Downeast Pumpkin Nut Bread

from A Coalcracker In The Kitchen

Ingredients

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree (solid pack, NOT pumpkin pie mix)
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups granulated sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, stir, scoop, and sweep to measure
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup pecans

Directions

1. Toast nuts in a small, dry frying pan, stirring often, over medium heat until they smell toasted. Be careful not to burn. Remove from pan into dish. Set aside to cool completely.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 7- x 3-inch loaf pans.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger; stir in the cooled, toasted pecans. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula until just blended. Divide the batter evenly into the three prepared pans.
4. Bake for about 50 minutes in pre-heated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove to rack and allow to cool 15 minutes in pans. Carefully turn out and place each loaf on its side on cooling rack. Cool completely before cutting; best made a day in advance of serving. Freezes well; wrap tightly in plastic wrap then foil. Thaw before serving.

Notes

• Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com
• You can use walnuts in place of the pecans or use 1 cup of either golden raisins, finely diced apples, or chocolate chips as a substitute for the nuts, if desired.
• In her original post, Lori mentions adding cream cheese between two slices to make a sort of tea cake, for a dessert, when they were driving to see a lighthouse.

==================

“Downeast”

“Downeast” (or Down East) is a term for parts of eastern coastal New England and Canada, particularly the U.S. state of Maine and Canada’s Maritime Provinces, an area that closely corresponds to the historical French territory of Acadia. The phrase apparently derives from sailing terminology: sailors from western ports sailed downwind toward the east to reach the area. A person from this area may be called a “down–easter”. Within Maine, the phrase “Down East” may refer specifically to the state’s easternmost regions, also called Down East Maine.

The origin of the phrase “Down East” is typically traced to nautical terminology referring to direction, rather than location. In the warm months most suitable for sailing, the prevailing winds along the coast of New England and Canada blow from the southwest, meaning ships sail downwind to go east. As such, the northeastern stretches were said to be “Down East” in relation to major western cities such as Boston.

=================

Index Of Coalcracker Recipes on This Blog
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2023/12/a-coalcraker-in-kitchen.html

From Lori's now archived blog:
What is a “Coalcracker” and what the heck are you doing in the kitchen?
“Coalcracker“: Affectionate term for a resident of Northeastern Pennsylvania, but particularly of the Anthracite (coal) Region (Scranton to the Lehigh Valley to Schuylkill County).

With the expansion of the mining and railroad industries. English, Welsh, Irish and German (the “Dutch” (Deutsch) in Pennsylvania Dutch) immigrants formed a large portion of the population, followed by Polish, Slovak, Ruthenian, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Italian, Russian and Lithuanian immigrants.

The influence of these immigrant populations is still strongly felt in the region, with various towns possessing pronounced ethnic characters and cuisine. Throw in some influence from the Pennsylvania Dutch of the Schuylkill County and Lehigh Valley areas and you have a sampling of Coal Region comfort foods!

The Coal Region is a historically important Anthracite (“hard coal”) coal-mining area in Northeastern Pennsylvania in the central Appalachian Mountains, comprising Lackawanna, Luzerne, Columbia, Carbon, Schuylkill, Northumberland, and the extreme northeast corner of Dauphin counties.