Holiday Breakfast

One of Jamie and I's favorite thing about our holiday off time is getting to be a little lazy in the mornings and actually having time for breakfast. I always try to whip up the traditional bacon and eggs, pancakes or sausage balls but this morning I made a Capps Sausage Quiche. For those of you who don't know about Capps sausage you are truly missing out! It was first introduced to us when we got it as a Christmas gift and now we buy it in bulk! Mr. Capps makes this wonderful sausage in Beauregard and it is delicious! And my main inspiration when I wrote this recipe!!

First you need to brown off 1 pound of ground sausage.

You a slotted spoon and place the cooked sausage in the bottom of a frozen pie crust. 

Then add 2 cups of grated sharp cheddar cheese.

In a bowl crack four eggs.

Add a cup of half and half.

Then 1 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoon pepper, and wisk.

Pour the custard over the sausage and cheese and place the quiche on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. I can always tell it is done when it doesn't jiggly!

And then enjoy!

B

Crock Pot Candy

I think this is a staple in everyone's home! It is delicious and so so simple!! Now let me make it perfectly clear that this will burn as my first batch did. If your recipe says 3 hours it is lying! Those peanuts will be black as night after three hours. 

Let's get started!!

Layer 2 jars of salted peanuts on the bottom of your crock pot.

Top with four oz of German chocolate.

Top with 2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips.

And then one block of almond bark!

Now here is where the recipes vary. Some say don't stir for three hours some say stir after 30 minutes. Here is what I did:

First batch: set on low for 3 hours. EPIC FAIL burned to a crisp at 2.

Second Batch: set on low and stirred at 30 minutes, 1 hour and 1 1/2 hour. Done after two hours.

Then spoon the mixture in your desired size on wax paper and let it set! 

Then package it all pretty and deliver! 

Enjoy!

B

Turtle Thumbprint Cookies

So I am not a cookie person! I prefer cakes and pies, but this year I received an invitation to a cookie swap so the search for the perfect cookie has been under way! I love chocolate chip cookies and snockerdoodles but I wanted something over the top and I came across these!! 

These Turtle Thumbprints remind me a lot  of a brownie, and they are delicious!!!

Here is what you need:

1 stick of butter at room temp

2/3 cup of granulated sugar

1 egg, separated

2 tablespoons of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup of AP Flour

1/3 cup of cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups finely chopped pecans

As with most every recipe, start by creaming the sugar and butter till light and fluffy.

Separate your egg. And add the yolk to the mixer.

Add the milk and vanilla.

Combine the cocoa, flour and salt in a separate bowl and then gradually add it to the mixer.

The batter will be really thick! I placed it in a bowl and let it sit in the fridge for 1 hour and can be done the day before!

After it has chilled, I removed the dough from the fridge and rolled it into one inch bowls.

You want to dip it in the egg white and then dip in the chopped pecans.

And then press down with you thumb in the middle! These will bake on a parchment lined tray at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

While the cookies are still warm you will want to fill them with caramel. Right out of the oven I pushed down on the center of the cookie again!

You need 16 unwrapped caramels and 3 tablespoons whipping cream. I microwaved this for 1 minute.

Stir until smooth!

Then fill each cookie with about a teaspoon of caramel. Then for added effect lets just add a chocolate drizzle!!

1 teaspoon of crisco and half a cup of chocolate chips in the microwave for 1 minute and stir.

Use the trusty ziplock and get to drizzling!!

And there ya go! A turtle thumbprint cookie! Very tasty I might add!!

Enjoy!!

B

Sweet Gifts for the Holidays!!!

Every year I rack my brain to find gifts for sweet friends and neighbors! After working at a Bakery during Rush Week, I got the bright idea to do a Bakery Box! What is a Bakery box you ask? It is a cake box filled with several different treats in smaller sizes or portions! So today at 8 am I started my bakery boxes and at 6 pm we delivered them! 

First, you need to decide what all treats you want to include. Here are my selections:

Turtle Thumbprint Cookies

Crock pot Candy

Mini Mint Brownie Bites

Mini Cream Cheese Pound Cakes

Pumpkin Spice Bread (made in mini paper loaf pans)

Second, you need to decide how you will wrap them. Here are my selections. All of these items can be purchased at Hobby lobby!

Mini Gable Boxes

Clear Cellophane with a bow. 

Clear Cellophane with tissue paper

Printed Cellophane. And I had printed ziplocks but forgot to take a photo!!!

This is the bakery box! It is a plain white 10" cake box from Sunny Side up bakery!

I arranged all my goodies in the box and the box is just so darn white I had to spruce it up with something. And what is better than a bow!

Thanks Pinterest for the tutorial!! And I already had the premade stickers I ordered from MAX and Bella on esty!

Here are my bakery boxes ready for delivery! Stay tuned for all the recipes from the boxes on the blog this week!

Hope this will inspire you to deliver some sweet treats to front porches near you!!

B

Old Fashioned Baked Banana Pudding

Please excuse this post. There are no photos!!! I had to multiple this recipe by 6 to make enough for our company's Christmas Lunch and I was so nervous how it would turn out but everyone seemed to enjoy it!! It reminds me of some of my favorite Banana Puddings I have ever eaten.

At first I was intimidated to make pudding on the stove, my mom said it was hard but I found it to be quite simple. You need to go ahead and buy your bananas 2-3 days in advance so they will be over ripe. You will need 3, slice them in 1/4 rounds and toss in 2 tablespoons of lemon juice then set aside. 

On the stove in a 2 quart saucepan combine 1/2 sugar, 1/3 cup AP flour and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Separate 4 eggs and add the yolks to the saucepan, setting aside the egg yolks. Whisk to combine. Add 2 cups of half and half and turn the heat to medium low. Whisk constantly for 8-10 minutes until the mixture reachs 172-180 degrees.  It will begin to bubble and get thick. Once this happens remove from the heat and whisk in 2 teaspoons of vanilla. 

Now it is time to assembly!! You can use a 8x8 pan or a oven safe 2 qt serving dish. Put a little pudding in the bottom and then add Nilla Wafers, you need about 45 for the whole recipe. Add half of the bananas then top with half of the pudding. Smooth it out and repeat the layers ending with the last of the pudding.

With a stand mixer on high you will now want to whip your egg whites with a pinch of cream of tarter. Once at a stiff peak add 2 tablespoons of sugar and whip till combined. Then place the meringue on the top of the pudding making sure to seal the edges! 

Place in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10 minutes until the top is evenly browned! 

This is what 20 lbs of Banana pudding looks like!!! Hope you enjoy and sorry there are no pictures!!!

Pound Cake

This is another recipe that was past down to me by my grandmother Toye. The base is her Cream Cheese Pound Cake and I just add some cinnamon because I love cinnamon! Toye has been making this pound cake for longer than I have been alive and I hope I will be able to pass this recipe down to my children and grandchildren!

Here is the recipe:

1 8oz block of cream cheese

3 sticks of butter 

3 cups of sugar

6 eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla

3 cups of cake flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon

The most important thing is an hour before you plan on making this cake you need to set the butter and cream cheese out to soften.

Cream the butter and the cream cheese together. I do this for about 3 minutes .

Add in the sugar and cream for a full five minutes. 

It should be fluffy and pale yellow. It took me a few years but I finally realized that there is a proper way to cream sugar and butter. For me it is number 3 on my Kitchenaid for a full five minutes.

Add each of the six eggs individually until combined. Remember to to crack in a cup or bowl to avoid adding shells to your cake.

After all the eggs are added pause for a minute scrap down the sides of the bowl.

Then add in your flour and remember to measure properly.

Mix well and now is the time to add your vanilla and cinnamon. You will end up with a thick doughy batter. 

This is also my wonderful grandmother bundt pan! She was so kind to pass it on to me! The only complaint I have is a bundt pan is notorious for sticking! So you have to prepare it well!

You need to smear the entire inside of the pan with butter, when you think you have too much add some more.

Then dust the entire thing with flour. I do this over the sink to avoid a mess.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out the top. Bake at 300 degrees for 90 minutes!

And here you have a beautiful pound cake!!! You can dust with powdered sugar or glaze like I did.

My glaze was simple. Cream Cheese, butter, powdered sugar and milk. 

And my mother in law said it was delicous!!! 

Enjoy!!

B