At long last the promised recipes.

All recipes I'm about to tell you about are from the "Daffodil Festival Cookbook", printed by Jumbo Jack's Cookbooks. If for some reason you want their info, just let me know and I'll get it for you.

My famous pumpkin bread, reworked and made fantastic.

(Preheat oven to 350 degrees F)

3 cups flour (I use whole wheat)

1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder (note: in different climates I've had to use different amounts of baking soda, so use what works for your area)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

Big dash of cinnamon (I don't measure, I go by how I feel that day)

Medium dash of nutmeg

Small dashes of pumpkin pie spice, cloves, and allspice

1/2 cup sugar (You can increase this to 3/4 cup as 1/2 cup makes a good but very unsweet loaf)

1 scoop protein powder

******* Yadda yadda, mix dry ingredients together before adding wet ingredients.

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup oil

4 large eggs

2/3 cup brewed pumpkin spice coffee (this is what makes my bread fantastic)

1 can pumpkin (I use Libby's, other brands taste weird to me)

******* Mix together, pour into greased bread pans (I use ... oh bother ... haha I don't know the dimensions)

Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes, depending on your oven.

(Entire batch, assuming 1/2 cup sugar: est. 2815 calories; 2 loaves, 24 slices total: 117 calories/slice)

Another recipe that I just tried today and am going to make for Christmas gifts is a variation on Chocolate Chip Cookies (I can't help myself, I always have to tweak). Same book.

(Preheat oven to 375 degrees F)

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 T. hot water

2 tsp. vanilla

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder (the recipe actually calls for 1 Tbs. baking soda, but that has to be a misprint.)

Mix dry, mix wet, combine, make it look fluffy, add 1 cup mint chocolate baking chips. Arrange by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets, bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Notes: I think I could make them larger and they would still look adorable. Next time I'm going to sprinkle them with green sprinkles to make them look festive. And I don't know how many calories these cookies contain. Not sure I want to know.

And there you go. These two recipes will be my staple holiday fare this year since they're easy and fun to do. Enjoy!