Amish Bread and A Bear Bento

Today, I was baking up some Amish Friendship Bread, and though the recipe has been around the block more times than I care to imagine, I have never tried many of the variations. This year, I decided to play around a bit, with success, so as the next 10 day batch rolls around, I'll be baking off LOTS of new variations just in time for some holiday gifts. Oh, and some of my bento blogging buddies did a Ho Ho Holiday Hop today, so be sure and jump in on it and check out all the wonderful holiday ideas they had to offer!

Celery, cherry tomatoes, Amish friendship bread, mini marshmallows, Swiss and colby jack cheese scraps, Trader Joe's veggie straws, barbeque sauce, and Schwans chicken tenders.

While the kiddo likes the traditional cinnamony Amish bread, I am in love with the Cherry Pistachio one! Yum!

To make the Cherry Pistachio version of this bread, follow all the traditional instructions, but substitute pistachio instant pudding for the vanilla, and add in 1 cup chopped maraschino cherries and 2 Tbsp of their liquid. 
If you don't have the full recipe, here it is for your viewing pleasure!
Mix together 1 cup starter, 1 cup oil, 1/2 cup milk, 2 Tbsp cherry liquid, 3 eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla. In a seperate bowl, mix 1 cup sugar, 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp cinnamon, and 1 large or 2 small boxes instant pistachio pudding mix. Add the dry to the wet and stir to combine. Stir in 1 cup chopped maraschino cherries. Bake in 2 greased and sugared loaf pans at 325 degrees for 60-65 minutes. Yum!!