It's not just for pie.

Pumpkin that is...

I think I've mentioned before my LOVE of all things pumpkin. I put it in all sorts of things - bread, soup, chili, even enchiladas once. But this past week, in honor of what is probably the pumpkin's most popular holiday I tried out a few new things.

My first creation was pumpkin cinnamon rolls...and let me just say YUM! I made these for my boys as a treat for breakfast on Thanksgiving. While I didn't have a whole one, I did take a nibble or two and they were fantastic! I used this recipe for sweet potato cinnamon rolls and just subbed in pumpkin instead as well as a few other tweaks. I omitted the nuts because the hubs and my oldest don't like them and changed up the frosting. Instead of a glaze I did a maple brown sugar cream cheese icing that was SUPER. Needless to say these were a huge hit and I see myself making them again in the future. Although next time I think I will try it with sweet potatoes....

Here is a picture. Sorry it's not very good, by the time I got to this step it was around 11pm and I had been baking ALL day - and I also didn't get a very good picture of them baked, so this is pre-baked ready to go in the fridge overnight to be finished in the AM.

Next up is just a picture of my pumpkin pie. This year we had Thanksgiving with friends, and they cooked most of the food, but I was put in charge of dessert, which of course was fine by me. And of course on Turkey day, pumpkin pie is a must. So I just wanted to show my picture. I just use the Libby recipe on the back of the can...you can't go wrong with a classic!

And last but not least in my pumpkin marathon...pumpkin cinnamon swirl french toast. Awhile back I bought a loaf of pumpkin cinnamon cobbler bread at the bakery, put it in the freezer and then promptly forgot about it. However, in recent attempts to actually eat food in our freezer instead of just buying more, I came across it, and figured it would be a yummy snack. Well after it thawed and I tasted it, I realized it was a bit on the stale end and needed to be used ASAP. That's when this brain-storm hit me...it would be PERFECT for french toast.

Saturday we were going to have a busy day and I figured it would be a nice way to start things off, so I mixed up some french toast batter and got to work. The bread worked great, and the finished product was awesome. I'm going back to the bakery soon to see if I can snag some more of this wonderful bread because it really did make for a phenomenal breakfast (although probably not so healthy). Here is a picture of the hubby's plate before he was allowed to "dig in".

So - that right there pretty much sums up my weekend. Lots of baking and yummy food, and time with my family and friends. Another big event of the weekend was getting our Christmas Tree. We went to the tree farm again and had one cut down. This year it was cold, but not raining like last year so that was nice. Here is a pic of my little guys with the Big Guy in the red coat! It was a really fun day.

That about wraps it up for me. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of lots of love. We sure did and we have so much to be thankful for!