No one can accuse DAYS OF OUR LIVES' Mary Beth Evans (Kayla) of having idle hands. She thrives on keeping busy, something she proved while commuting between Los Angeles and New York for her role as Sierra on AS THE WORLD TURNS last year. Evans opened her own business, Mary Beth's Apple Pie Co.

"I'm such a worker bee. I can never sit still," admits Evans, who started the business "on a lark. I'd been making the same apple pie recipe for years, and everyone always loved it. One day, I said that I should start selling them, and my husband dared me, in a sense, to see if I could pull it off."

Of course, Evans did. "I started three weeks before Thanksgiving last year," says Evans, who sent flyers around her neighborhood to advertise and launch her "I make it, you bake it," confections. "I ended up with about 100 orders. I made the pies and delivered them to everybody's house myself. There I was, driving my little minivan all over town, delivering pies. The night before Thanksgiving I got home, closed the car door and went, 'Oh, my God! That is the hardest money I have ever earned.' To take the orders, make every single pie, wrap every single pie, deliver it to every person's house, and write everybody back and say thank you.... It was such hard work."

But that didn't deter Evans, who quickly went national. "I'm shipping all over the country, now," boasts Evans, who whipped up 150 pies at Christmas. "I did Soap Talk, mentioned the pies, and got 100 more orders. Anytime something comes out about the business, I'll get about 100 orders." Evans allows that the shipping process is daunting. "You have to ship with dry ice in a special box," she says. "Plus, I do all my own labels. I totally hunt and peck on the computer. It's crazy."

Still, Evans can't complain. "Business is booming. Everybody who buys a pie e-mails me back to say that it is the best one they've ever had," smiles Evans, who admits the feedback warms her heart. "It really is delish. It's not gooey or overly sweet. It's made fresh, with tart apples, cinnamon and sugar. And it's totally foolproof. It arrives frozen and ready to go. You bake it in your own house."

To check out Evans making one of her masterpieces, visit marybethsapplepie.com. "There's a video," shares Evans. "Stephen (Nichols, Steve) shot it for me. He put music to it, too." Orders can be placed via the Web site.

Evans hopes that other women follow her lead and take advantage of their talents to delve into business. "More moms should do something like this; sell cookies or whatever else they make," asserts Evans, noting that it sends a good message to children. "For my kids to see that I had this dumb little idea, worked really hard and made it a success, has been one of the greatest things I could ever have done. It's been a good family lesson."

And, at times, a family project, as well. "My 13-year-old, Matthew, helps me a lot," admits Evans. "He is the fastest apple-peeler in the West. He can do 100 apples in 30 minutes."