Easter Sausage Breakfast Casserole

Another holiday breakfast tradition. This was the first breakfast casserole that Grandma Mary maded for Easter Brunch after church. It is still a favorite of many.

1 lb. pork sausage, crumbled, fried and drained

6 slices bread, cubed

4 eggs, beaten

2 c milk

1 t prepared mustard

½ t salt

1 c grated cheddar cheese

Mix and put in pan. Store in frig overnight. Bake for 45 minutes-1 hour at 350°.

Breakfast Blueberry Muffins

This is a great muffin--delicious and nutritious! Put them in the freezer and then microwave for breakfast in a pinch! Yummy with a vanilla latte!

2 c rolled oats

2 c flour

½ c brown sugar

⅓ c right stuff 6 grain cereal (Bob’s Red Mill)

2 T baking powder

1½ t cinnamon

1 t salt

1 c cooked bulgar wheat *

2 eggs

1½ c buttermilk

½ c oil

⅓ c honey

2 c blueberries

In a large mixing bowl stir together the oats, flour, sugar, right stuff cereal, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In medium bowl combine eggs, milk, oil, honey and fruit; add egg mixture all at once to dry ingredients. Stir quickly just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spray muffin tins with non-stick spray and fill ⅔ full. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15-18 minutes or well done.

* Bulgar wheat (whole wheat berries, soaked in water over night, then boiled for an hour till soft. Use fresh water to soak and then fresh water to cook. Do a large batch, and then freeze them in 1 c batches.)

Yields: 24 muffins

Joy to you,

Christmas Raspberry Coffee Cake

This recipe came from my friend, Amy. She won first place in a cooking magazine with this yummy treat. We have it for Christmas morning breakfast along with that scrumptious Hard Boiled Egg Breakfast Casserole. The boys always ask this question at Christmas time: "What's for breakfast"? When I tell them it's the raspberry coffee cake and the hard boiled egg casserole, they physically relax. I love it!

It 'seems' tricky, but it really is a piece of cake! :)

3 c flour

1 t baking soda

½ t salt

1 t baking powder

1 c sugar

2 sticks butter

2 eggs beaten

1 c sour cream

1 t vanilla

Filling:

1 c water

2 pkg. frozen raspberries

½ pkg. frozen blueberries

2 T lemon juice

1¼ c sugar

⅓ c cornstarch

Topping:

½ c flour

½ c sugar

¼ c butter

chopped pecans

Glaze: (we never do the glaze--too sweet)

1 c powdered sugar thinned with milk, 1¼ c sugar

½ t vanilla

pinch of salt

Combine fruit with 1 c water. Simmer, uncovered, about 5 minutes. Add juice. Mix sugar and cornstarch. Add to fruit. Cook & stir, till thick. Cool.

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and sugar. Cut in butter; add eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Batter will be very thick! Spread half the batter in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Spread filling over batter then spread rest of batter on top.

To make the topping, cut butter into flour and sugar; stir in pecans. Sprinkle topping on the batter.

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

Glaze with powdered sugar thinned with milk, vanilla and pinch of salt when cake comes out of the oven.

Joy to you!

Christmas Hard Boiled Egg Breakfast Casserole

I look forward to this casserole every year! I MIGHT make this one other time during the year, but it is so rich...

This is our Christmas morning breakfast served with prize winning Raspberry Coffee Cake, oranges, apple/pineapple juice, milk, coffee and hot tea.

Serves (10-12) 6-8

(16) 12 hard boiled eggs

(2) 1½ lbs. bacon fried and crumbled

(4) 3 c sour cream

(4) 3 T milk

(4) 3 T onion (used green onions)

Salt to taste

(1) ¾ t paprika

(⅔)¼ t pepper

(2) 1½ c cheddar cheese shredded

(2) 1 can chopped green chilies

(¾) ½ loaf King’s Hawaiian bread-cubed

(4) 3 T butter

(⅔) ¼ c cream

Spray 9 x 13 (larger for bigger amounts) with pam. Layer bread cubes in bottom of dish. Place sliced hard-boiled eggs over them and drizzle with melted butter and cream. Season with salt. Mix sour cream, milk, spices and chilies. Layer on top of eggs. Sprinkle bacon on and layer on the cheese last.

Refrigerate overnight. Bake for 45 minutes at 350°. Let stand for 10 minutes to set.

Glue Food

Several years ago I forgot to put oranges into the toes of the boys Christmas stockings. They weren't 'upset', but I had clearly 'missed' a tradition that I didn't realize was a tradition. This has made me more intentional and aware of what we do as a family, as well as the food I serve while we do it.

It is easy to create traditions. At least, in my family it is. Anytime we repeat a menu or do the same thing in the same way at different times, we have the beginnings of a tradition. Some things fade and are forgotten, but others stick. And for us, those things that 'stick' are powerful and important. They become part of the glue that holds us together.

So, I am going to be sharing our 'glue food' recipes for you to chew on. Some will be shared because one of our grandmothers made them as part of their traditions, and some will be shared because they are a 'go to' recipes of our family. I'll letcha know.

Oh, these pictures are our new table and hutch, a Christmas present from my dear hubby! The table has 2 leaves and 2 more chairs, so all 8 of us can sit easily together.

I am dreaming of all the new memories that will be around this table, and treasuring all the old memories that have already been in this room. (And I am playing with the settings on my camera! We all had lessons over the Christmas break...fun!)

Oh, and BTW, there have been oranges ever since.

I Won!

Sorry I didn't get this posted sooner, but I won this beautiful scarf! It really is pretty and so well done! How fun!

I thank you, Ronit.

Check out her fun blog, two hippos.

Here we go again!

Wow! I never remember this much snow in my home town. Compared to this, which I thought was a lot, the snow we had over Christmas was unbelievable. In fact, every time I looked outside, I said "Unbelievable". But it makes me think of God, and His vast, unbelievable love for us. I am in awe of the power and magnitude of this storm, but it is nothing when compared to the power and magnitude of God.

If you look closely, you can see a chair down in the snow. There is a fire pit beyond it and another chair and settee. I don't think there was much drifting down there, so we feel pretty confident that we got around 2 foot of snow. Some places in town the drifts reach almost to the eves. At my folks, on Christmas night, we watched one drift reach almost to our waists. My son and his now fiance (YEAH!!!!!!) made it in on Christmas morning. They got to take pictures yesterday by the covered bridge and that is where he popped the question and whipped out the diamond! That, along with our grandson being here, made this a most wonderful Christmas.

Snow Day Fun!!

The snow fell, and fell, leaving a beautiful world! And I don't know why, but I have always felt as if snow days were a gift, dropped into my lap. And it was a gift to be able to stay home so close to Christmas and get so much done! Sweetness!

There was actually 12+ inches of snow at our place. I think the top over our deck kept a lot of the white stuff out. Did I mention that it is beautiful?

Now...I am soooo excited! My sister said I could share about the quilt she made over a couple of these snow days! Since I have to go back to school tomorrow, I thought I would do one more 'fun thing' before the end of the gift and post it on my blog.

She had ordered Plain Jane FQs for her daughter who is having a baby in January and called for help. Actually, it was more like moral support. It was a challenge to figure out how to put them together, since they are from 3 different color groups, but here is the design she decided upon.

I love the white inner borders. It really sets off the colors of the Plain Jane fabric and ties it all together.

Another view.

And still one more.

Here she is doing some magic on the Bernina she got from our Grandmother more years ago than she wants to believe. :) She is piecing some leftovers to make a panel down on the backing fabric.

And here is that panel inserted in the backing. So much fun! :) Long arm quilter, here it comes!

Joy to you!

Vickie

Snow Day

You know the old saying, "Make hay while the sun shines". Well, I need to "make hay" while the snow falls. We have a snow day and looks like we will have another one tomorrow! So...as a start, I got the photos off of my old phone and found this! I will blog about it later, but it is at the quilter's along with this quilt. Can't wait to see them!!

So, as you may have noticed, I got a new phone. In fact, several of us got new phones this weekend. Two of my sons had iPhones with AT&T, but were unable to receive calls where they lived. Well...that isn't exactly true. They could get calls if their phone was at the correct angle, sitting in the correct spot in the correct corner of the room. And they couldn't pick it up, or they would loose the connection. It was nice for screening calls from mom, but that is another story. :)

So, with the switch for Alltel to Verizon, they had some sweet deals on phones. Plus, we all got on the same plan and put it in my name, since they have a discount for teachers. Who knew? And now, I can reach out and touch them no matter where they are! I am going to have to be careful not to abuse that privilege!

But I am excited about all the possibilities this new phone brings to my life. Of course, it has all the jazzy stuff that people don't really need, but then there are so many things that are really going to help me. I got an email at school reminding me about a meeting and I just put it in my calendar and this morning it is on the opening screen of my phone (since the meeting is tomorrow). However, it may be quite fun to delete it (you know...snow day)!

Creating music energizes me and it doesn't 'feel' like work. I often say, "don't tell people they pay me to do this". But the organizational details wear me out. Put that on top of being in two buildings and always wanting something, organizational wise, from the other building, this little phone could really be a great tool!!

Another big plus!! I can put my memory verses on them as well, instead of carrying notecards. :) That is going to be GREAT for me, because putting God's word into my mind is what saves my mind! Right now I am working on Psalm 16.

Joy to you!

Vickie

Finally!

I laid this out to begin piecing it over Thanksgiving and my sweetie loved it. It was going to go to a new home for Christmas, but I quickly realized that would not be happening. I am too much of a newbie and time is too short to do it justice. Plus, he loved the watercolor effect of the Lantern Bloom and asked me to keep this at our house. :) I gladly agree!

Also finished piecing the new little man's quilt. Mom and Dad requested a quilt larger than a baby quilt. I sewed it on my mom-in-law's old Viking and I think my sea allowance was smaller than 1/4", because this quilt turned out larger than the others I have made with this pattern. :) I asked my quilter to make the pattern for the quilting denser. I can't wait to get it back! I love Amy Schimler's Animal Party!