Banana Pumpkin Walnut Bread

Here's an easy vegan quick bread, perfect for autumn. This bread combines two favorites - banana bread and pumpkin bread. The addition of oats and walnuts give the bread a nice texture.

Banana Pumpkin Walnut Bread
Makes one loaf

1/2 c. oats
2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ground gloves
1/2 c. pumpkin puree
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c. maple syrup
1/4 c. soy milk (or other nondairy milk)
1 t. vanilla
1/3 c. walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease an 8 in. by 5 in. bread pan.

Combine oats, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices in a large bowl.

Mash bananas in a separate bowl. Whisk in maple syrup, soy milk and vanilla, and mix until smooth.

Combine dry and wet ingredients and stir just until incorporated. Fold in walnuts. Transfer batter to your bread pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes.

Classic Apple Pie

There's something about autumn that gets me every year. The colors. New smells. The cooler, crisper air. The warm thoughts of holidays to come. A new season of baking. 

I made my annual trek to the apple orchard two weeks ago, which means my kitchen will smell like apples for the next month. Here is last year's adventure and once again I returned from the orchard with over 20 pounds of Stayman Winesaps. A side note: I encourage you to try your hand at canning and stock your cabinets with apple butter. It will make you smile on the darkest and coldest of January days. 

An apple pie is a fall essential. Make at least one, whether it's for a regular Sunday dinner or an addition to your Thanksgiving meal. I've used this particular recipe several times and have always been satisfied. I've managed to get away without using cornstarch and I'm convinced that draining and saving the spicy syrup makes all the difference.

Meet one of the greatest kitchen tools, the apple peeler-corer-slicer. If you find yourself making many apple-filled recipes, I suggest investing in one of these. Not only is it fun to cover your kitchen counter in apple peal spaghetti, you won't believe how fast you can peal and slice your apples. After running your apples through this machine, you simply run a knife through the slices to cut them in half.

Honey, Lemon and Herb Cough Drops

I'm finally getting over my first cold of the season. As a teacher I get to share in the joys of student learning and discoveries, and share their germs. Aches, sore throat, congestion, I had it all. I usually maintain my appetite during a cold, which is great, except that congestion makes everything taste awful. (That is, if I haven't lost my sense of taste all together.) The result? I can only enjoy so many cups of tea, bowls of soup and oatmeal, and plates of scrambled eggs before I'm standing with the refrigerator door open, whining over my tasteless choices.

I was drinking tea and honey at 2:30 a.m. (the sore throat was that unbearable) when I came across this recipe from The Nerdy Farm Wife. Hooray! Another way to get the healing power of herbs and honey, without the mug.

I'm a baker, not a candy maker. I haven't had much experience boiling sugar into a caramel consistency, but it's not too tricky. The key is having a thermometer. Don't have one? I've included pictures of the boiling process below to help you gauge the temperature of your mixture. The change in color is most obvious.

108°

208°

290°