Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Ok, as mentioned in my other post, I made bread. It was ok out of the oven, not great. I gave it around a day for the flavors to develop and it was actually pretty good! The only thing was that toasting it is quite a challenge, putting it into the toaster was easy, but pulling it out without it falling apart was not too fun. Another thing that I wondered was if the yeasty/ flour-y taste was due to the type of yeast and flour I use. I've been getting a lot of the "homemade taste" from my bread, which isn't something I'm too fond of. I've looked it up online and they said I added too much yeast.. um... I think I didn't add as much as the recipe called for! but ok? This flavor is not too pronounced, but the crust is definitely bread-y tasting. Oh well. This recipe would have been great for cinnamon roll types. Next time I will do that, and probably omit the pumpkin. I can't really taste it! It gives a really nice color, but that's it. The filling was a little heavy on the brown sugar... making it kind of wet. Ok ok, maybe this wasn't a perfect recipe, but so much better than the disaster that was baked pumpkin oatmeal. That was one of the most disgusting "desserts" i've ever made! The texture was just not great. Ok, back to the normal things.... I'm going to try to stay clear of super "hearty" desserts.

What about my Thanksgiving plans? Well, I don't know. I am going home for a day, but I don't know what I'm brining. I had enough stuff to make a beautiful tart, but my mom told me today that she already bought a pie :( store bought pie??? sigh, saves me the trouble right? Probably. A part of me was sad, but then again, peeling apples is not really my idea of excitement. So, yea, I don't know what to make as of now, but hopefully I will figure it out later. I might just make a tart, i mean,  tarts aren't pies.. are they? :( I think I might just make my pumpkin bread or muffins, those were always a hit, and something my parents can eat. I don't know anymore. I think my life is such a mess right now that I shouldn't be thinking or dreaming about the next best thing I can make. 

You know what kinds of things I revert to a lot these days? Comfort foods. 

Growing up, it was not a thing to eat fancy like nowadays. There were no "fancy" spices but salt, pepper, and garlic salt. The seasonings came from soy sauce for asian foods, and ketchup for everything else (er.. and soy sauce as well.. like soy sauce in pasta, and pasta sauce was ketchup!.. you should try it.. it's pretty good!) Food was simple. Apples came in like 4 varieties, not 10, and well.. what was organic? The foods I tend to eat now brings me back to a simpler time. Campbell's chicken noodle soup, white bread, cup of noodles, mac and cheese, totinos pizza (yea yea I know about the transfat) and well .. boxed ice cream. 

Ice cream these days are so expensive without a sale AND they have the nerve to shrink the packaging! I knew it was on sale at another store but was too lazy to go.. grocery store hopping is quite dangerous for me....and well boxed ice cream was cheaper than the sale. Ice cream in a box. I googled that. I don't get why ice cream was in a cardboard box not in a tub. I mean, it's so much easier to scoop out. This was the cheapest type of ice cream they had at the store (guess its was the most generic of ice cream?,) and well, the flavor and texture beats out a lot of the more name brand ones. This brings back good memories. I love this type of ice cream, I remember getting Neapolitan because I couldn't decide on what I wanted. This saved time, and thinking... and money. This was my destruction after a week... I just eat it right out of the box most of the time, and well other times.. I have colorful cones for it.. I'm on my purple cones pack. The pack had blue, red, and purple.... which I find to be quite unappetizing ... guess that was why there was a sale on that.... oh well food is food. :) I will try my luck at making ice cream from scratch this year... egg yolks... heavy cream.. and all my ice cream maker has been awfully lonely this year... wish I had someone to share my ice cream with.. but it just does not transport well and I can't figure out how not to have rock hard ice cream!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! 

What am I thankful for?.... Being here, having the opportunity to do what I do. Through all the stressful sleepless nights and long heavily caffeinated days...  it will all be worth it in the end :)