One of the things I love about living near Old Sturbridge Village is that there is a large section of historical cooking recipe books. One of my favorite publishers is Bear Wallow Books. They are a publisher of old fashioned recipe books and the recipes that I have tried from them have been very good. Apparently they got their start when a University historian was doing research and collecting historical recipes. You can visit their website to see all that they offer – however they don’t sell their books directly online – you usually can find them in museum gift shops or through this gift shop online: Abel’s Apple Acres. I think I’m going to be starting a collection of all of them and will share some of the recipes here. I also really love that they are inexpensive – usually between $3-$5.
Each book either focuses on a specific ingredient, such as pumpkin, or style of cooking, such as Native American or woodstove. The introduction section gives tips and tricks to working with the ingredient and some historical background. The Pumpkin book I am using gives information about the first pumpkin pie and how to make your own pumpkin pulp.
As we speak I have a loaf of pumpkin bread in the oven. The smell is so inviting and totally embraces the season. Such a simple recipe I can imagine it being made by farmers during the fall.
Pumpkin Bread
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup cooked pumpkin, or canned pumpkin
¼ cup water
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Sift first 4 ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.
3) In a separate bowl blend sugar, oil, eggs, pumpkin, and water.
4) Add to the flour mixture and mix well.
5) Pour into a greased, floured 9x5 inch loaf pan and back for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack
I’m not a fan of pumpkin typically – I definitely cannot stand pumpkin pie – but I really liked this bread. It was so simple to make. The bread came out moist and tender, with a slight crisp to the crust. There was just enough pumpkin taste to flavor it but not be over-powering and strong. It reminds me of a really good banana or zucchini bread. I would HIGHLY recommend this bread. And even better topped with a little bit of cream cheese!
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and any post remotely related to cooking can partake!
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Ok now on to the giveaway – I have a set of two recipe books from the Bear Wallow Books collection to offer as a giveaway – Old Fashioned Pumpkin Recipes and Old Fashioned Apple Recipes. I picked these up at Old Sturbridge Village and thought they would be perfect for the season and you will still have the whole month of November to make some of these wonderful recipes. Open to the USA and Canada. Ends October 27th. Just enter the Rafflecopter below to register your chance to win.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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