Alphabet Soup

I've been making the littles some apple muffins lately, which they love, but I've been wanting to make something with pumpkin instead.  However, I've been stuck in a rut and just haven't found a recipe that I've wanted to try.  Sure, I have my stand-by recipes, but I wanted something new.  I can't believe I hadn't checked one of my favorite baking books ( Baking From My Home to Yours , by Dorie Greenspan ) before now.  A quick look at the index, and I found what I was looking for, All-in-One Holiday Bundt Cake.  It really does have it all:  pumpkin, apples, fresh cranberries, and pecans.  Perfect!  I even had all the ingredients, since I had picked up some cranberries on a whim at the grocery store this week.  I decided to let all the kiddos help me, and they were excited to.  Let me warn you though, I would prep the pecans, cranberries, and apples ahead of time if you're going to be making this with kids, especially young ones....

I've been blogging for two years now! It's hard for me to believe it's been that long. I know I haven't been all that consistent with it, but it really has been fun! This little anniversary actually snuck up on me. I was thinking last night that I needed to see when it was. I checked, and eek! November 6th. Guess maybe I should put it on my calendar or something so I don't forget it. :) I wanted to do something special on the blog to celebrate. In typical Katy fashion, I'm going to be late to my own party, but I have a couple of things in the works that I will share soon! I've been doing a lot of thinking (stressing) lately about blogging. I never set out to try to be a big-name blogger, land a book deal, or even make a little money off my blog. I am certainly not knocking those that have those aspirations. I just...don't. I just want to have fun, but I also tend to have a "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing well" attitude. So...

This week's selection for Tuesdays with Dorie comes from Lynne of Honey Muffin .  What a perfect choice for the first Tuesday in October!  It's finally starting to feel like fall around here, so the scents of this cake baking were very welcome indeed. This cake comes together fairly easy, with the exception of grating the apples.  However, you only have to grate two of them, so it's really not that bad.  I had some 2-year-old help in the kitchen while making these, so things didn't go quite as smoothly as perhaps they could have.  I guess I didn't get my bundt pan buttered as well as I thought, because the cake did wind up sticking in a few places, though not too horribly.  And if I'd had a little more time, I probably would have toasted the pecans first.  I was finally able to use the apple butter I bought at a local apple orchard too.  Still, it turned out quite well.  Following Dorie's suggestion, it really is better the next da...

Rum.  Vanilla.  Cake.  What's not to like?  This week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection was made by Wendy of Pink Stripes .  And what a good selection it was! I was able to mix these babies up yesterday while my baby was napping.  Trust me, this is monumental around here.  And while I have a love-affair with my Kitchen Aid mixer, I do like that these cakes are easily mixed up by hand.  I thought about halving the recipe, but really, this is a cake that is just screaming to be shared with friends.  Or maybe eaten in one sitting...no, no, no, definitely shared!  I did follow the recipe as written, using vanilla extract instead of the vanilla beans.  And I used half & half instead of the cream.  No particular reason, that's just what I had on hand!  If you like rum, then this is the cake for you!  If you don't like rum, well...there are actually variations listed with the recipe where you can leave the rum o...

Welcome, welcome! Look at me. Actually baking and blogging about a Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. :) You can all quit staring in shock and disbelief now. This week's recipe, Classic Banana Bundt Cake , was chosen by Mary of The Food Librarian . Now, let me start by saying that not only did I actually make this recipe, but I made it yesterday even. That's right. I didn't wait until the last minute. Good thing too. So yesterday I drop Sean off at chess camp (yes, chess camp) and then run to the grocery store for a few items that I know I need for the recipe. Namely bananas and sour cream. I'm just hoping that the grocery store has relatively ripe bananas (they did!). Kade crashes on the way home, so I take the s-l-o-w route there to give him a little longer to sleep (he is the anti-nap child). I don't usually take the time to take a picture with all of the ingredients lined up beforehand. I'm glad I decided to this time. Look at the picture below. Do you see anyt...