chicken salad

i have a huge bag of frozen (pre-cooked) chicken from the freezer that i just warmed up. i've also got some fuji apples that need to be eaten, so i'm going to make a big batch of chicken and apple salad. too bad i don't have any onion, that would be nice. it's just going to be basic- chopped chicken, mayo, a dab of mustard, salt, and chopped apples.

that last recipe (pumpkin date loaf) is going to be one of the subjects of a paper i have to write for my math class, which is the last class i'll ever have to take in undergrad! i'm going to use it to demonstrate cost vs. profit. i'll also be writing about how ratios are important to baking (ie amounts of baking powder in cookies). it should be interesting!

pumpkin date loaf

it makes me long for october!

the rightful name for this should be Pumpkin, Date, Coconut, Hazelnut, Pecan, Rum, and Cranberry Loaf.

1 large can pumpkin
6 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
1 tbsp vanilla

4 3/4 cups flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp nutmeg
1 tbsp baking soda
1 tbsp baking powder
scant 1 tbsp salt

3/4 cup hazelnuts, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 to 2 cups chopped dates that have been soaked in rum for at least 15 minutes
1/2 to 1 cups cranberries
1 cup shredded coconut

preheat oven to 350'. grease and flour large loaf pans.

in large bown, mix pumpkin, eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar until well-combined. in seperate bowl, whisk flour, spices, soda, powder and salt. beat into pumpkin mix until combined. mix in remaining ingredients by hand. put in pans and bake until done, about 60 minutes.