Sausage Casserole

This is one of those recipes that I've memorized because I make it so often.  Every time we have a brunch baby/wedding shower in my family, we have this casserole.  I always make it for staff meetings at work, too.  It's easy to throw together the night before and then bake the morning that you need it.  I've used turkey sausage before but my favorite is Jimmy Dean Hot sausage.  You could substitute plain hash brown potatoes if you don't like peppers and onions.

Sausage Casserole
adapted from allrecipes.com

1 pound breakfast sausage

2 lb. bag of frozen potatoes O'Brien, thawed

8 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

1 (16 ounce) container small curd cottage cheese

9 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Brown the sausage in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Drain fat.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Place into a greased 9x13 pan.  Bake uncovered for one hour.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Apple Pie

I seriously love pie.  When I was dating DH, every pie I would make was a disaster: soggy crusts, runny fillings, collapsed meringue, etc.  I worked at it, read a lot of tips online and I think I've overcome the unfortunate reputation I had made for myself.  This apple pie is easy as....ummm, you know.  The recipe has been sitting in my allrecipes.com recipes box for years and with over 4000 reviews, I figured it was a home run. 

The recipe uses an unconventional (at least, to me) method of piling the raw apples in the bottom crust, placing a lattice crust on top, and then pouring a cooked butter/sugar mixture over the top.  It was very sweet, but the Granny Smith apples I used gave it the right balance of sweet and tart.  I'll confess, I'm too lazy to make pie crust myself these days, so I use the roll out ones from the refrigerator section.  I do, however, use a zig zag pastry wheel when I cut the lattice pieces to give it a little flair.  To be sure the bottom crust gets cooked all the way, I baked this on the lowest rack of my oven.  I also put a sheet pan under it to catch any drippings.  Enjoy!

Apple Pie by Grandma Ople
allrecipes.com

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.

Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.               

Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Nature Center

We visited the local nature center on Mother's Day and it was a beautiful day.  Luckily I had my camera along.  When my daughter wasn't making friends with everyone in sight and trying to walk off with other families, I managed to get a few shots in.