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“For me, Thanksgiving eating officially begins the instant I get off the plane from California and walk into my sister’s house in Washington, DC. Immediately I head for the kitchen, where there will be a loaf of fresh baked pumpkin bread waiting. I eat the first slice of many before I even take off my coat.

“We have turkey, of course, but in our family the official food of Thanksgiving is pumpkin bread. My sister bakes and freezes at least 14 loaves ahead of time, but even at a ratio of 1 loaf per person, by the end of 4 days together we’re fighting over the crumbs.

“I doubt anyone else in the family remembers that this tradition began when my sister and her husband came to California the year I got married. The visit itself was so unsuccessful that they never came back for Thanksgiving, requiring me to make an annual pilgrimage to the east coast. In fact, the only memorable result of that first trip was the pumpkin bread.

“My sister got the recipe over the phone and scribbled it on a scrap of paper. She will be shocked to learn that I SAVED that original, oil-stained recipe.  Not for any sentimental or historical reason, but because for 25 years I’ve been too lazy to copy it down somewhere else!

“Somewhere along the line my sister started using a different recipe, the one the family is now used to. But when I make pumpkin bread, I use that original recipe. You’d never guess by the amount of my sister’s pumpkin bread that I consume at Thanksgiving, but actually I like MY recipe better.

“Here are both recipes — decide for yourself.”

My sister???s pumpkin bread:
Dry ingredients: mix in a separate bowl and set aside
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Pumpkin mixture: mix in a separate bowl and set aside
1 pound canned pumpkin
2/3 cup water

Cream in a large bowl with mixer on high:
2 2/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs

Add the flour mixture and pumpkin mixture to the mixer bowl in alternating amounts until fully blended. Pour batter into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.

MY pumpkin bread:
Blend in ONE large bowl (already a good reason why I like mine better!):
3 eggs
2 cups pumpkin
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup oil (I use safflower)
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

Pour batter into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes.

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