The perfect pumpkin loaf has the same requirements as banana bread: moist and dense but not leaden. It should have the sort of tender crumb that sticks together when pressed with the tines of a fork. It should be sweet, but not too sweet. This isn’t dessert people! It should taste austere enough to qualify as a good breakfast, but flavorful enough that you’d look forward to saving it for an afternoon pick-me-up.

Let’s talk about firsts today, and beginnings, and the delicious unknown of a toe dipped into something new. We can talk about how this is the first time that I’ve found a simple chocolate frosting I really love. Actually, we will talk about that in a minute. Before though, can I get out some of my thoughts here about beginnings? Sometimes words are ready—poised on my tongue, scrambling to line up just behind my fingertips, asking...no begging to be written—and so I am going to tip them out of me onto this page.