Just In Case...

I'm sure most of you already know this, but on the off chance you missed it, Nathan Bransford is running a contest for the best 1st paragraph.

Read the rules and submit your work here.

The contest expires tomorrow at 4pm Pacific, so get a move on.

Good luck!

In Autumn's Honor

Things are pretty boring on the writing front right now, so I thought I’d mix things up.

How, you ask?

With a recipe, of course. A lowfat awesome one actually; one perfect for autumn.

So, without further adieu, here is how to make…
Spiced Pumpkin Apple Bread! (yay?)

Ingredients:
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp cloves
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 3 cups granulated sugar

• 4 eggs
• 1 15oz can of pure pumpkin puree

• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce

• ½ cup apple juice
• 1 large baking apple or 1.75 small apples peeled, cored, and diced

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and lightly flour two 9X5-inch loaf pans. (Too much flour leaves a white film in the corners. Yes, I learned the hard way.)
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt.
4. In another large bowl, mix sugar, pumpkin, eggs, applesauce, and apple juice. Beat until blended.

5. Add pumpkin (wet) concoction to flour (dry) mixture. Stir until moistened.
6. Fold in apples. (If using two small apples, eat the remainder of the second apple with peanut butter. The sooner the better :))
7. Spoon batter into loaf pans.
8. Bake for about 65 – 70 mins or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
9. Turn off oven. (A simple, but often overlooked step. Well, at least at my house.)
10. Cool in pans for 10 min.
11. Remove to wire racks or aluminum foil to finish cooling.

And there you have it. Enjoy!