Amish Garden Made Two Best-Seller Lists

   Imagine how excited I was to find out that my Amish Garden Slow Cooker cookbook made it to #2 on TWO Best-Seller lists: Best Southern Cooking and Seasoning Cooking.   I am so humbled!
   As most who follow me on my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/AmishFictionAuthorSicilyYoder, know I have been slaving away at VERY lengthy revisions for my Amish Romance Christmas books. I love my editors, Ashlee Anne, Jessie Colegrove, and Tammy L. Hensel. They make me a better writer.
   While my focus is on fiction, I still share my love of food through cookbooks, partly because I miss my work as a sales representative for Land O' Lakes, Alouette, and Pillsbury. A car wreck almost three years ago forced me out of that line of work. Therefore, I still enjoy sharing recipes with their products.
   I have decided to have a contest on my Facebook page (link is above) to celebrate this awesome milestone in my writing career. Winners will receive a copy of Amish Garden Slow-Cooker Cookbook.

   To enter, simply post your favorite recipe using Land O' Lakes butter and Pillsbury's ready-to-use products.

Good Luck!

Sicily Yoder

Early Morning Breakfast

    I fixed banana bread and lattes this morning for breakfast. Ashlee took a French vanilla latte in her thermos. I also fixed hazelnut. I like both. Banana bread was my top seller in my bakery. It has a lot of bananas and less sugar than most recipes. 
   Since it is a top secret recipe, I can't give it out. It's the only recipe I don't give out. However, I do have another one which is very good. Enjoy!

BANANA BREAD

1 cup mashed bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup English walnut halves
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 eggs, beaten and added one at a time
1/2 cup milk
1 stick butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray and flour one large loaf pan and set aside. mash bananas. Add spices and mix well. In another bowl, sift flour, salt, and baking powder. Combine mixtures. Add beaten eggs one at a time, stirring well, scraping the sides of the bowl. Add remaining ingredients except walnuts. Mix well. Fold in walnuts.  Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for twenty to thirty minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

During the summer months, shortcake, made with seasonal fruit, is staple at my house. I whip up my own whipped cream using heavy cream. You can use pound cake, shortcake, or leftover scones or biscuits. 
   Since I just posted a scone recipe, you can use that recipe for breakfast and use the leftover scones with heavy cream, berries, apricots or peaches, and some chocolate truffles. 
   If you're watching your calories but insist on enjoying this dessert, you can substitute half of the cream for Land O' Lakes nonfat. I used to be an award-winning sales representative for Land O' Lakes and Alouette, so I always use the real butter and creams. It shows in my recipes that I put in my cookbooks and serve around the dinner table to my family and guests. 

Blessings in Christ,

Sicily 

   I have adapted Alton Brown's scone recipe to accommodate my picky eaters and my love for butter. I substituted 2 tablespoons of the shortening for butter. I also added Valencia orange zest, ground ginger, and crystallized ginger. I left the egg out by mistake (even seasoned cookbook authors do that at times), but it was still very good. Ashlee Anne, my baby girl and editor liked it. 
   You may find the recipe at:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/scones-recipe/index.html

Blessings in Christ,

Sicily

   We had Mixed Up Mania at our place tonight. The girls are watching a hodgepodge of movies, and I am listening to a variety of music on Pandora while I finish the last volume of my best-selling serial, Amish Blizzards (all glory to God) and finish plotting my next series. I fixed Mixed Up Pasta, which is two types of pasta (your choice) and marinara sauce with sauteed mushrooms and meatballs. Crazy Confetti cupcakes were served to two happy teenagers. Ashlee Anne, my daughter and editor, and her sister, Jessica "Kristina Farmer" Randall.

   I do not work on Sundays, so the volume will be available next week. Kristina and my new series, Love Inspired by Courage will be out next month. I enjoy teaming up with my daughters. Kristina and Ashlee are both writers, having taken Creative Writing and Poetry in college. God has blessed me with a wonderful home and family. Have a blessed weekend!

Blessings in Christ Jesus,
Sicily  



CRAZY CONFETTI CUPCAKES


2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup Crisco shortening
1/4 cup Land O' Lakes unsalted butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1 1/4 cup hot water
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
Pillsbury confetti sprinkles
1 can Pillsbury icing

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 1 six-count, medium cupcake tin and 1 8-inch round cake pan. Lightly flour pans. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add in eggs. Add in remaining ingredients, except Pillsbury icing. Mix well and pour into prepared pans and back at 350 degrees for fifteen to twenty minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

   Italian night was fantastic at my place. I had Thyme-Basil Polenta with grilled bread and Tomato Egg Noodles. The recipe will be in one of my fall cookbooks. If you enjoy pasta, be sure to stay tuned because I have 12 different ravioli recipes coming your way! 

   On the upside, my cookbook, Southern Girls Can Cook, was #1 for best Southern Cooking. There was a glitch in the ranking system, but my ranking is finally fixed, and the little, quaint book is now #6 in Southern Cooking, #9 in Seasonal Cooking, and #1 in Hot New Releases. I am very humbled. 

Blessings in Christ Jesus,

XOXO

Sicily

New Summer Salad Cookbook