pumpkin bread

now, let me preface this post by saying something that may cause a bit of controversy;

i don't like pumpkin pie.

!!!!

this is absolutely astonishing to brian. he begs me to try pumpkin pie at every occasion it is available. so, i do. and i never like it. i don't know if its the texture, but it just doesn't do it for me.

this pumpkin bread, on the other hand, is crazy delicious. in fact, i'm almost sure i'm addicted to it. i've made it twice in the last week! (don't worry. we've given lots away. i promise.) it is the perfect autumn treat, warm & spicy. its so good. plus, it smells amazing while it is baking.

here's the recipe:

ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups granulated sugar

1 cup butter, really soft, partially melted

3 large eggs

1 15 ounce can pure pumpkin

preheat oven to 350 degrees. spray two medium or three small loaf pans (i did three small) with nonstick cooking spray. in a medium bowl, mix the flour, spices, salt, baking soda, and baking powder, set aside.

in a bowl of a stand mixer, pour in the sugar. put the butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds so that it is partially melted. pour in with the sugar and add the eggs. cream these ingredients together on medium speed for about two minutes or until fluffy. add the pumpkin and combine well.

in three batches, add the dry ingredients and mix gently until each batch is just incorporated. scrape the sides between each batch. pour a third, or a half of the batter into each of the pans. bake side-by-side for 50-60 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean and the the tops are golden. i also added pecans to most of my loaves, which was delicious!

shout out to emma for posting the recipe! thanks for sharing!




in other news, i'm now 19 weeks! i am totally starting to pop, which, i think, is 50% due to the growth of the baby and 50% due to the aforementioned pumpkin bread.



we're so excited to go to our ultrasound this week and see our babys fingers & toes & face! i'm hoping baby will perform for the ultrasound, especially considering that every day after lunch it does an acrobatics routine. its been so fun to feel baby growing and moving!
we love you, baby!

cute

i came across these pictures on the my computer today and had to post them.





baby jane is just one of the nieces & nephews who absolutely adores uncle brian. he's such a hit with the kiddos.

i really can't wait until our little one loves daddy the way the rest of the little ones in our life do.

my post of awesome

its awesome when i change the channel just in time to hear patrick swayze say his famous line, "nobody puts baby in a corner" and then do the final dance with her. ah. magic.

its awesome when i get to hear babys heartbeat. and feel baby doing flips and twists in my tummy. i love that sound and i love that feeling!

its awesome that we fiiiinally went out to the restaurant that someone told me to go to before i even moved here. barb & ernies; german buffet on tuesday nights! we ate our fill of bratwurst, spatzle, wienerschnitzel, the best chocolate mousse i have ever tasted...it was all delicious!

its awesome when i get to sleep in. yup.

its awesome when i watch our collection of things for baby begin to grow. shoes, sleepers, toques and a bib. we've decided not to find out what we're having, so i won't get too much more in the way of clothes. what i'd really like to start collecting is books for our little ones library.

its awesome that brian writes his last midterm today. yahoo!

its awesome that we got to see baby when i was only 8 weeks along, and we are so excited to get another look in a couple of weeks! baby will now look more like a human, instead of the adorable kidney bean we first fell in love with.



awesome.

dale & cassie!

these past few months have been so exciting. we've welcomed so many new members into our family! it seems to be growing exponentially these days. last weekend, we welcomed the newest member to the thomson clan; cassie! we were so happy to be able to spend the weekend celebrating the marriage of dale & cassie with a bunch of people we love so dearly. the wedding day was truly beautiful. dale & cassie; we are so so happy for you. we wish you all the happiness and adventures that marriage brings, and all of the challenges and blessings, too. we love you lots!

so here's some photos of the lovely bride and groom...because that's what you really came here for, right? (these two are going to have some seriously cute kiddos.)

the follow up

it wouldn't be a proper baby announcement without a follow up post, now would it?

thanks for all the love & support. we're so excited to welcome this little one into our family! we're also so excited for the baby to meet all the other people who love him or her already! grandparents, aunts & uncles, numerous cousins and so many other friends and family that will love and cherish our baby. we're happy to have some friends in the city with babies due within weeks of us, and its been really special to share with my sister, who is also pregnant, just 6 weeks ahead of me. two other sisters have had or are having babies this fall, and brians brother wife is due with their 3rd two weeks after us! we definitely won't be lacking in cousins and playmates for our baby!

i'm due at the end of march, but we'll be glad to have baby whenever he or she decides to make an entrance. baby will come when baby is ready. i'm almost 16 weeks now and have been feeling pretty great. i feel blessed. i really don't have anything to complain about. brian says that since i'm such a pro at being pregnant, we'll have lots of babies. this past week has been awesome; baby is on a growth spurt and my tummy pokes out farther and farther every day. i even had a woman in my ward who didn't know me come and ask if i was expecting! i was really excited! growing a baby belly makes everything seem more real, and we can't wait until we feel baby kicking.

we are happy.

in other news, being pregnant has officially made me into a worse cook/baker ever. i used to take pride in my meals, confident that i could prepare a delicious meal, a batch of cookies, with ease. well, that lauren is no more. in the past few weeks i have burnt something almost every day. the ridiculousness climaxed tonight as i dumped two pans of spoiled cupcakes into the garbage. (one was burnt. the other one i over-loaded with batter and the top ended up looking like a pan of brownies.) there's a pan in the oven right now. cross your fingers, friends. brian and i laugh it off, really hoping it wears off soon and we can get back to non-charred food and sweets.

we're headed to brians home for the weekend, to spend time with family and celebrate the marriage of little brother dale! we're excited to have another new member of the family; welcome, cassie! and we can't wait to party this weekend.

until next time!