Pumpkin Bread/Bars

This morning, I head out to visit some ladies from church. I have been asked to check in on them to see how they and their families are doing, making sure all of their immediate needs are being met. I already know they are all doing well- however, today I will go and not go-empty handed.
This recipe can be compared to Mom’s Holiday Pumpkin Bread. The biggest difference is texture. The original recipe called for 1 cup of oil- it seemed heavy to me. I immediately cut it in half, and added more pumpkin to offset the moisture imbalance. This is the recipe I use when I want to make pumpkin bread or bars:
Pumpkin Bread/Bars
3 cups sugar
½ cup oil
3 eggs
2 ¼ cups canned pumpkin
3 cups flour
1 tsp. cloves
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking powder
I blend the first four ingredients in the Kitchenaid. The eggs can tolerate a little more beating since the desired end product is more cake like. Dry ingredients all at once and then mix until smooth. Divide batter into loaf pans or spread it in a jelly roll pan baking at 350 degrees. Time depends on size of pan.
Once the bread/bars are cool, frost with cream cheese frosting, or Steve’s choice of a ground clove infused powdered sugar glaze.
Mix.Bake.Share.
My message to the ladies today is about work. Just like the ground cloves in Steve’s glaze, it is infused throughout our lives- and it’s a good thing that it is.
I am extending a message of hope regarding the work that drives our everyday lives- I recently heard that “ a consecrated life is filled with work, sometimes repetitive, sometimes menial, sometimes unappreciated but always work that improves, orders, sustains, lifts, ministers, aspires.”
So maybe we can find strength to continue the work we are asked and invited to do that leads us to progression in this life and throughout the next.