Denny's French Toast

4 eggs
2/3 c. milk
1/3 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
6 slices texas toast

Whisk together the ingredients. Dip bread in egg mix and place on hot, buttered griddle.

Brown Sugar Bacon Waffles

I got this off Joy the Baker. They were so good. The LDS missionaries stopped by right after we had started eating (We eat a little early) so I invited them in to have some. They really liked them. Scott ate 3! Amy actually made them, I just did the bacon.

For the Bacon:
10 slices of bacon
1/4 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with non stick cooking spray and line with foil. Arrange bacon in a single layer on the baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with brown sugar. Place in the upper third of the oven and bake until sugar is caramelized and bacon is brown and crispy, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Immediately remove bacon slices using a pair of tongs. Place them on a cutting board (not paper towels, they’ll stick!) to cool before chopping. Once cool, chop the bacon into bite size bits and set aside.

For the Waffles:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cups canola or grapeseed oil
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups buttermilk

*If you don’t eat bacon for some reason, try adding 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon to the batter. Yum!

Set up your waffle iron on a level, clean surface and turn on to preheat.

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar. Whisk to blend. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold. Once almost fully incorporated, add the bacon bites. Stir. Try not to over mix the batter or the waffles will become tough. It’s ok if a few lumps remain in the batter.

Cook according to your waffle machine instructions.

Serve with maple syrup and strawberries.

Sausage Gravy

I actually made gravy and it was good. It had a little too much sausage for me. I'm not used to it. My dad usually fried up sausage patties and then makes the gravy from the fat, rather than leaving it in the gravy. One of my favorite things to eat. I'm such a good southern girl.

1 lb. breakfast sausage
butter
3 Tbsp. flour
2 c. milk
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Cook sausage over medium heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Transfer to a dish. Pour out all but 1/4 c. fat. If you have less than 1/4 c. fat, add butter to make up for it. Stir in flour and cook 2 minutes over medium low heat. Whisk in milk and cook until sauce begins to thicken, but do not boil. Stir in sausage and salt and pepper.

Biscuits

We had these with the sausage gravy for Christmas morning. I love biscuits and gravy.

2 1/2-3 c. flour
8 Tbsp. butter, chilled and cut into cubes.
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 c. buttermilk
4 Tbsp. butter, softened

Preheat oven to 450. Pulse together dry ingredients in a food processor. Add buttermilk and mix. Dough will be slightly dry. Roll out and cut with a biscuit cutter. Place on a baking sheet and bake 10-12 minutes. Spread with softened butter.

Berry Stuffed French Toast

I made these for Christmas brunch a few years back, but we gave up that idea in favor of the traditional Christmas dinner. Still, Marshall likes all things strawberry and really likes these.

BERRY-STUFFED FRENCH TOAST
strawberry syrup

2 c. unsweetened strawberries
¾ c. brown sugar
3 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 ½ tsp. vanilla

French toast:

1 pkg. cream cheese
½ c. sour cream
18 slices sour dough bread
½ c. strawberry jam
1 tsp. vanilla
6 eggs
¼ c. half and half
1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon

For syrup, combine strawberries, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Set aside. Beat cream cheese and sour cream. Spread about 3 Tbsp. on each slice of bread. Combine jam and vanilla; spread over cream cheese mixture on 9 slices. Top with remaining bread, cream cheese side down, to make a sandwich. In a shallow bowl, combine eggs, cream, and cinnamon. Dip both sides of bread in egg mixture. Cook on a hot greased griddle for 3-4 minutes. Serve with strawberry syrup.

Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins

These were the best muffins ever!! I love Barefoot Contessa!
* 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 3 large eggs, at room temperature
* 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream
* 1/4 cup milk
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 2 cans blueberries, rinsed and drained

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place 16 paper liners in muffin pans.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, sour cream, and milk. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed. Fold in the blueberries with a spatula and be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each cup just over the top, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned on top and a cake tester comes out clean.

Pumpkin Pancakes

This was our breakfast on Halloween morning. I adapted the buttermilk pancake mix to make these. They were really good.
1 c. white flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 egg
2 Tbsp. white sugar
½ tsp. salt
1½ c. milk
1/3 to 1/2 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 to 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

MIX. Bake on hot, lightly greased griddle.

Buttermilk Pancakes

I don't like pancake mixes so I always make them from scratch and it's not any harder to do. I grew up on homemade pancakes, which may be why I can't eat them from a mix. My Daddy made some good pancakes back in the day.
1 c. white flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 egg
2 Tbsp. white sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. oil
1½ c. buttermilk

MIX. Bake on hot, lightly greased griddle.

Carrot Cake Pancakes

Here they are. I have to say, that I'm not quite sure what to think of them though. At first they start out really good but they are so dense that after a few bites, you start to become disenchanted. I did cook the carrots first so they wouldn't be so crunchy.

adapted from the food network

* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
* Dash nutmeg
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 1/3 cup packed brown or granulated sugar
* 1 cup milk
* 2 cups finely grated carrots
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Spread

* 4 ounces cream cheese
* 1/4 cup powdered sugar
* 2 tablespoons milk
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 dash ground cinnamon
In a bowl, combine flour, pecans, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg.

In a separate bowl, combine egg, brown sugar, milk, carrots, and vanilla; mix well.

Stir carrot mixture into dry ingredients until moistened. Pour batter by 1/4 cupful onto a greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on the top of pancake; flip and cook until golden brown.

For topping, blend cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Sprinkle with cinnamon, and serve with pancakes.

Mushroom Asparagus Quiche

I thought I'd try this because I love asparagus and mushrooms. I don't care for the crescent roll crust so next time I will use a regular pie crust.
1 tube crescent rolls
2 tsp. dijon mustard
1 1/2 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
1/4 c. butter, cubed
2 eggs beaten
2 c. shredded mozzarella
1/4 c. fresh parsley, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. each dried basil, oregano and rubbed sage
Separate crescent dough into 8 triangles; place in an ungreased pie plate. press into bottom and up the sides. spread with mustard. Saute asparagus, onion and mushrooms in butter. combine remaining ingredients and stir in asparagus mixture. Pour into crust. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Baked Eggs With Potatoes

I sometimes make this for dinner. We like it topped with salsa.
3 Tbsp. butter
8 red skinned potatoes, diced
1/4 c. chopped flat leaf parsley
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
black pepper
8 eggs
1 c. shredded cheddar
preheat oven to 400 degrees. melt butter in a cast iron skillet, or other oven proof skillet. Add potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the parlsey, garlic, salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Make 4 shallow nests and break 2 eggs into each. bake about 10 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over eggs and bake about 1 minute more.

Waffles

I got this recipe from a friend. I haven't tried it yet, but they assured me these are the best waffles ever.
1 c. white flour
1 c. wheat flour
3 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
mix together
3 eggs
4 Tbsp. melted butter
2 c. buttermilk
Mix just until combined. The batter will be very lumpy. They also said to use real buttermilk and not the milk and lemon trick. It makes a big difference.