Applesauce Cake

Applesauce Cake
(adapted from Marcelle S.)
I love the spices, nuts, and chocolate chips in this applesauce cake.  It reminds me of the Fall, but can be served anytime. 

1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
1 2/3 cup applesauce
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. allspice
3 1/2 cups flour
chocolate chips (optional)
chopped nuts (optional)
raisins (optional)

Cream sugar and butter together in a large bowl.  Mix in eggs and applesauce.  Stir in the rest of dry ingredients.  On the last few strrkes, fold in the chocolate chips, nuts, and or raisins.  Pour in greased pans and bake at 325 F until cake bounces when touched in the middle and a toothpick comes out clean.  This can make a 9x13 cake or 2 8x4 inch loaves or lots of tiny loaves and muffins.
 *Great to make the fall when apples are in season.

Favorite Read Aloud Books

We love books!  Here is a list of some of the favorites my husband and I have read out loud to our children. (Our children are all under the age of 8, but I am listing the ones that might suit the younger audience first):

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne 
The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
Now We are Six  by A.A.Milne The
Raggedy Ann books (can find them online)

Uncle Wiggly Stories by Howard R. Garis (my younger kids loved these stories

Miss Piggle Wiggle books by Betty MacDonald

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
The Chocolate Touch by  Patrick Skene Catling
My Father's Dragon  by Ruth Stiles Gannett
Elmer's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
*Little House on the Prairie Series
*Sarah, Plain, and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
*One of A Kind Family (this is a series and all of the books are great) by Sydney Taylor
Skylark by Patricia MacLachlan
Dolphin Adventure, A True Story by Wayne Grover
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin by Marguerite Henry(based on a true story)
*Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
A Grain of Rice by Helena Clare Pittman
*Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois
Pinky Pye by Eleanor Estes  (fun, and light little mystery involved)
The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes (fun and light)
100 Dresses by Eleanor Estes (not my favorite)
Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes (not my favorite)
*Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
*Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
*The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
*Anne of Green Gables by L.M Montgomery
*Island of the Blue Dolpins by Scott O'Dell

Mary on Horseback by Rosemary Wells
*The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
*The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter

Little Loyd Faunterloy by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (for an older audience)

*indicate my favorites