They Can’t All Be Gems: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread AGAIN

Last Thursday I started out the day waking up late, but I got ready at record speed, and even had extra time to spend styling my hair. I flew threw every all green lights on the way to work. It was sunny and I had no traffic. I turned my iPod onto the shuffle setting and the perfect song came on. Just as I was pulling into my parking structure, a car that was parked in the best spot was pulling out. Jack pot! I even ended up making it to work early!

At some point during the day my luck turned.

Earlier in the week I had been notified of a breakfast party my office would be joining another department for. It was encouraged for people to bring a food item to share, and as the other office is a team of practically professional bakers, I had to bring something.

I thought all week about what I should make, and tried to figure out how I’d find the time to make something (I’ve been working long and stressful days with 3 meals a day eaten behind my desk and in front of my computer). I made a successful effort to leave work by 6:00 pm to allow myself enough time to stop by the store and make my dish. It took trips to two different grocery stores to acquire all of the ingredients necessary for the frittatas I was planning to make. When I arrived home I made a fabulous recipe for mini egg frittatas with sun-dried tomatoes, sautéed shallots and garlic, smoked mozzarella, Asiago cheese, and fresh basil.

Having left work “early”, I retreated to my laptop in another room while they were in the oven. I should mention that I’ve had a sinus-thing for two weeks and my normally keen sense of smell has abandoned me. While I was typing away at emails, I failed to smell my mini frittatas burning in the kitchen. I can’t believe that I let that happened! I pulled them out of the oven, and while my husband and I may have bit the bullet and eaten them ourselves, being the perfectionist that I am, I could not serve them to my colleagues! They sadly went directly into the trash.

I checked the clock – it was past 10:00 pm! I did not have enough of the ingredients to remake the frittatas. We do not live near any grocery stores and I had already had a glass of wine, so getting to the store was out of question. To top it off, my husband was out of town on business, and if he had been home, he would have lovingly gone to any grocery store to fetch whatever ingredients I needed. I did not want to show up to this breakfast gathering empty handed!

I began flipping through my cookbook while surveying what I had in my refrigerator and pantry. I had a couple eggs, a can of pumpkin puree that hadn’t yet expired, and barely enough sugar. I could make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread! I pulled out my stand mixer and got going, but unfortunately it had to bake for over an hour. When I pulled it out of the oven I didn’t let it rest long enough (as I was longing to get to bed for an early start for the next day!). As I attempted to put it on a cooling rack, the loaf split in two! I salvaged it with some fancy slicing and headed to bed with only a few hours left before my alarm would hopefully wake me up.

I somehow rose early enough on Friday morning to make it to the gathering with my Pumpkin Bread. When I went to retrieve my plate at the end of the day, all but one slice were gone!

Recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

This went in . . .

. . . and this came out.