Holiday Cheer - Pumpkin Bread

I like to include recipes with my stories, and I did with two of them I have published with The Wild Rose Press. One of them, the recipe was forgotten (by me, I mean, I forgot to include it on the final draft of the story). In The Priceless Gift, Christina Scott carries on a family tradition of baking goodies for Christmas. One item she makes is Grandma Scott's Pumpkin Bread. This is a great recipe, because it makes multiple loaves. You'll get three 2-pound loaves and if you make 1-pound loaves, you'll get six loaves, great for gift giving to co-workers, neighbors, teachers and friends.

What kind of bread do you like best? Leave a comment - TWO lucky winners will receive a copy of THE PRICELESS GIFT.

Blurb:

The last thing Christina Scott expects Santa to bring her is a sexy—and very familiar—cowboy. Gavin Holloway’s just as shocked to discover she’s the woman he’s sent to pick up from the airport for a Christmas visit with her brother. They'd spent one hot week together months ago—a week where they both left their identities and individual problems behind. Neither ever expected a reunion.

Little do they know, Santa's elf has more than coal up his sleeve. Ho ho ho and a badgering we'll go before reindeer two-step on their rooftop and deliver THE PRICELESS GIFT that will leave their snowy days sizzling.


Unedited Excerpt


THE PRICELESS GIFT

Gavin Holloway was a leg man and the legs standing beside the information desk had more than his attention on alert. A short skirt showed off nearly all of her sexy, lightly tanned legs and molded the cutest ass he’d seen in quite a while…not since he’d been with Lynn on that cruise in June.

He adjusted the Stetson on his head and stepped further into the small municipal airport waiting room. He was fifteen minutes late and hoped Jacob’s sister didn’t mind the delay.

Michael Martin Murphey sang Two Step 'Round The Christmas Tree through the overhead speakers as Gavin scanned the waiting area decorated with holiday greenery. The other six occupants were either male or too old to be the woman he’d been sent to pick up. His eyes landed on the long-legged blonde. She had to be Christina Scott.

His boots pounded out a tattoo as he crossed the concrete floor. The attendant behind the information desk turned his way, an appreciative look in her eyes. Gavin tipped his hat but turned his attention to the blonde. The familiar scent of lilac swirled around him. He closed his eyes briefly and thought of Lynn. Shaking his head, he pushed away the memories and concentrated on the present.

“Christina Scott?” he asked a moment later. She turned and his back stiffened. It couldn’t be. “Lynn?”

Hazel eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, my God. Paul?” She threw her arms around his neck and hugged—tight. He wrapped his around her waist and held her close, the feel of her body against his awaking memories he’d relived many a night in the past six months.

Her lips brushed his neck, then she pulled back to look into his face. “What on earth are you doing here?”

Holding a dream.

What the hell was she doing here? Reality crashed in and he stepped out of the embrace.

“Are you Christina Scott?”

“Yes.”

Scalding rage swept through him. What was Jacob about?

He glanced up and noted the girl behind the desk watched with avid interest. He gripped Lynn by the arm and pulled her across the room. He might’ve had the best sex ever in his life with this woman. He might’ve even tried to find her after they’d gone their separate ways when the ship docked. Yet, he never thought he’d run into her at a municipal airport in the middle of nowhere Montana. Nor did he ever imagine to discover she was his friend’s sister.

Grandma Scott’s Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

3 C sugar
1 C oil
4 eggs, beaten
2 C cooked pumpkin (16-oz can)
3 ½ C flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground allspice
¾ C water
1-1 ½ C chopped nuts

Directions

1) Combine sugar, oil and eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in pumpkin.
2) In another bowl, combine dry ingredients. Stir into pumpkin mixture.
3) Add water and nuts.
4) Spoon batter into well greased and floured pans (2-3, depending on size*).
5) Bake at 350º for 60-70 minutes.

*If making 1 pound loaves, you can make 6 loaves with one batch.

Tomorrow's recipe: Blondies

As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December's bad weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth this aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same.

- Donald E. Westlake