There is alot you can say about America but one thing’s for sure, they definitely know how to do Fall cooking.

Photos have started popping up on Facebook, of friends children enjoying one of the main attractions of Fall in America. Pumpkin patches.  There is nothing like them.  They are such a strong American tradition at this time of year, and I miss it desperately.

I have to admit something.  Yesterday we had dinner at MacDonald’s.  Drew noticed a sign on the door to the play area.  A pumpkin carving workshop, at MacDonald’s, on October 31st!  Made me chuckle.  I thought “ah at least they are trying”.  NO! French MacDonald’s!  It’s not gonna cut it!

Anywho.  The point of this post isn’t to say how desperately I am missing that first bite of pumpkin pie of the year (with cool-whip of course), or the candy corn dish at my in-laws that I know will be where it always is with the current holiday candy, or hot apple cider in an oversized mug that warms the cockles of your heart, or pumpkin carving with Poppy and placing the creations on the front step and taking a ginormatude (Drew’s word) of photos, just because.  No infact, I’m attempting to bring Fall in America to my little corner of France.  And I’m calling it My American Fall in France.

With all this talk of Pumpkin Spice Latte’s and Pumpkin this and pumpkin that,  I decided I had to figure out a way of making Pumpkin bread.  It’s my absolute favorite.  Pumpkin’s seem a little scarce over here, if you find them they are cut up and you buy a huge chunk.  Not quite the idyllic roll-me-home-in-a-wheelbarrel image of a pumpkin.  Nonetheless, I was given some great alternatives to using actual pumpkin.  The next obvious choice is sweet potatoes but I honestly haven’t seen them around much either.  The winner for the best alternative went to the Butternut Squash.  And I just had to try it.

I looked up pumpkin bread, I looked up how to bake a butternut squash (aka, I emailed my mother-in-law who was with 2 of her sisters) and I plotted my plan.

A few days ago I was bathing the kidlets, when Drew started using the butternut squash as a puppet at the door to the bathroom.  Using a sharpie he had drawn a face on the butternut squash and was trying to make the babies laugh.  Well guess how I felt when I had to look this butternut squash in the eyes while placing it in the oven!  Hardest thing I did all day.  Not to mention the sorry sight when I took it out the oven at the end of 40 minutes.

I have never baked from this much scratch.  Canned pumpkin was my limit.  Now this is in our future I guess.

I yielded so much BS that I should be able to make bread and muffins with it 🙂

Tomorrow I shall show you the finished products but today you get to witness something tragic yet something beautiful at the same time.