Pigs, Elephants and Donkeys!

When pondering what to post this week
for Free Recipe Friday,

it was a toss up between a breakfast post
and a snacky post.
I went back and forth and back and forth.

Then I realized BOTH of my contenders
contained bacon (go figure).
So in honor of the giver of this recipe,

Uncle Brandon, and his upcoming birthday,

 the snack post won out.  

Here's to you Brandon!

With the holidays on the horizon
these little piggy treats need to go in the
keeper pile.
We made these during the last presidential debate.
James and I ate half of them during the debate
and the other half for breakfast. 

We. Are. Pigs.

Brandon, my brother in law,
made these for us one year when we piled in on them
at Christmas.  But that's a whole other story.
They'd be so great for game night, movie night,
or 'I can't get enough of bacon and sausage' night.

WHAT YOU NEED:

Sliced Bacon - a 12 ounce pkg, not maple
(use the cheap, thin stuff)
Lit'l Smokies - a 14 ounce pkg
(not the the cheesy kind)

Brown Sugar - 1 lb. (half of a 2 lb bag)

Water - 1 to 2 tablespoons

9x9 Baking Dish
Non Stick Spray

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat oven to 350.
Coat baking dish with non stick cooking spray.

Set aside.
Slice bacon slices in half.
(I use kitchen shears and cut the whole
stack in half - much easier than using a knife).
Grab a halved bacon slice and wrap firmly
around a lil' sausage.  Lay each in dish.

Continue wrapping sausages with bacon slices

until the bacon is used up. 

You will most likely have a few sausages leftover-
save them for an omelet or some scrambled eggs.

Next, cover the 'pork overload' with brown sugar.
Don't be shy here - you want to cover completely.

Drizzle a little water over the sugar,
maybe a tablespoon or two.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake.
After 30-40 minutes,

remove the foil and continue baking

for probably 30 more minutes.

disclaimer: I seriously lost track of time here -

we were watching the debate and
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah -

so if you happen to overcook
your little porkies - I do apologize -

but you should be perfectly fine.

You can certainly bake these a little less
or a little more depending on your taste.
We happen to like our bacon
on the crispy side instead of the floppy side.
But you can do what you want.
However, please oh please

DO NOT eat these until they have cooled a bit.

Even after the sugar bubbles have calmed down,

 resist the urge.  Hot, melted sugar = certain death.

 After they've cooled a bit - you will enter heaven on earth.

Yummmmmm.

ENJOY!!!

Free Recipe Friday. . .It's Breakfast Time!

If you've ever been to any kind of large family function, potluck, etc.

you have most assuredly had some form of a breakfast/sausage casserole.

There are as many variations of this casserole as there are

bread types!  If you have never attempted to make one,

this one is a pretty good and easy start.

Ellen Watson of Kilgore gave me this recipe

(along with many others) more than 20 years ago.

I don't believe I ever attempted to make it until about 5 or more years later.

It's funny how it has since become

a Christmas tradition in our household.

Even though we have since acquired other favorite breakfast foods....

we just can't stop making THIS one for Christmas!

It's just tradition.

You will only need a few basic ingredients,

and you can most certainly add to these...

such as throwing in a few hashbrowns, etc...

half this recipe or double it. 

It is VERY forgiving...you can easily fudge

the quantities of any of the ingredients!

1 lb. ground pork sausage, cooked

10-12 large eggs, beaten

3 cups milk

2 tsp. dry mustard (or a few squirts of reg. mustard)

2 tsp. salt

1-2 tsp. black pepper

8-10 slices of bread, cubed or torn (any kind or a mixture)

2 -3 cups shredded cheddar

Brown sausage, crumble while cooking and drain.

In a separate, medium size bowl, whisk eggs.

Add milk and remaining ingredients.

Stir well.  Toss in cooked sausage and pour all into 

a Pam sprayed 9x13 casserole dish.

Bake in a 350 oven for 45-60 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit at least 15 minutes.

The original recipe says to prepare the casserole the night before...

and bake the next morning.

That was actually what enticed us to make this for

an early Christmas morning breakfast to begin with!

We have since learned we can whip it up quickly

in the wee hours of Christmas morning

AFTER viewing Santa's bounty.

We toss it into the oven while everyone

oogles over their gifts and while we wait for it to cook,

James cuts open boxes, adds batteries to toys

and we both slurp down our coffee.

The deliciousness comes out of the oven about 45 minutes to an hour later.

We traditionally (as if the casserole was not enough),

heat up some flour tortillas, get out the Albert's Hot Sauce

and turn our servings of this casserole into a breakfast burrito...

along with a few slices of good naval oranges or clementines!

Mmmm...I can smell that orange peel NOW!

We can't wait to have this on Christmas morning...

we hope you will be enjoying something yummy as well!

Merry Christmas!

Free Recipe Friday. . . Good Gravy!

Ahh, who wants to go camping?!?

This week on Free Recipe Friday 

we're gonna take a virtual camping trip.

With this amazing fall weather upon us,

it's making us dream of being on a campsite somewhere!

Today's post is a recipe that is a tradition

 for our family on every camping trip.

It is Sausage Gravy.

Ahh, did you hear that???

I think I heard some angels singing or something!

Oh, you didn't hear anything???

Well then, I guess you haven't had

the same Sausage Gravy that WE have had! ;) 

It is also routinely made in the Taylor household

once or twice a month for our big Saturday breakfasts.

So, with camping on our mind,

 it was only fitting to have THE finest Sausage Gravy maker

in the whole United States

to share with us his gravy makin' skills!

A man that takes Sausage Gravy makin'

pretty seriously!

So, let me introduce to you,

the one, the only,

James Taylor! (isn't he cute?)

Ok, here goes...

Get a whisk---

Fry up some ground sausage in an iron skillet

(cheap stuff works well cause its greasy)

(use a wad about the size of a baseball - more if you like).

Chop it up as it cooks into little crumbles.

I usually add a "little" bacon grease at this point but that's me.

Once it's cooked, turn the heat down to medium

and sprinkle in some all purpose flour

until all the crumbles are coated - stirring all the time.

Don't add so much flour that you make a doughy mess.

Just enough that all the sausage crumbles

are coated and the flour is wet with piggy grease.

Now for the tricky part.

Get the whisk-

Fill a small glass with milk

and another larger glass with tap water.

Pour the milk into the sausage first -

slowly while stirring so the sausage doesn't cool off too much.

It'll look all lumpy but don't stop stirring with the whisk.

Now slowly start pouring in the water

a little at a time while your whisking what looks like cement

and your arm starts crampin'. 

You want the gravy to look like smooth pudding

but that comes later. The whisk is the key.

Whisk whisk whisk.

Stir stir stir until it's smooth.

If it's too thick, just add a little more water

and stir stir stir till the water is blended in

and the gravy is smoooooth.

Let it cook for a few minutes while stirring

so the flour doesn't taste raw.

Add salt and black pepper to taste

toward the end as you stir stir stir.

Once it looks all smoooth like pudding

you can turn the heat down to simmer

and wait on the biscuits that you got cookin' to be done.

Great on biscuits or even toast.

Mom used to dip cat poop in it. It's THAT good.

Enjoy,

James

A special thanks to my sweet hubby
for sharing with us this week.
He makes gravy like no other!
Listed below are the things you will need
to make gravy for yourself or your family.
Hope you'll try it real soon!

INGREDIENTS/TOOLS NEEDED

Seasoned Iron Skillet (or other large saute pan)

Whisk

1/2 lb. of pork sausage (or a 'wad')

Extra fat if needed (bacon grease or veggie oil)

Flour (appx. 1/2 cup)

Milk (appx. 1 cup)

Water as needed (usually 2-3 cups, maybe more)

Salt/Pepper to taste

Biscuits or Toast

Now our great family secret recipe is out.

All you have to do is decipher it!

No problem, right?!?

ENJOY!