By Thirty-four weeks and Halloween was quiet — we put the pumpkins on the balcony railing (Ryan carved his, I did not have the energy for carving, which is the first year I have skipped it) and sat by the door and gave out candy to the neighborhood kids in their costumes. I sat on a kitchen chair by the front door because standing for extended periods is a past-tense activity at this point. A kid came to the door dressed as a firefighter and Ryan saw him from the couch and came to the door and said great costume and the kid said are you a real firefighter and Ryan said yes and the kid said cool and walked away. Ryan came back and said that was the best interaction he had had all month. I believe him.
November is tomorrow. The babies could arrive at any point in the next two to six weeks. I am thirty-four weeks with twins, which the OB describes as excellent, which I receive with gratitude and no small amount of this is actually happening imminence. The freezer is stocked. Steve crib is in the apartment now — he brought it last week, unfolded it himself in our bedroom, stood back and looked at it, said: good. He drove back to Oak Lawn. That was the delivery. That was the whole exchange. It was exactly right.
I have been eating soup from the freezer and not cooking much in the original sense. The reheating is cooking right now and I have made peace with that. I made one real thing this week: a pumpkin bread from the Aldi canned pumpkin on sale, with brown sugar and cinnamon and a handful of chocolate chips because why not. It came out perfect and Ryan ate half in one morning and I ate the other half over two days and that was the end of the pumpkin bread, which is also exactly right.
November. The last month before. I am ready in all the ways you can be ready for something you have never done.
This is the recipe I made that week — or close enough to it. I used the Aldi canned pumpkin, the brown sugar, the cinnamon, and yes, the chocolate chips, because you are thirty-four weeks pregnant with twins and if you want chocolate chips in your pumpkin bread you put in the chocolate chips. It came together in one bowl and made the apartment smell like the version of November I wanted, before the version of November that is actually coming. I would make it again, and I probably will, once there are two small people in the house who will eventually be old enough to eat it with me.
Pumpkin Spice Cake
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 10 min | Servings: 10
Ingredients
- 1 (15 oz) can pure pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus extra for topping
Instructions
- Preheat. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
- Mix wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, eggs, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth and well combined.
- Add dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves directly to the bowl. Stir until just combined — do not overmix.
- Fold in chocolate chips. Gently fold in the chocolate chips, reserving a small handful to scatter over the top.
- Fill the pan. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle reserved chocolate chips across the top.
- Bake. Bake for 50–60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. If the top browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil after 35 minutes.
- Cool. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Slice and serve warm, or wrap tightly at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 46g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 210mg