Sausage Casserole

This is a Christmas morning tradition in our house. We used to have it more often and it's what Jack would always pick for his birthday party meal. Now, it pretty much keeps to Christmas. We added the tater-tots to the original and that has made all the difference. It goes great with a fruit salad or just strawberries.

Sausage Casserole

6 eggs
2 cups milk
6 slices bread (white or Italian preferred) ripped into bite size pieces
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 lb. sausage, cooked and crumbled
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (optional)
2-3 cups tater tots

Cook sausage according to directions. In a 9x13 baking dish (lightly sprayed or greased) spread bread evenly. Spread crumbled sausage evenly over bread. In medium bowl mix eggs and milk. Mix salt and dry mustard separately in a teaspoon or two of hot water to dissolve; add to milk mixture, stir. Pour evenly over bread and sausage. Sprinkle cheese over top (if using). Arrange tater tots over top. We pack our in!

Cover and refigerate overnight. We often skip this step because of precious refrigerator space and just make it right before baking. It turns out just fine; however, I would recommend keeping the tater-tots in the refrigerator overnight or thawing them a bit in the microwave before using.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 45 mins- 1 hour.

Best Ever Scones

This is a great first recipe with which to start the recipe ball rolling. I originally got this recipe from Allrecipes.com; however, I have doctored it up to our family's liking and I have to say that they are pretty fabulous! No credit to me; God gave me the doctoring wisdom.

The original recipe, Grandma Johnson's Sc*nes (no relation), was given five stars out of over 1,000 reviews, so that is pretty doggone good. BUT, the original called for just raisins and that's just plain boring. I have never even made it with the raisins, but instead jam packed it with frozen raspberries. The result? Bliss. I've also tried blueberry; wonderful! Cherries, not so great because I used canned and I just could not get enough liquid out of them to keep from making a gooey mess. That is not to say frozen cherries would not work.

Today I had a request from my mother for her favorite version, Pumpkin. She loves these. She absolutely loves them and sadly, I just don't make them enough.
I will give you the original recipe and you can make adjustments as needed based on my variations at the bottom.

Big suggestion, by the way; use parchment paper or silicone pan liners.

Scones

Ingredients

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup raisins (optional)

Directions

1. In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda, and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet if not using parchment.
3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in the butter. Stir the sour cream mixture and egg into the flour mixture until just moistened. Mix in the raisins.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. Roll or pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick round. Cut into 12 wedges, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom.

Icing:
The original doesn't call for icing, but we like it.
Use about 1-2 cups of powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp. of butter and a Tbsp. or two of milk. Mix it up well with a wisk. If it's too watery, add more powdered sugar and/or butter. If it's too thick, add a splash of milk. It's not rocket science, you just play with it until it works.

You can also substitute orange juice for milk, too. Maybe cranberry orange scones? Oh, that sounds good. With some crushed pecans on top?? That will be a variation for next time.

Variations:
Fruit versions: Add whatever kind of frozen fruit you want. I use at least 1 1/2 cups of frozen raspberries. For blueberries use a cup or add more to your liking. Don't use canned fruit.

Pumpkin: Add 1 cup of pureed pumpkin and cut back sour cream to about 1/2-3/4 cup. The pumpkin makes it very moist. Add 1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice or more to your liking. Taste the batter. If the spice is weak, add more. (You can also buy already spiced canned pumpkin and omit adding the spice).