Autumn is synonymous with apple harvest time in Ohio. This is a good thing for me because I never tire of all the ways to use apples. When I bake my favorite Shenandoah Apple Cake, my entire house fills with a heavenly aroma. This cake is loaded with apples and topped with a rich topping. It is sinfully good, so you may want to up your exercise regimen!

Shenandoah Valley Apple Cake
Serves 16
1 cup cooking oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 ¼ tsp. vanilla
2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3 Cups pared and diced apples
1Cup chopped nuts
1 Tablespoon flour
1 Tablespoon cinnamon (optional)

Beat oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla in bowl at medium speed. (About 3 minutes).
Sift together 2 c. flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Gradually add dry ingredients to egg mixture, beating well after each addition. Stir in apples. Combine nuts and 1 T flour; add to batter. Pour into greased and floured 13x9x2 inch baking pan. Bake in 350 degree oven 1 hour or until cake tests done. Cool in pan on rack.
Caramel Topping
½ cup of butter or margarine
1 Cup brown sugar, firmly packed
¼ cup milk or whipping cream

Combine butter, brown sugar and milk in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Boil 3 minutes. Remove from heat; spread at once on cake.

Turn that fresh from the garden zucchini into great tasting loaves of bread! Zucchini is one of those home grown vegetables that seem to grow and multiply with very little care. Since this recipe makes two large loaves of delicious zucchini bread, I bake a loaf for my family to eat and freeze a loaf for them to enjoy at another time.

Zucchini Bread

Beat together:

3 eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup oil

2 ½ cups sugar

Add:

2 cups shredded zucchini (do not pack)

3 cups flour (lightly filled)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

3 heaping teaspoons cinnamon

Mix well

Optional additions:

1 cup nuts

1 cup raisins

1 cup coconut

Pour into two greased and floured loaf pans; Bake at 325 for approximately 1 hour.

Two delicious variations of this recipe are banana and pumpkin breads.  Simply substitute the 2 cups of   zucchini for two cups of bananas or two cups of canned pumpkin.  Results are always wonderful.  Bread freezes well for up to three months.