cheese

san francisco – day 4

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ah, yes, my final full day in san francisco arrived at last, and just like all my other mornings up to this point, it was an early one.  i’m talking we were out the door again at seven a.m. so that we could get breakfast.  our wine bus was picking us up at 8:15 a.m. sharp, so we went to get a little grub before boarding.  although i would have been perfectly content going back to cafe st. jorge (for a third time…), brian mixed it up and led us to cafe seventy8 right in bernal heights.  i kept the cafe au lait train going and paired it with a sesame seed bagel smothered in sun-dried tomato cream cheese.  oh boy, it was an excellent combination.  i typically go with plain cream cheese, but i think i need to start mixing it up with these flavors.  kinda fun!

we didn’t have a lot of time to waste, so brian called us an uber to take us to our pickup spot.  we hopped out of that sedan and hopped right on in to the incredible adventures bus with our trusty leader mitch.  i didn’t realize it until we began to drive through the city, but we were the first stop this day.  we had, i kid you not, eight more pickup points to visit before we would actually start the tour.  oh boy.  maybe i should’ve gotten decaf so that i could take a nap.  seriously, we were driving around in the city until almost 9:30 picking up other passengers.  i guess the bright side is that we really were on the tour all day?  no, that doesn’t even count.  oh well, now i know for next time, and i assure you, once you hear about what an amazing day we had, there will definitely be a next time.

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phyllis’ breakfast strada

kdavis 3 Comments

a chilly saturday morning in greensboro calls for a tried-and-true family recipe.  enter phyllis’ breakfast strada.  it’s all kinds of easy to make, so here’s the recipe for your cooking pleasure.  shine on, phyllis!

ingredients

2 lbs. breakfast sausage (like jimmy dean’s), crumbled, browned, & drained

8 slices of bread, ripped up into bite-size chunks

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

4 eggs

2 1/2 cups milk

3/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1 cup cream of mushroom soup (be sure to measure it)

1/2 cup water

directions

line 9 x 13 glass pan (no metal!) with bread chunks and sausage.

mix cheese, eggs, milk, and mustard and pour over bread mixture.  to quote mary willa, “make sure you use your hands to smoosh the liquid mixture down in the bread so it gets nice and soaked.”

cover pan with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.

add cream of mushroom soup to the water and mix together.  pour on top of casserole.

bake uncovered at 300 degrees fahrenheit for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  remove from oven and let stand and set for 5 minutes.

aunt helen’s balls

kdavis 2 Comments

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okay, folks, before we get started, i have to confess that i am in no way related to this aunt helen.  my aunt cindy, who is my actual aunt from my dad’s side, has a friend cheryl.  aunt cindy and cheryl play bunco together, and it is cheryl’s aunt helen who is the originator of this recipe.  it took a quick phone call to actually find out that information, and now we know!  this simple appetizer is a solid recipe to have in your box and is a good base for something even more amazing.  maybe try it with some finely chopped asparagus or some green pepper/red chili mix.  my first though was bacon because as we know, just like puppies, bacon makes everything better!

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zesty corn dip

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corn dip

tori was in town this past weekend to tend to wedding activities (it’s only nine days away – eek!), and like always, she had plenty of things to bring to atlanta from home.  for clark, she brought his winter clothes.  for the kessey girl, she brought me a recipe.  ah, yes, she knows me so well!

this zesty corn dip really couldn’t be easier.  well, i suppose the only way it could be easier is if you didn’t have to do any chopping, but even for the most novice cook, you got it!

ingredients

2 12-ounce packages frozen corn

1 8-ounce block of cream cheese

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup diced green onion, white and green parts

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced

1 2.5-ounce package fully cooked bacon, diced

1 4-ounce can diced green chilies

directions

place all ingredients in a crock-pot/slow cooker.

cover and cook on low for 4 hours OR on high for 2 hours, stirring the dip halfway through cooking time.

summertime in march

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pasta

last night i was looking around for an easy dinner recipe, something that required limited pots, pans, and clean-up.  as i was poking around on ree drummond’s site, i came upon her version of pasta salad.  it was a wonderful choice on a cool march evening!  i paired it with oven-baked italian sausage and had the nicest meal while watching the women of the bachelor tear apart sweet juan pablo.  “it’s okay!”