Pumpkin Spice Bread with Cranberries, Dates and Walnuts

When you are a super-organized type-A personality (like yours truly), you have a tough time dealing with unexpected events that completely throw your meticulously scheduled day out of whack.

Take yesterday, for example.

This recipe--this perfectly moist spiced loaf of pumpkin bread, loaded with tart cranberries, sweet dates and crunchy walnuts--was all ready to be photographed and posted by yesterday morning. Inspired by the somewhat cool, rainy and very fall-like weather that occurred over Labor Day weekend in Wyoming, I just had to bake something pumpkin. I mean, no time like the present to kick off the fall baking season, right?

The bread turned out better than I had hoped. I was a bit nervous due to my inexperience with altitude baking and the fact that I had made quite a few adjustments to my normal pumpkin bread recipe. Great!! Let's get this thing posted!!

Or not. How about spending the entire day at the veterinarian's office and dropping a few c-notes on x-rays instead? Sound like a good alternative?

My poor lab Fenway, like many dogs of his breed, has hip issues. I won't go into detail (because I will likely mess up the proper medical terminology), but his issues are a bit more extreme than we originally thought, possibly due to an injury that occurred before we adopted him from the pound.

Fenway was clearly in some serious pain yesterday morning (evidenced by his unwillingness to move or eat--his favorite activity), and nothing makes my eyes well up like seeing and hearing a sick puppy. So I somehow managed to get all 90 pounds of Fenway into the car (a comical sight, I'm sure) and to the vet.

Six hours later, we had a diagnosis, a plan for recovery and a new diet for Fenway (which unfortunately does not include pumpkin bread.) I also had peace of mind and a happy puppy, which made my interrupted schedule completely worth it.

So here it is, my Pumpkin Spice Bread with Cranberries, Dates and Walnuts, a day late. For the record, this bread tastes even better the day after it is baked, when it has been tightly wrapped overnight, allowing the flavors to intensify a bit more. In that case, this post is perfectly timed!