Okay, I’m ready for fall! (Eh, maybe not totally, but I’m hoping if I keep telling myself that, I’ll get there sooner.)
My trip to Montana sure did help! The mountain views and cool, crisp air were just what I needed. Plus the Bozeman airport is all bears and firepits - what more could you ask for?!
We had such a fun family visit, and stayed in the cutest Airbnb! (Where I realized the adorable little drinking glasses were actually Bonne Maman jelly jars, and of course I immediately got strawberry preserves on my first trip to the grocery store so I can start my own collection of cute drinking glasses. Slightly ridiculous, I know.)
Of course, as the plane was coming back into Nashville, the pilot got on the speaker and said something to the effect of, “Welcome into Nashville, folks. It’s a beautiful, sunny day and 92 degrees.” Groan.
But, Sunday was the first official day of fall. So let’s officially get going!
My email inbox is full of “fall this” and “cozy that” type recipes. And while I may have a hard time tucking into a steaming bowl of soup at 92 degrees, I did find several things to get me in a fall frame of mind - this Bolzano Apple Cake or French Apple Tart both from Alexandra Stafford, these Apple Hand Pies from Serious Eats, and pretty much anything on this New York Times list of their Best Fall Recipes.
As for me, over here in the In This Kitchen kitchen, I decided to go with pumpkin spice and everything nice for our first fall recipe of the season. This week’s recipe is for Pumpkin Bread with a Cheesecake Swirl, because what’s better than traditional, iconic, first of fall pumpkin bread? Throwing in a not-too-sweet, smooth and creamy cheesecake swirl, of course!
Is it breakfast? Is it dessert? Is it for the middle of the day when you’re avoiding anything resembling work and wander through the kitchen? Hint - the answer is “d - all of the above”.
This recipe started with a pumpkin bread from Deb Perelman (from Smitten Kitchen), which I love because it actually uses the whole can of pumpkin - no little container of leftover pumpkin hanging out in my fridge for two months until I can’t identify it anymore. Bonus - it has this great crunchy cinnamon sugar topping, which I think is what years of pumpkin breads have been missing. Thank you, Deb!
Then I decided to take it over the top, and add a cheesecake element. And it actually is cheesecake, not just a blob of sweetened cream cheese (which may or may not be a pet peeve of mine…). So I made a few changes, reducing the sugar and swapping it to brown sugar to make sure everything stayed moist and cooking the pumpkin and spices together for a few minutes to concentrate the flavors (a trick from America’s Test Kitchen and also what I do with pumpkin pie). Also, because I added extra ingredients, it no longer fit in one loaf pan, so get excited - now you have two! One to eat, and one to share. Or two to eat… no judgement here.
So, wherever you are, be it 92 degrees or 52 degrees (jealous!), the first day of fall has officially passed us by, and it’s time to get with the program. Pumpkin Bread sounds like a good start!
MONDAY - Sheet Pan Gnocchi
Recycling this idea from last week’s plan - on the night I had it penciled in, we ended up going out to dinner with my Aunt and Uncle who were in town. But I still have all the ingredients, so it’s a no-brainer!
TUESDAY - Baked Chicken Breasts & Creamy Orzo
We’ll do a simple seasoning/dry rub on some chicken breasts and bake them in the oven. While they cook, a creamy parmesan orzo can be stirred together for the side. (And I’ll just have to see what green vegetable looks good at the grocery!)
WEDNESDAY - Pork Tenderloin with Herbed Gravy & Parmesan Potatoes
You know I love a pork tenderloin! This one will get roasted with lots of herbs, and then I’ll make a light gravy/wine sauce for pouring all over. I’ll do those little potatoes that you place cut side down in butter and parmesan and bake up to get crispy, crunchy undersides. Probably a green salad to round it out.
THURSDAY - Sausage and Tortellini Soup
Getting into soup mode over here, and we love one with sausage and tortellini. I usually start with something like this recipe and just tweak it a little along the way.
FRIDAY - Friday Night Pick-up
SATURDAY - Dinner at YaYa’s (the in-laws!)
Looks like the rain should let up by Saturday, so we’ll get around to actually grilling those burgers.
SUNDAY - Dinner at Dad’s
He’s off traveling Europe again. I’m sure I’ll be getting pictures of the wonderful food. Sigh. That’s okay, we’ll just have a family game night here at home. We can go fun with breakfast for dinner, or easy with something like grilled steak tacos, or go super easy with leftovers. I bet leftovers wins.
LUNCHES for this week -
I’m going to make roasted veggie and grain bowls this week…because I saw someone else do it, and it looked so good! Going with roasted cauliflower, kale, and chickpeas over quinoa with a tahini dressing. Maybe some toasted pepitas over the top for crunch.
EXTRAS for this week
Hey guess what?! Friday will be the one year anniversary of the first newsletter I did! So we need something fun to celebrate! I took this butter cookie recipe from Smitten Kitchen (yes, I like her things…), and stirred the sprinkles right in to make funfetti cookies! I just used my cookie scoop and then gently pressed them down a bit to make perfectly round, exceptionally fun cookies!
A big thank you for sticking with me and letting me ramble on about food and food-adjacent things!
Pumpkin Bread with Cheesecake Swirl
Makes two loaves
· 1 can (15-ounce) Pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
· 1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
· ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
· ½ teaspoon ground Ginger
· ¼ teaspoon ground Cloves
· ½ cup (1 stick) Butter, melted and slightly cooled
· 3 large Eggs, room temperature
· 1 cup Brown Sugar
· 2 ¼ cup all-purpose Flour
· 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
· ¾ teaspoon Baking Soda
· ¾ teaspoon kosher Salt (Mortons or other store brand)
Cheesecake swirl
· 8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
· 6 ounces (about ¾ cup) Ricotta Cheese, room temperature
· 6 tablespoons White Sugar
· 1 large Egg, room temperature
Topping
· 1 tablespoon White Sugar
· 1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
In medium saucepan, cook pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently, until mixture is slightly drier, thicker, and darker in color. Cool completely to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 350. Arrange a rack in the middle position. Coat 2 loaf pans with non-stick spray.
In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In another small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon for topping, set aside.
In medium bowl, make cheesecake mixture. Using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese, ricotta cheese, sugar, and egg until fully combined and smooth.
In large bowl, combine cooked and cooled pumpkin mixture, melted butter, 3 eggs, and sugar until well mixed. Gently stir in flour mixture.
Pour in enough pumpkin mixture to cover the bottom of both pans by about ½ inch. Dollop half of cheesecake mixture over the pumpkin layer in each pan (one-quarter for each pan). Divide remaining pumpkin batter evenly in pans. Dollop remaining cheesecake batter evenly in both pans.
Using a knife, create a swirl by going back and forth in a figure 8 pattern up and down each pan. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar evenly over each pan.
Bake loaves on middle rack for 65-75 minutes, until a tester comes out clean or with just a few crumbs. Cool in pans 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges if needed and turn out onto a rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.
That’s all for now, thanks for reading! See you back here next week!
(Don’t forget you can see all of the past newsletters and recipes at the archive link below!)
All recipes categorized by type can be found in the index!
I love to hear that! It's funny how something so simple and easy is one of our favorites too. In the spring/summer, try it with cherry tomatoes and asparagus!
made your sheet pan gnocchi dinner last week. it was so good and really easy. Thanks for all your recipes and newsletters. Makes my week!