Recipe: Pumpkin chocolate chip bread

Growing up, I never knew that there could be more to pumpkin than the jack-o-lantern and roasted pumpkin seeds at Halloween and pie on Thanksgiving.

But, just a couple of years out of college, I bought a cookbook that helped to open my eyes. The book was created by the employees of the now closed Spencer's textile manufacturing company, known for its clothes for babies and children, in Mount Airy, where I was living as a newspaper reporter.

The recipe is for pumpkin bread, but I made my own addition a few years ago when I included chocolate chips. You could add some dried fruit or nuts here too, but my family won't eat it without the chocolate chips.

This easy recipe turns out two very moist loaves of pumpkin bread. My kids barely wait for the bread to cool just enough to eat before they start asking for slices. I usually stick one loaf in the freezer for another day, which keeps me from eating it all in a day because this is definitely not a low fat, low sugar treat!

1 to 2 cups chocolate chips, depending on how chocolatey you like it. I usually use the mini chocolate chips, but the regular-sized chips work just fine too.

Sift dry ingredients together. Mix pumpkin, water, oil and eggs together. Pour into dry mixture and mix well. Pour into two greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/4 hours. Let cool and remove from pans.