The other morning I was feeling a little raggedy, I hadn’t slept too well, so I had a piece of toast. Toast! Just toast and salted butter, but it tasted like the most perfect thing ever. I don’t have toast very often, and I’d underestimated its restorative powers. And then this morning our Isaac had toast and scrambled eggs, and it seemed like the most perfect thing in the world to be a little person eating toast and looking through a toy catalog a few weeks before christmas. So my word for today is toast. I love nearly all of its meanings, except for a few that I’ve just read on urban dictionary which I seriously doubt anybody ever uses. I love warm golden toasted bread or rolls or bagels, of course, with butter or jam or cinnamon. I like the idea of toasting somebody or something…holding up a glass and declaring your love, admiration and gratitude. I like things that are toasty and warm, especially in this weather: dogs, blankets, beds. I like toasting as a form of poetry to music, especially as described in Bob Marley’s Put it On…it sounds as though he can’t help but describe his gratitude because the spirit moves him so deeply.

Feel them spirit
Lord, I thank you
Feel alright now
I’m gonna put it on, I put it on already
Good Lord, help me
I’m not boastin’
Feel like toastin’

I just read about a person called the “toastmaster,” who arranges and announces all the toasts, and I’ve decided that this is my new career goal, my dream job. When a person feels so much happiness or love or gratitude that they need to speak it aloud, they come to you. You hold up your hands and cry, “Pray silence for a toast!” And everybody raises their glasses, which are spilling over with good cheer. And wherever you go, when people see you they feel moved to shout out their esteem and appreciation for whom or whatever they are currently esteeming and appreciating. And apparently the subject of a toast is also called a toast, and these toasts will abound, eventually we’ll all be someone else’s toast, and everybody will feel proud and happy. Toast.

These rolls are very good toasted! I had some leftover pumpkin purée (from a can) and I decided to add it to a yeasted bread recipe. And I decided to make it savory rather than sweet. I added rosemary and a little bit of coriander powder, because I’ve recently resolved to use coriander powder more often. It adds a lemony floral flavor, which I liked but the kids didn’t. So feel free to alter the spices to your family’s tastes. I baked these in a large shallow muffin tin, but you could probably just plop the batter on a baking sheet. They might spread out and be a bit flatter, but they’d still taste good. Texturally, these are soft and a little chewy, and they go nicely with soup or stew. Or just eat them TOASTED with butter!!

Here’s what I believe to be some footage of Sir Lord Comic beautifully toasting.

1 t yeast
1 t sugar
1/2 cup warm water

1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 cups (++) flour
1 t salt
2 t fresh rosemary, chopped fine
1 t coriander powder (optional)
lots of freshly ground pepper

Mix the yeast, sugar and 1/2 cup warm water in a bowl and leave for ten or fifteen minutes to get frothy.

Add the pumpkin and the egg and beat until smooth. Add the flour, salt, rosemary, pepper and coriander if using, and beat. You should have a stiff batter…too wet to knead, to dry to stir. Add a little flour or water if necessary. Mix it with your spoon for a minute or two. It’s too thick to stir, so you’ll just move it around a little.

Leave in a warm place covered with a damp cloth for a few hours.

Butter a shallow muffin tin. I made six large buns. Divide the batter into six portions and scoop it into the tin. Let sit for 45 mins to an hour. During the last part of this, preheat the oven to 400.

Bake the buns for 30 – 35 minutes, till they’re puffed, beginning to brown, pulling away from the tins, and they sound hollow when you tap them.