Bell's Best Cookbooks - A Required Text for All Good Mississippi Homes

I love cookbooks. I have a few that I have received over the last few years but would welcome more as I build my collection.  Unfortunately, I have a bad habit of getting very excited when I buy new cookbooks but rarely use them the way I promise myself I will. I am very motivated when I purchase them but then rely on my old methods of what I have made in the past or my family and friends' recipes. And now it looks like Pinterest will also be inspiring a few of my upcoming dishes. 

But the seldom use of  my cookbooks is about to change with an idea I came up with a few weeks ago.  Boyfriend and I love to cook together and now with us finally living in the same town, we can make cooking together a frequent occasion. We are always looking for a new culinary challenge to take on together.  And for the most part, our tastes are similar with the exception that I don't eat beef. Most of the time, I can  successfully substitute beef with ground turkey and Boyfriend usually likes my healthy substitution (or at least he says he does).  Only a few times do I hear him say that he wants beef so we usually agree on dishes to cook.  So on to my great idea - I would use these cookbooks and we could find a recipe every couple of weeks to try.  A fun at home date night and I would put these cookbooks to good use!

Over dinner one night, I suggested this idea because our favorite topic over food is of course - food!  Boyfriend loved the idea.  He immediately got up and brought back a few of his cookbooks saying that we could use a few of his as well.  He stacked a few in front of me with one being the required text of all good Mississippi homes - Bell's Best.  There is something comforting about that cookbook and how often it appears in a Mississippi home.  It is actually one of the cookbooks I refer to the most especially at this time of the year when I start making all of those traditional holiday dishes. While we haven't made a dish together yet out of the cookbook, Boyfriend recently enjoyed one of my favorites to make around this time of the year. I will let you know when we take on the cookbook culinary challenge but until then try my favorite pumpkin bread recipe from no other cookbook than Bell's Best (p. 108):

Pumpkin Bread

3 c. sugar (I substitute Splenda after all I am a health conscious Southern cook)

3 1/3 c. sifted plain flour (I substitute with wheat flour for the reason above)

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg (I use pumpkin pie spice)

1 1/2 tsp. salt (I only use 1/2 tsp)

2 tsp. soda

2/3 c. water

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 c. raisins (I use dates not raisins because my Mother doesn't like raisins in bread and dates are simply delicious)

3/4 c. chopped pecans (I use walnuts)

2 c. cooked pumpkin

1 c. cooking oil

4 eggs

Mix all dry ingredients. Add liquids and beat well. Grease and flour 2 loafs pans. Pour pans half full of batter and bake at 350 degrees about 50 minutes. Let cool and remove from pans. This bread freezes very well.

*After writing in all my substitutions, I realized I really changed the recipe a lot but Bell's Best was my inspiration so I am sure the bread will turn out delicious either way you prepare it.