Over the Labor Day weekend we were visited by my husband’s nephew, his wife, and two little boys. What a change from our quiet existence. The boys, just three and almost two, were adorable and very smart, of course. Their mother was so thoughtful and presented me with a new Williams-Sonoma Nordic Ware bread pan in the shape of six little pumpkins enclosed in a rustic fence. She was so kind to remember that I love these pans and have at least 12 others in all shapes and sizes. Well, my Monday quilting group was the perfect excuse to try out the recipe attached to the pan right away. I happend to have some squash puree frozen from last fall and an orange in the house, so I was all set with the ingredients. You can find the recipe here.

As with most of this type of recipes, whip up the wet ingredients. I included the squash puree here.:

Add the dry and mix just to combine. Something notable about this recipe is no cloves among the spices added. I like this because cloves, no matter how small the amount, tends to dominate the taste of a quick bread. :

PAM the pan. Isn’t it just too cute? :

Transfer mixture to the pan, spread it out evenly with a spatula, and place in the oven:

About an hour later the bread is done. Although, not shown in this picture, I did make the recipe’s glaze and it soaked right into the warm bread completely. Be sure to do this step, because the orange zest and minced ginger root in the glaze is wonderful with the spices in the bread:

All the quilting ladies gave this recipe an A+!

I saw this recipe in Country Living magazine and could not rest until I tried it. I was having a bit of a time finding the Boursin cheese, but, finally, it was found in the tiny “party store” in my little town of less than 100 souls!

So roast some golden beets in aluminum foil. Cool, peel and slice them:

Bring a package of Boursin cheese to room temperature, then blend with some extra virgin olive oil:

Pick some fresh thyme from your herb garden or local produce department:

Bake a puff pastry sheet, cool and spread with the cheese mixture, then arranged the sliced beets tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and the thyme:

This would be a lovely appetizer cut into small squares and served with drinks, eh?