In Praise of Pumpkin

Everyone in my family loves pumpkin bread. Whenever I make it, I have to ration it out to keep them from eating it all in one sitting. Pumpkin is very healthy so I don't mind the boys eating it for breakfast or snacks.
I am a huge Paula Dean fan. I have 3 of her cookbooks and love everything about her philosophy of cooking. (Beacause I love everything Southern!) But, I must admit, I was not crazy about her pumpkin bread. The recipe called for 3 cups of sugar. That is a lot of sugar!
I am going to share with you my favorite Pumpkin Bread recipe. I have made it for years now and everytime I try a new recipe, I always end up going back to this one. Not only do we love the flavor, but it is so much healthier than most. It only has 1 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup of wheat germ (which is so healthy on many levels.) The flavor of the pumpkin really comes through because it is not covered up with sugar. I will say that I tried it once with Kroger brand pumpkin and did not think it was as good as the Libby's brand pumpkin.
Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread

21/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon ginger
11/2 to 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (I don't usually add this)
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk (like carnation brand)
1 cup canned pumpkin (I usually add a little over 1 cup)
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, butter and egg in a bowl and mix well. Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix until well moistened and smooth. Pour into greased loaf pans. (I like to make in smaller loaf pans. Especially nice if you want to take to someone.)
Bake at 350 degrees until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. 30-35 minutes for small loaf pans. 45-60 minutes for larger loaf pans. Just keep an eye on the edges and take out if they look like they are getting brown.