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)