Reindeer repair kits (red hot candies), holiday wreaths of evergreen, handmade arts and crafts, Santas giving neck massages, and of course, baked goods out the wazoo. What am I talking about? My neighbor Heidi's annual Winter Wonderland. Each year, Heidi and a bunch of her friends get together and put on a holiday bazaar. The festivities fill her backyard and spill out onto the sidewalk complete with holiday music and twinkling lights. The Wonderland event is a charity fund-raiser, so each year I donate a bit of my time to bake up a slew of holiday yumminess. Last year it was too many pumpkin and apple pies to count. This year, being a bit more pressed for time, I decided to make my mom's famous pumpkin-brandy bread: quick easy and extra good. This has been a family holiday tradition for as long as I can remember. In the 70s I remember my mom would save metal coffee cans in the garage and each year, pull them out, butter them up, and bake up tall cylinders of the heady, moist bread. Yum!



Mom's Pumpkin-Brandy Bread

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup br sugar
1 cup oil
2/3 cup brandy
2 cups pumpkin puree (1 15-oz can)
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup chopped toasted nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375F. Oil 2 large loaf pans or 3 medium loaf pans.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugars. Whisk in the oil, brandy, and pumpkin puree. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir in the nuts (if using). Divide the batter between the loaf pans. Bake in the center of the oven until golden brown, about 45 minutes or until a toothpick just comes out clean. Let cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes then turn out the breads. Let cool completely before slicing. This bread is great toasted with butter.