Monday, October 10, 2022

Pumpkin What??

I'm with my friend Samantha in that I am NOT a fan of pumpkin.  This time each year EVERYTHING is suddenly infused with pumpkin spice - coffee, tea, desserts, and beer

Yes, pumpkin-flavored beer.

EWWWWW.

My husband said it's only a mild hint of pumpkin but even if I drank that would be a no.  He said it was very good.

Sorry.  I absolutely adore Fall and Halloween and all the orange and black decorations we put up.

But I'm still not going to try it.

Then I looked at the label.  It looked like a lizard wearing lederhosen.  He said no, that's a GRASSHOPPER.  Points at "Hopper" on the label like I am possessed.

Looks like a lizard to me.  I told him I think there are jobs out west where Millennials just smoke weed and get paid to design beer labels.

He looked at me and said, "but I'M a millennial".

True (and that explains all the cougar jokes). But I'm still a cranky old pumpkin hater.

But what can I say, my engineer husband is very smart and he built me new steps with lumber and hard work that are easier on my bad knee (oh meniscus, I miss you so). The steps now go back to the yard at a much shallower angle instead of a VERY steep slope to the driveway edge (I think he got the hint when I told him the Red Bull Games were interested in using our steps). They also were rotated 90 degrees so we could fence the yard while still leaving room for two cars to sit side by side in the driveway.
A pictorial version of "how I lost my meniscus".

So I'll forgive him for the pumpkin thing, especially since he's scraping and repainting the sunroom trim in a bit as well and he put up a punching bag in the basement so I can take out my pumpkin spice aggression and burn calories productively (30 minutes of boxing is 2 nice sized glasses of Chardonnay!)
Before the stone landing went in.

I might even make something out of the beer.
The "clock" in the back is an old timer for developing film, an antique

Sourdough Pumpkin Ale Beer Bread.

I have to say, I had a piece for breakfast and it was really good, only a hint of sweetness and spice to it, not an "arghhh PUMPKIN spew! spew! spew!" reaction.  Flavor-wise it erred more on the side of an ever so slightly sweet yeast bread rather than typical sweet pumpkin bread.  If you use a different beer your taste may vary, but this was nice, not "Pumpkin-y" at all.

I made mine with my Einkorn-based wild yeast sourdough starter but will give directions for both

2 and 1/2 cups 50/50 mixture of einkorn and whole wheat pastry flour (or use all Einkhorn for a heartier texture)
1/2 cup sourdough starter (or equal amount of flour in place)
1/4  cup plus 1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (just a few shakes)
1 bottle pumpkin-style ale
3 Tablespoons butter - melted

Beer instructions:  if using all flour, use a full bottle.

If using a sourdough starter that's really thick (have to spoon it into a measuring cup) remove 2 Tablespoons of beer and put rest of the bottle in the mixture.

If using a sourdough starter that you can pour into the measuring cup, remove 1/4 cup of beer then add the rest

Mix well and place in a bread pan sprayed with non-stick spray

Pour 3 tablespoons melted butter (or melted vegan spread if you are so inclined as this recipe otherwise has no eggs or dairy) over the top and pop in the oven.

Bake in preheated 375 F oven for 50 minutes. It should pass the knife test with a firm crispy brown top crust (check it, as it may look done before it is, as the butter browns this up a bit more than other bread).

It was also really moist and really didn't need the butter.

Not that I was going to leave that off or anything anyway.

I like the bread a lot.  Still hate pumpkin spice.

1 comment:

Welcome to The Book of Barkley and the Blogville dog blogging community. This blog was created for more memories of Barkley as well as updates on our Lab Rescues that have joined our household since Barkley left us.

Stop in and say hello. However, comments from strangers offering business links will NOT be posted. I