Falling for Autumn!

Fall is by far my favorite season. I know it's technically still summer, but with all the rain the past few days cooling it off outside, and the start of school... it feels like fall to me.

The other night I put on some sweatpants, made some hot tea, grabbed a Pumpkin Spice Scone, and curled up on my bed with a book. Totally fall behavior. I love the colors, the smells, the weather (sans flooding...), the fairs and festivals.... Fall is just my season. Most of all, I love fall baking, and knowing that it leads to holiday baking.




While not terribly fall-y, I just made some Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins. I want to get a workout in tonight yet and not throw up mid-run, so I haven't tried them yet, but they look and smell amazing.





On a related note, I'm thinking about selling baked goods this fall/winter. If I decide to, I'll probably send an order sheet to school with my mom, and try to spread it through word-of-mouth. Since I'm unemployed and jonesing to bake more, this seems like a good way to get in the kitchen, as well as make some "dough". Pun definitely intended. :-P

Here's what I'm thinking about so far:

Banana Nut Bread
Pumpkin Bread
Cranberry Bread
Pumpkin-Banana Bread

Maple Pecan Muffins
Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Shoo-fly Pie
Candy Bar Pie
Sweet Potato Pie

Chocolate Chip Cookies
White Chocolate-Cherry Shortbread Cookies
Gingersnaps
Sugar Cookies

Pumpkin Rolls
Jelly Rolls


Since a lot of people go out and buy goodies to take to parties, give as gifts, or just share with their family, I figure I'll be cheaper than most bakeries, and I can deliver right to the school since that's probably where most of my business would be. I haven't worked out prices yet, since I'm still just throwing the idea around. I can pull out some start-up money for supplies and containers, and hopefully I'll make back at least that much. If I'm lucky and turn a profit, well woo-hoo! Leave a comment and let me know if this is a good idea or not!

Well, as it's almost midnight, I guess I should get to working out. (Incidentally, I ran a whole MILE yesterday! I usually do anywhere from 2.5-4 miles on the treadmill, and run intervals. Up until yesterday, I'd been doing 1/2-mile intervals, but yesterday I did a mile at a time and didn't die! Yay, me! :-P)


Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Ingredients
1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. sugar
1 egg
1 C. mashed ripe bananas
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. hot water
1 1/2 C. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 bag chocolate chips

Method
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and bananas and mix well. In a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the hot water; add to banana mixture. Stir in the remaining ingredients, adding chocolate chips last. Spoon into a paper-lined 12-count muffin tin, dividing batter evenly between the twelve cups. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 20 minutes - until domed, golden, and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.



Enjoy!