Month: October 2017

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Pumpkin Loaf

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Favourite pumpkin loaf that my mom used to make.

Gotta make this every fall.  So delicious, and gives me warm nostalgic memories of my mom who used to make this 50+ years ago.  My brother and sister and I would walk home half a mile from school on a blustery fall afternoon to a warm clean sweet-smelling home and mom would have fresh baking and milk to serve us.

Easy to make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

First, in a large bowl, mix together 2 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 3/4 cup cooking oil, and 1 cup pumpkin.

Second, in another bowl sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp salt.

Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.  Add 3/4 cup raisins.

Pour into a large sized greased loaf pan.  Bake 60-70 minutes.  Allow to cool before slicing.

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On the Mend

This summer I had two surgeries. First in July a couple of suspicious areas were removed and a D & C was done. They discovered that I had the beginnings of endometrial cancer, so I had to go back to the hospital for a hysterectomy in August. Just when I was starting to recover from the first surgery! It is now two months since the second surgery and I do feel pretty much mended up, although the laporoscopic scars are still red and itchy. . .

I returned to my part time job a few weeks ago because I was feeling pretty good and the Pregnancy Centre where I work is chronically short staffed. The gynecologist had told me that most people don’t go back to work for two months. It didn’t seem like the work was too much for me but perhaps I shouldn’t have pushed myself because last week I came down with a bladder infection, and now I’ve come down with a bad cold 😤. Agh! I’ve been on the mend for months now!

However I made good use of my time at home by completing an online course through the University of Tazmania, called Understanding Dementia. A free MOOC program available to anyone interested, it covered the basics of what dementia really is, who is affected by it, the symptoms and general prognosis, how to best handle it in a loved one, and treatment options. It was a very thorough course lasting from July to October, several hours a week. There is the option to continue with further courses once satisfactorily completing this one. It would be a great program for anyone interested in working with the elderly. I loved the flexibility of working online at my own pace, and the course was made appealing to visual and auditory learners by sketches and interviews. This free introductory course will be offered again in 2018. I would recommend it for anyone who has aging family members or friends! Glad to be finished it now though, and back to my own writing.