Ham and Cheese Breakfast Bake

I'm not sure if you've noticed, and I'm sorry if you're not ready to think about this, but it's coming. Christmas is coming, that is. It's two months from today, friends. Sure, Halloween has yet to pass, and we've not even reached the month blessed with Thanksgiving. But jack-o-lanterns and pilgrim hats are now 75% off. Sparkles and snowflakes have taken their place on store shelves. And you know what the onset of The Holiday Season means, don't you?

Guests.

If at all possible I recommend you welcome your guests into your home for brunch. Brunch means you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to prepare the meal. Brunch means that after you've entertained those special people you'll have time to clear the kitchen and put your feet up that evening. And brunch also means that as the chef you're allowed to straddle the breakfast/lunch line and serve anything you want. This casserole, along with a sweet bread, bowl of fruit, and a big, green salad would be perfect. This casserole is also just salty enough, creamy and filling; it's excellent as a leftover; and it's made with ingredients even your youngest guests should enjoy.

So don't fear The Holiday Season. Embrace it! Such dishes as this one make that an easy task.



Ham and Cheese Breakfast Bake
Adapted from Allrecipes
Makes 6 to 8 servings
Printer-friendly version

This casserole is easily customizable to suit your tastes. You can replace the ham with bacon or sausage, and the cream with milk. You can make your own hashbrowns, and you can change the type of cheese called for in the recipe. If you want to up the nutritional ante you could add chopped spinach, chard or broccoli. And you can also season it with more salt, added pepper or more hot sauce. Any way you make it your family - or guests - are sure to enjoy it!

Ingredients
2 12-ounce bags frozen, shredded hashbrowns, thawed overnight in fridge
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 boneless ham steak, diced
1.5 to 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
A few dashes of hot sauce

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Squeeze moisture out of thawed potatoes then put them in a large bowl. Pour melted butter over potatoes and stir until well-combined. Line ungreased casserole dish with buttered potatoes, and press to make a crust. Bake 10 minutes or until potatoes are just crisped and brown on the edges. Remove dish from oven and set aside.
3. In a medium bowl whisk eggs, cream and hot sauce.
4. Sprinkle ham over potato crust. Then add cheese. Pour cream and egg mixture over ingredients.
5. Bake 30 minutes or until set and gold and bubbling at edges.

Note: If you halve this recipe I do not recommend reducing the amount of butter used in the potato crust or using less than one cup of your desired cheese.

Find more great ideas at:
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Skip to my Lou
Keeping It Simple
Mad In Crafts
C.R.A.F.T.
Craftomaniac
Under the Table and Dreaming
The DIY Showoff
It's So Very Cheri

A Tale of Two Plum Cakes

You know that old saying, "My eyes were bigger than my stomach"? Well, that certainly applies here, as you can see. Yes - I made three plum cakes. In one night. I got a little ahead of myself when I was slicing those pretty little plums, not paying attention to the fact that if I only made two small cakes I only needed to slice two plums. So what to do with all that extra, sweetened fruit? Make another cake, of course.



When I started searching my files for plum-cake recipes I came up empty. I know! I'm as shocked as you probably are! I tend to slice my plums and eat them raw so this was actually the first time I have used them in a baked good. I'm glad I did, however, because now I have not one but two plum cakes sitting on my kitchen counter. How could that ever be considered a bad thing?



You're probably reading this post and thinking, "Plum cakes? In October?" And while I agree that plums seem ... summery ... Serious Eats tells us that plums are indeed also harvested in this leaf-crunching, pumpkin-munching month. Plus I got six (!) of them for a dollar at the grocery store the other day. How could I pass that up? Suffice it to say I have plenty of plum recipes now, with two under my belt. I'm totally prepared for next "May through early October."



I don't know what it's like where you live, but until the past couple of days summer had been doing its best to give us one last hurrah, with temperatures reaching into the high 80s several days. That is not when I want to be wearing a sweater and eating pumpkin pie. It's when I want to sit on the patio, drink iced, sweetened tea, and snack on a summery fruit cake. So that's what I did. And since there are a few more days left in this plum-producing month you can do the same thing.

Brown Butter Plum Cake by Patent and the Pantry (I made two small loaves, but next time I wouldn't because it was hard to nail down a baking time.)
Plum Yogurt Cake by Family Spice (I sliced the plums instead of dicing them.)

I have to say that I enjoyed both of these cakes but for different reasons. The recipe I used to bake in the small tins has a consistency reminiscent of pound cake; it has a dense crumb, that is. The second recipe has a creamier consistency but is less sweet, which means it cries out for a dollop of sweetened whipped cream. And just one more note: My mom thought the plums were apples after baking, so if you have a plum-aversed eater in your household just fib a little bit. I won't tell on you.

Check out some other great projects at the Weekend Wrapup at Tatertots and Jello!

Slow-Cooking Saturdays: Crockpot Beef Stew

In many ways I'm just like my Grandmother Rachel. I love to bake and clip recipes. I like to stretch my creative muscles, and while I'm not at all a seamstress as she was I do enjoy crafts. I like my home kept a certain way, and I love to hang my laundry outside so it's a good thing that I still have her clothesline in the backyard. I also love to feed my family, and a Sunday lunch at home means a lot now that I'm a mother. We had a lot of great lunches in the same kitchen I cook in now, but that's where the similarities end, because unlike her I'm not a morning person. She was somehow able to get up early enough to cook breakfast and get lunch mostly ready - all before going to church. I struggle to send Cash to church with matching shoes and a belly filled with cold cereal.

Much like many of your grandmothers mine was a domestic heroine. I'll never know how she did it all, but I'll always strive to be just like her in so many ways. Thus, it's a good thing the crockpot was invented, because between you and me it's the only thing that helps me get a hot meal on the table on Sunday afternoons! This is a basic, simple stew, but it's homey and comforting and hits the spot - especially a rumbly tumbly spot that's hungry after church. I pair it with a hunk of fresh garlic bread and a big glass of cold, sweet tea. And I think it would be a meal that Maw Maw would have gladly served her family, too.

What are your favorite crockpot meals?

Crockpot Beef Stew
Adapted from Allrecipes
Makes about 6 servings
Printer-friendly version

For most crockpot recipes cooks are guided to season and flour the meat then brown it evenly before adding it to the slow cooker. I have made this stew both ways, skipping the browning when I'm tired or short on time. I tend to put this stew together late Saturday night - cooking it on low all night - then get up Sunday morning and turn off the crockpot. The stew stays warm and is ready - and not overcooked - when we arrive home. The browning does give the stew more depth of flavor, but in my opinion is not necessary for this recipe.

Ingredients
2 pounds beef chunk or round, cut into bite-size pieces
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium potatoes, chopped
4 large carrots, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
Half cup button mushrooms, sliced (optional)
1.5 cups beef broth (or 1 cup broth and half cup red wine)

Directions
1. Cover inside of crockpot with nonstick spray. Put meat in bottom.
2. In a small bowl, whisk flour, salt and pepper. Pour over meat and stir to coat. Add onions, potatoes, carrots, celery and mushrooms. Drop in bay leaf.
3. In same small bowl, whisk garlic, broth, paprika, thyme and Worcestershire. Pour over meat and vegetables, gently stirring to combine.
4. Cook 10 to 12 hours on low heat, or 4 to 6 hours on high heat. Remove bay leaf before serving, and serve hot.

Homemade 'Oreos' With Fall-Color Creams

There are few commercially made cookies I care to eat, but an Oreo is one I don't turn down. My grandfather loves them, too, and he keeps a cookie jar filled with them at my parents' house. Cash will occasionally eat the cookie, but he's one of those lick-the-center-clean kids. And me? I like to fill a glass with milk then drop the whole Oreo in for a few seconds before retrieving it with a spoon. (Call me strange, but I just don't like to dip my fingers into my cup.) And of course notice that I said a few seconds - 8 to 10 max - because otherwise the Oreo completely disintegrates. I don't know how they're made or what makes them melt, but I think it's their most endearing quality. And finding that same quality in a homemade cookie isn't an easy feat.



I've made these cookies before, but my first go-round didn't include the cream. This time I wanted to make a fall-inspired cookie, but I couldn't get chocolate out of my head. I think this is a happy medium. The cream was simple to make, and I would recommend that you don't skimp when filling the sandwiches. I wish I had put more cream in some of them, but I didn't want to tear them apart after squishing the cream to the edges. I also plopped it in with a spoon and a finger swipe, which explains the "rustic" quality of the edges.

Yeah. Rustic. We'll go with that.



Get the recipe: Homemade Oreos by Smitten Kitchen.

* One person told me he would be more than happy to sit down with a plate of the cookies, sans cream. He was obviously completely sold on the whole "homemade Oreo" thing. These cookies are dunkable.
* An idea: If you don't want to make your own cream you can always buy a can of vanilla icing and color it to your heart's content.
* Getting the cookies to bake all the same size is the hardest part - unless you own a cookie scoop. I don't have one to make teaspoon-size cookies, but I have a larger one, and I wish I had both.
* I packaged my cookies by filling a T-shirt box with coordinating tissue paper. It was easy to transport, inexpensive, and it looked cute, too.