the things a good wedding should be. (Plus the food was awesome!!) But it leads you on this mental safari through your own plans for your "ideal" wedding, then some guilt for even thinking about it, then more thinking about it - especially about how you would like to make your own cake, god knows that would take at least a year of planning - then more guilt, topped with another layer of guilt, all in a pressure cooker that we're going to let rest for a couple years. The title of this should actually be "Recipe for Wedding Bell Anxiety".

Then you go home, cry, cook a pumpkin and doing some yoga breaths.

Also try really really hard to convince your boyfriend that even though you're crying, and stuffing your face with leftover cake, you're not actually trying to put any pressure on him to get married or whatever.

Not-From-A-Can Pumpkin Bread

Do me a favor and just try this, just once, if you've never cooked a sugar pumpkin before. You won't be disappointed. 

 What will you need?
1 sugar pumpkin (you'll have extra, so get a freezer bag ready)
1 1/2 c. (unbleached) all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar (use more sugar if you want or if you don't have maple syrup)
1/4 c. maple syrup (or honey or whatever other sweeteners you like)
1 tsp baking soda
1 c. pumpkin puree
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. vegetable oil (or some other oil you have or like)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon (adjust if you don't like cinnamon as much as me. I would put cinnamon in everything if I could. Alternatively you could also add allspice, or just use pumpkin pie spice in lieu of the others).
1/2 c. walnuts (optional - i love walnuts but I hardly ever actually put them in anything i bake because they can be such a deal breaker for some).

First things first - roast your pumpkin. This is a lengthy endeavor so you can do it the day before - or a week before! and freeze it. Totally worth it though. Just beware - the beautiful Fall orange color that is a side effect of working with canned pumpkin is lost when working with pumpkin puree. I promise its made up for in taste though. Preheat your oven to 350˚F, cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds, and place it face down in a baking sheet.  Cook for ~45 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft when stuck with a fork (much like cooking a potato). You'll also notice the skin starting to bubble and come away from the meat inside - this is good. It will be easier to scoop.

 Now to finish your puree you can scoop the insides into a food processor or a blender depending on what you have (or if you don't feel like washing either of those things, just use a potato masher). I suggest straining it through a sieve if you have one so it becomes smooth and less pulpy. Remove 1 c. of puree for your bread and freeze the rest in something freezer-safe. Otherwise freeze everything and wait 'til your up for the task.

 Sift your flour, sugar, baking soda and spices together in a small bowl. Mix the rest of your ingredients (not the walnuts, if you've decided to use them) in a larger bowl then add your dry ingredients. Combine ingredients (plus walnuts if you like) well but don't be overly zealous. Pour into a well-greased 9x5x3 and bake 45 minutes. Check on it no later than 40 minutes! This is how I found out my oven isn't level, I had burnt on side and undercooked the other. Cook until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.