Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

All things pumpkin is sort of blogger cliche.  But I'm totally doing it today.   I should have had a chevron fabric background with a mason jar of milk next to it.  Someday I'll get these things right.

Can you believe that I didn't eat pumpkin until last year?  I've always been a picky eater but I've been trying to expand my horizons the past couple of years.  Good thing or I would have completely missed out on pumpkin.  That would have been tragic. 

Today I thought I'd share with you one of my new favorites, pumpkin chocolate chip bread. 

I want to eat another loaf in one setting just looking at the gorgeous nighttime photo. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

• 1 can pumpkin puree (plus a little more if you love pumpkin)
• 1 tsp vanilla  
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 2/3 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup chocolate chips + some for sprinkling on top

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease loaf pan or line with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl: combine the pumpkin, eggs, oil, vanilla and sour cream until smooth.
3. In large bowl: sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.
5. Fold in 1 cup chocolate chips.
6. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle some chocolate chips on top.
7. Bake ~70-75 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Eat up!

Need more pumpkin in your life?  Try these other tasty pumpkin recipes! Pumpkin Bars,  Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie!

Controlling the TV with My Mind

Phew.  Where did the weekend go?  I spent Saturday shopping in Naperville, Il with the ladies of Nate's family.  I didn't find a ton of house bargains (more clothes).  I did pick up our new dining room chairs though.  Super exciting.  That post will be coming soon.

Yesterday my family was in town for lunch.  It was a quick trip but it was good to see them.  I then played Nate's photography assistant as he took some family photos.  As fun as it all was, my hermit self longed for my couch.

So, I'm not much a tv person.  I have a few shows I DVR but I could go days without turning the tv on.  Nate, on the other hand, turns the tv on the second he walks in the door and doesn't shut it off until the second before he falls asleep.   

For his birthday he got the Logitech Harmony Remote from his parents. 

via Logitech  

Nate wanted this remote because it has closed cabinet control.  Meaning you can control devices behind cabinet doors.  (Fancy!)  This will come in handy when we build our living room cabinets.  He also wanted it because you can control the tv, Roku box, etc with your smart phone.  What?  He hooked it up and showed me.  I was like, "Eh.  That's cool but the remote is sitting right there.  I don't get it."  He then tried to impress me by not shutting the tv off until we got all of the way upstairs or down the hall. I told him to stop being weird.

The other night I felt like watching tv.  I asked Nate to hand me the remote.  He said "no", as most loving husbands do.  I whined. He told me to use my phone.  I whined because I didn't know how to do that.  (Do you see why I don't watch tv?)  He hooked it up for me and HOLY COW, I CAN CHANGE THE TV WITH MY PHONE!!!!   My life is changed.

Ike is impressed too.  Nate has our favorite channels stored so I just the HGTV button and bam! HGTV appears.  Super cool. You can adjust the volume, change the channel, anything.  Crazy. Ike loves it. 

That's today's pointless point.  I seriously can't get over how cool it is to turn the tv on with my phone. I'm sure the novelty will wear off but I'll keep telling everyone I know until then.  The only problem is that I can't call Nate weird anymore.  At least in regards to the phone remote business.   I also can't wait to get into a channel war using our phones.  Mwah ha ha.

Boy Pennant Quilt

I am a quilting fool. Or is it just a fool?  I don't remember.   I can never get that one straight.

I made this quilt for a co-worker's grandson.  This co-worker is also my source of all things awesome.  She also has a love for junk furniture and antiques.

"Hey, I love this buffet."  "I have one of those you can have for free in my garage."  (See it here.)

"Nate and I are looking for some barn wood to build a table." "I've got a whole garage full of it.  How much do you need? "

And she won't let me pay her.  So I asked if I could make her grandson a quilt for his 1st birthday.  Nate is also going to photograph her grandchildren.   Still not a fair deal on her end but I at least feel a little better about the situation.

Enough chatty mcchattersoning, here's the quilt!

I wanted to make this one a little larger than some I have made in the past.  It turned out much larger.  That's not all bad. 

I took these photos on a dark and rainy morning.  Ike was still sleepy.   Probably because he was up at 4:45am.  He was claiming that he was "too cold" and needed to sleep in the bed.  He's not a furry dog, sleeping in a 70 degree house with 2 blankets and a pillow.  Nope.  He's lucky he's cute.

I picked a dot chevron on the back.  It looked nice and boy like.  Or something. 

I am now working on a different type of quilt for my college roomie's triplets. I promised the quilts before they get to college.  I'd better get to moving...