By Caitlyn Meisner | Managing Editor

Fall is a fan favorite in my childhood home. Growing up in Massachusetts, we always enjoyed a nice long autumn season with weekends spent apple picking and admiring the foliage.

Since moving out of my mother’s home, I desperately wanted to recreate some of my childhood favorites, especially during the Texas “fall” season during college. So, I flocked to baking this recipe my mother always makes between October and December; the smell of the pumpkin brings back fond memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings and random Saturday afternoons after my older brother’s morning hockey game.

This recipe is not my mother’s original, but from a recipe book we inherited when moving to my neighborhood in the early 2000s. My aunt raised her children in the same neighborhood 20 years prior when there was more camaraderie, which birthed a hefty recipe book filled with 1980s-esque treats and family favorites. The names on some of the pages are familiar – including my aunt and former daycare teacher – that make this quasi-homecoming all the more sweet.

I hope you enjoy a Meisner household favorite and get to make some fond memories for yourself.

Ingredients

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin puree
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Cream the sugar and oil together in a bowl. Add eggs and pumpkin puree and mix well. Add dry ingredients gradually alternating with the water. Pour the mixture into two well-greased 9×5-inch bread loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 to 50 minutes, or until it tests done. Let stand for 10 minutes and enjoy!