Quick Pumpkin Soup

In my quest to find a fast, dairy-free pumpkin soup recipe, I developed this one about four years ago. In making this recently, I realized I hadn't shared this recipe with you.

While the recipe calls for 1 cup boiling water and one package or one square of chicken bouillon, 1 cup ready-made chicken stock can be substituted. I have yet to try this soup with a vegetable stock base. If you do, please let me know how it tastes.

Quick Pumpkin Soup (serves 2 – 4)

1 cup water

1 package or 1 cube chicken bouillon

1 15 oz. can of pumpkin (this is approximately 1 ½ – 1 ¾ cups pumpkin puree)

½ tbsp. olive oil

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

In a 3 quart saucepan bring water to a boil. Turn off heat. Add chicken bouillon and stir. Return saucepan to medium heat. Gradually add pumpkin, making sure to not splatter pumpkin or chicken bouillon. Stir. Add olive oil. Stir. Add nutmeg and pepper. Stir. Bring soup to a boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Serve. Store unused portion in refrigerator in an airtight container.

Anadama Bread or facing my fear of baking yeast breads

My first introduction to Anadama Bread was as a teenager. I had gone with family to dinner at Dexter's Hearthside restaurant in Essex, MA. Prior to the meals being served, a loaf of homemade Anadama Bread would be served. I still recall the sweetness of this bread from the use of molasses making a lasting impression on me.

As a teen it appeared to me this was the one and only restaurant from which you could get this bread and therefore I concluded this was a bread local to Cape Ann or the communities of Essex, Gloucester, Manchester and Rockport, MA. Little did I know how right I was! (Anadama Bread History. Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anadama_bread )

Passing from my teen years into my twenties and beyond, having my diet change due to food allergies, thoughts of this bread passed from brain until 2007 when I was looking for bread recipes which called for yeast. I had decided to face my fear of yeast breads and consulted my trusty revised 13^th edition of The Fanny Farmer Cookbook for recipes to try. Imagine my surprise when I found an Anadama Bread recipe!

I have always made this recipe as rolls as this made it easier for me to freeze and thaw as needed. Stored in a freezer safe container or plastic bag, the bread will keep up to 3 months.

Anadama Bread

From the revised 13^th edition of The Fanny Farmer Cookbook.

Yield: Two loaves or approx. 8 – 15 rolls, depending upon size

½ cup yellow cornmeal

2 cups water

1 package dry yeast

½ cup warm water (100 – 115 degrees farenheit in temperature

½ cup molasses

2 teaspoons table salt or 1 ¼ kosher salt

1 tablespoon butter or substitute, such as Earth Balance Buttery Spread (http://www.earthbalancenatural.com/product/original-buttery-spread/)

4 ½ cups white flour

Put the cornmeal in a large mixing bowl. Bring 2 cups water to a boil and pour it over the cornmeal. Stir until smooth, making sure that the cornmeal does not lump. Let stand for 30 minutes. When 25 minutes have passed, in a separate, small bowl, stir the yeast into ½ cup warm water and let it stand for 5 minutes to dissolve. Add the molasses, salt, butter and dissolved yeast to the cornmeal mixture. Stir in the flour and beat thoroughly.

For loaves: Spoon into 2 buttered loaf pans, cover, and let rise in a warm spot until double in bulk. Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit. Bake bread for 45-50 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks.

For rolls: Using hands, shape batter into rolls, up to 3 inches in diameter. Place rolls 1 ½ inches apart on cookie sheet covered with non-stick cooking spray. Cover and let rise in a warm spot until double in bulk. Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit. Bake rolls for 30-50 minutes. Remove rolls from oven when toothpick inserted in center of center-most comes out clean. Cool rolls on racks.