Autumn Memories

Do you ever just let your mind wander to see where it might take you? Sometimes my mind sees fit to surprise me with a journey back through a memory. I had that pleasure this weekend where we ran into old friends. It was wonderful to catch up on years gone by, how our children have grown, and hear about things from a neighborhood more than ten years ago. It jogged an autumn memory.

Our block consisted of homes where EVERYONE knew each other. It was quite diverse: young single people renting basement apartments, widows who had lived on the street for more than 50 years, large families, and families with a few very young children like myself. Religion was not a factor on our block. We were a block family. Each fall our block party was a gathering of treats, Little Caesar's pizza, and cider. We would talk until it was too cold to endure. A block favorite was the Azimi's Pumpkin Cake. It was always gone before dinner began. Last night I made Azimi's Pumpkin Cake for a gathering at my home. Just as I remember, there are no leftovers.

Azimi's Pumpkin Cake

Cream: 2 cups sugar, 1 cup oil

Add: 4 eggs, 2 cups canned pumpkin

Mix well. then sift together and add: 2 cups flour, 1/4 t. salt, 2 t. soda, 2 t. cinnamon.

Mix well and bake in a greased and floured tube pan. (I only have a bundt pan and it works just fine.) For a light colored pan, bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours and for a dark pan, bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove and cool completely before frosting.

Frosting: 1 stick butter, 1 8oz pkg cream cheese, 2 t. vanilla, 1 1/2 c. pwd sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.

If you use a large can of pumpkin, you'll have about 1 cup of pumpkin leftover and you would never want to waste that...so, here's how I use it. On my other "it's ok it's fall" recipe. When we lived in La Canada Flintride, California, my great friend and visiting teaching companion, Jeanne Mackay gave me this recipe. My kids beg for it. This was breakfast the next day. :o)

Jeanne Mackay's Pumpkin Muffins

1 c. pumpkin

2 eggs slightly beaten

3/4 c. sugar

1/3 c. oil

1 1/2 c. Bisquick

3 rounded t. pumpkin pie spice

Mix all ingredients until moist. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes for regular sized muffins. Yield: 12 regular sized muffins. Works well as bite-sized mini muffins. One batch is never enough.