When autumn arrives, I get excited for so many reasons, some of which I've already shared with you, but a huge one is autumn baking. I love to bake, but what I bake is often seasonal. I bake lighter treats (and less often) in the heat of summer, for instance, and in autumn much of my baking involves pumpkin. Not all of it - I like apple cinnamon muffins in the fall too, and some things, like brownies and chocolate chip cookies, defy seasons - but I do love pumpkin baked goods. I probably make pumpkin bread most often (and I'm talking maybe a loaf each week). So I thought I would share my favorite pumpkin bread recipe with you today. The original recipe comes from the Williams-Sonoma Thanksgiving Entertaining cookbook, but I don't exactly follow the recipe from the book. This is what I do:

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white or yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup fat free plain yogurt
1 cup pumpkin puree 

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly butter a 5x9 inch loaf pan (or spray with cooking spray).

Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, both sugars, oil, yogurt, and pumpkin. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the dry ingredients in two batches, mixing until just blended after each. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake for about 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about ten minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely.

The recipe is pretty simple, and the results are delicious. Plus the whole house smells amazing while the pumpkin bread is in the oven, which I adore. I love to eat the pumpkin bread warm with butter or maybe a little nutella like in the picture above (but then, nutella is pretty fabulous on anything!). It makes a lovely treat on a chilly fall day while I'm curled up with a book.

​Do you have any seasonal foods you enjoy making?

Autumn is my favorite time of year. Well, October through Christmas, because I really love the holiday season too, but mostly autumn. It snuck up on me this year somehow (I say somehow, but really it was writing and editing and revising and The Prince's Consort coming out) so I'm playing a bit of catch up and also trying to slow down and appreciate it too. There are so many things I love about autumn - the crisp air, the vivid colors, the scent of woodsmoke on the breeze, the crackle of leaves underfoot. The sweaters and boots and tights. The pumpkin muffins and pumpkin bread baking.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays too. I love dressing up, though I don't get as much of a chance to as I used to, and I love handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. I'm not a fan of scary things, though. I don't watch scary movies or read horror stories. I know it sounds a bit strange that I like Halloween and hate scary things, but I do. And I do like to read things that feel vaguely seasonal around the holiday, which mostly means I turn to paranormal romances. Which can have some creepy elements, but don't generally scare me. Here is a totally random list of some that I enjoy, because if I gave you all of my favorite paranormal romances, this post would be far too long!

A Little Familiar by R. Cooper - I just read this one this week and loved it. It was wonderfully seasonal and had witches and familiars and I adored Bartleby.

The Tutor by Bonnie Dee - Another that I read and enjoyed recently. It's a historical with a Gothic feel and ghosts and a creepy old house. 

Once Upon a Haunted Moor by Harper Fox - Harper Fox's writing is always lovely and really evokes the eerie moor. It's also the beginning of a series about these two wonderful characters. I love the every book in it and am hoping for another.

Fish and Ghosts by Rhys Ford - I always enjoy Rhys Ford's books, and this one involves a hotel for ghosts, including one that is pretty scary. The sequel is Duck Duck Ghost and it's great too.

Spirit by John Inman - Another with a ghost but with lots of humor thrown in too.

Kick at the Darkness by Keira Andrews - Zombies and werewolves, and this book did scare me a bit - I should not read zombie books, and I will remember this in the future. But the romance is wonderful, and I loved it anyway.

Iron & Velvet by Alexis Hall - I just read this and I'm wondering why it took me so long. A paranormal investigator, vampires, werewolves, demons, witches, some creepy monsters, and it was thoroughly entertaining.

The Darkest London series by Kristen Callihan - Magic, werewolves and other supernatural creatures in a Victorian setting. Loved the characters and the romances and the writing.

The Whyborne & Griffin series by Jordan L Hawk - Really any of her books fit and I'll reread them any time of year. They all have wonderful characters fighting creepy monsters.

The Charm of Magpies series by KJ Charles - This is another of my favorite series that I'll reread at any time. Another historical setting with characters I love. The second book has seriously creepy giant rats.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - Witches, vampires, demons, and it all starts with a book in the Oxford library.

That turned into a longer list than I planned! What do you like to read at Halloween?