Shine...

Breaking News: As You Wish made the cover of the Insider today! Click here to check it out online!

In other news...
Woo! What a fun order!

"Strawberry with lots of color. That's all I want!"


Red, pink, blue, green, yellow...


Pretty darn cute!

I also made a two-tier 8" peanut butter cup cake... yum!


Confession: I was in the middle of making chocolate cake balls, had the cake all baked, and got stuck! I just didn't want to make buttercream! Saw some apples... and some bananas...


...4 loaves of banana bread and 3 loaves of apple bread later, I did get my buttercream made, and had some yummy bread to give out to friends to boot! :)


Here's the recipes for the breads:

Autumn Apple Bread

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 c. peeled and diced apples, moistened with lemon juice
1/3 c. chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 c. chopped raisins/dates (optional)
2 c. flour
2 ts. baking powder
1 ts. cinnamon
1/2 ts. nutmeg
1/2 ts. salt
1/2 c. sour milk (to sour, add 1/2 ts. vinegar to room temp milk, let curdle)

Directions:

Cream together butter and sugar and add beaten egg, stir in fruit and nuts. Sift together dry ingredients and add alternately with milk. Place in a loaf pan; let stand for 10 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees F until cooked, about 1 hour (Check after 25 minutes... I'm pretty sure mine baked a lot quicker than an hour). Serve plain or buttered!


Sweet Banana Bread

Ingredients:

1 3/4 all-purpose flour

1 1/4 ts. baking powder

1/2 ts. baking soda

3/4 ts. salt

1 (3oz) package cook & serve vanilla pudding mix

1 ts. cinnamon

2/3 c. white sugar

1/2 c. shortening

2 eggs

2 Tb. milk

1 1/3 c. mashed ripe banana

1/3 c. chocolate chips (or more :)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and vanilla pudding mix. In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar and shortening until light, scraping sides of the bowl often. Add the eggs one at a time, beating smooth after each addition. Mix in the milk.

2. Add flour mixture and mashed bananas alternately to creamed mixture, beating until smooth after each addition. Fold in chocolate chips or walnuts if desired. Pour batter into a lightly greased 8X4" loaf pan.

3. Bake at 350 until tests done (forgot to time it, sorry! Check it after 15 or 20 minutes)

Take some time to celebrate today!