Common Cuisine |

My mommy support group finished up for the school year yesterday. What a fun group that has been to be in! While I love many things about the group, you might guess that my very most favorite part of each session is that it starts out promptly at 9am with a hot buffet breakfast. We all take turns participating in the potluck, but half of the contributions each time are assigned to be Meats. This can include egg and cheese dishes as well, but a large percentage of the meat table each time is devoted to sausage. Yummm!

I believe our location in Texas accounts for the emphasis on this mystery meat. I never thought of Lil’ Smokies and BBQ sauce as a breakfast dish before (to say nothing of the chips and queso), but I sure like it! The best are the link sausage kolaches, in which a fat polish sausage link about 4 inches long is baked inside a pastry. Holy goodness, thank you to Rolf for popularizing this Czech breakfast delicacy in College Station.

There are other things I have really enjoyed about MOPS. See my non-food-related thoughts at my Family Blog.

Yesterday, as we shared an exotic luau themed luncheon, we got all excited to hear about saving money through coupon clipping. My friends and I have decided to try to make it work for us. I’ll blog more about it as we move along!

Meanwhile, see the recipe for our interesting lunch, Hawaiian Haystacks.

Somehow my children fell in love with blueberries. If anything has blueberries associated with it, they will eat it until their lips and fingers are purple-stained for two days.

I think it may have something to do with the sweet love Grammy whispers whenever she serves them up: You know, your eyes are so blue because of all the blueberries you eat!

There is just something special about the love Grammy adds to whatever she bakes.

• 1/2 Cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 3/4 C Sugar
• 3/4 C Brown Sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 C Sour Cream
• 1/4 C Milk
• 3 overripe bananas, mashed
• 3 C flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 C frozen blueberries
• 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 325.

In large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add sour cream, milk, and bananas, and make sure batter is well mixed.

In separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture carefully to banana mixture, mixing just enough to moisten all the flour. Carefully stir in blueberries just before pouring into pans, overmixing will turn the entire batter grey.

Pour into 2 greased 9″ loaf pans. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp brown sugar on top of loaves.

Bake 70-80 minutes, checking carefully beginning after 60 minutes. When ready, a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf will come out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack for one hour or until completely cooled. Wrap tightly and store in refrigerator.

This kind of bread loaf freezes really well. Wrap first in plastic wrap, then in foil, then put the wrapped loaf in a Ziploc freezer bag. Thaw on the counter for about an hour before slicing and serving with butter.

• ½ package frozen dinner rolls
• ½ C sugar
• 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¾ C chopped pecans
• ½ C packed brown sugar
• ½ package cook ‘n’ serve butterscotch pudding mix
• 1 stick (½ cup) cold butter

Arrange dough balls in greased bundt pan or large baking dish.

Mix sugar, cinnamon, pecans, brown sugar and pudding mix in small bowl. Sprinkle over rolls.

Slice butter and arrange slices over rolls.

Cover with foil and a dishtowel and let rise overnight on the kitchen counter.

In morning, preheat oven to 350. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Invert onto plate, let stand for a few minutes, remove pan.

Makes 18 delicious, decadent, gooey servings.

• 1 loaf raisin cinnamon bread
• 16 oz. bag frozen or enough fresh raspberries to cover first layer of bread
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 C milk
• 1 C plain yogurt
• 8-10 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1-2 tsp cinnamon (to taste)
• 2 tsp vanilla

Topping

• 1/4 C soft butter
• 1/2 C brown sugar

In a 9″ x 13 ” greased baking dish, place slices of bread to cover bottom. Arrange raspberries in a layer on top of bread. Spread cream cheese on an equal amount of additional bread slices, which will become the top layer. Place bread, cream cheese side down, onto berries. Mix milk, yogurt, eggs, cinnamon and vanilla together and pour over bread mixture so that it covers top. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix topping and spread on top of layered french toast. Bake for about 50 minutes. Top will be slightly brown and a little crusty when done. Serve drizzled with raspberry sauce or syrup.