Morning Sunshine

True confession: I don't like eggs. I've tried to eat them several times because I want to like them. Think of the meal possibilities: breakfast casseroles, egg sandwiches, quiche, frittatas. Unfortunately, I just can't get past the texture. I have a rule that if I disliked something as a kid, then I have to try it as an adult. This has worked out pretty well. Now I love (and in fact, can't imagine my life without) cheese, nuts, raisins, steak, and many other foods. However, I still can't eat eggs.

The point of all this: When I make breakfast on Saturdays, we never have eggs. Over the years, though, I've come up with some tasty breakfast combinations. This past Saturday, we had Garlic-Cheese Grits, Maple-Pecan Bacon (the perfect food made even better), and Cheesy Bacon Muffins. The muffin recipe is actually a variation of one I created a few months back. I learned to make sausage balls from my dear friend Sallie. She taught me to cook the sausage before combining it with the flour and cheese (most recipes let the meat cook while the sausage balls bake). Sallie's method creates very fluffy sausage balls. One morning as I was making them, it occurred to me that they would be even better in a larger size. So I made muffins by mixing in buttermilk and an egg. They are so tasty and very easy. —PHH

Garlic-Cheese Grits
1. Make grits according to the package directions of the brand you buy. (I prefer stone-ground ones.) As the grits start to thicken, stir in garlic-cheese spread (I used Alouette brand). I made two large servings of grits, so I used about a quarter of the container. Then stir in a little freshly grated Cheddar cheese and lots of pepper.

Maple-Pecan Bacon
8 bacon slices
Maple syrup
1/4 cup chopped pecans

1. Place bacon on a wire rack in a jelly-roll or baking pan. Brush tops of bacon with maple syrup. Sprinkle chopped pecans over the top. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until bacon is done. (Check the bacon after 15 minutes because the syrup will make it brown quicker.

Cheesy Sausage Muffins
1 pound sausage (You can substitute cooked crumbled bacon.)
1 (8-oz.) block sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (You need to shred the cheese yourself; the preshredded variety is too dry.)
2 cups self-rising flour (You can probably substitute baking mix, such as Bisquick.)
Ground black pepper (optional) (This is a great addition when making these with bacon; I don't add it with the sausage.)
Buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten

1. Cook sausage in a skillet until browned and crumbly. Drain; rinse with hot water, and drain again.
2. Combine sausage, shredded cheese, and flour in a large bowl. (I use my hands to make sure it's all mixed together.) Stir in buttermilk until batter has the consistency of muffin batter. Stir in eggs.
3. Spray muffin pans with cooking spray. Spoon batter into muffin cups.
4. Bake at 400° for 15 to 20 minutes or until muffins are done. Makes about 2 dozen.
Note: These are best served hot. But you can make them ahead and store in the refrigerator. To reheat, wrap the desired number in a kitchen towel or paper towel, and heat in the microwave.

Slow-Cooker Green Beans

We eat dinner with A's cousin, his wife, and their children, who we call the 3 Cs, on most Sunday nights. This tradition has been continuing for at least 10 years. It's a great time for us to catch up on what's going on in their lives. We live in the same town, but run in different directions. Usually we go out to eat, but tonight they came over because I wanted to try a new recipe. We had Italian Jambalaya. (This will be in Southern Living, November 2008.) It was a crowd-pleaser! After serving seven tonight, I had enough to freeze two more meals for later. I served it with slow-cooker green beans (this recipe came from my friend Jill). —PHH

Slow-Cooker Green Beans

2 bags frozen green beans

5 bacon slices, chopped

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 tsp. minced garlic

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a slow-cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours.

Just Desserts

On most Saturdays or Sunday afternoons, you'll find me in the kitchen baking. This is a stress reliever for me. I also love to share baked goods with my family and friends. I have a basic cookie recipe that I've been making for years. It's proportions are easy to remember and it is easy to half, no math degree required. This weekend, I baked Chocolate Chip Cookies and Caramel Cupcakes while A was mountain biking with his buddies. The caramel icing on the cupcakes didn't turn out exactly how it was supposed to because I didn't read the recipe carefully enough (a common  problem). The icing tastes good, but it's too grainy. Word of advice: Read before you start. However, I really like the texture of the sour cream pound cake cake base; I just need to work on the icing (myrecipes.com, from Oxmoor House September 2004). The pound cake is also on myrecipes.com, Southern Living November 2007. —PHH

Basic Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 1/2 cups oatmeal (optional—I omitted the oatmeal today.)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

Your choice of stir-ins (today I used 6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips and 2 oz. white chocolate chips)

1. Beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

2. Combine flour; oatmeal, if desired; and next 3 ingredients. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating until combined. Add in stir-ins.

3. Scoop batter onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheet (I use a small ice-cream scoop to get the right-size cookies). Bake at 350° for 9 to 10 minutes.

4. Cool on pans 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas & Peach-Blackberry Cobbler

As you've probably figured out, we love Mexican food. Tonight we had my version of an enchilada recipe that has been around for a long time. I served it with black beans and rice. For dessert, we had a peach-blackberry cobbler that was inspired by a Barefoot Contessa recipe. Yum! —PHH

Peach-Blackberry Cobbler

5 large peaches, peeled and diced

1 pint blackberries

1 tsp. orange zest

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups plus 2 to 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup butter, cut up

1. Place peaches, blackberries, orange zest, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 2 to 3 Tbsp. flour in a large bowl; toss gently. Pour mixture into a 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

2. Combine remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, salt, and oatmeal in a mixing bowl. Slowly beat in butter until combined. Sprinkle over peach mixture in baking dish.

3. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until done. Serve warm with ice cream, if desired.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp. olive oil

1 (4-oz.) can diced green chiles

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 (8-0z.) block cream cheese, cut into cubes

10 (6-inch) flour tortillas

1 (8-oz.) block Colby-Jack cheese, grated

1/2 to 3/4 cup whipping cream

1 (10-oz.) can diced tomatoes and green chiles

1. Sauté onion in hot oil 5 minutes; add diced green chiles, and cook until onion is tender. Stir in chicken and cream cheese, stirring constantly, until cream cheese melts.

2. Spoon some of chicken mixture in down center of 1 tortilla; roll up, and place, seam side down, in a 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Repeat with remaining chicken mixture and tortillas. Sprinkle cheese over top of tortillas; pour in whipping cream. Sprinkle diced tomatoes and green chiles over center of tortillas.

3. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream, if desired.

The Best Brownies

The following recipe is my version of one my mother-in-law shared with me. Brownies were never on my list of things to eat until I tasted them with cappuccino buttercream. I added chocolate chips to the batter because they make a nice contrast to the cakelike brownies. These are so easy, you don't even need a mixer. This recipe is a keeper!—PHH

Cappuccino-Frosted Brownies

4 squares unsweetened chocolate

3/4 cup butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Cappuccino-Buttercream Frosting

1. Melt chocolate squares and butter in a microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 minute and 30 seconds; stir until combined.

2. Stir in sugar. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, stirring until blended after each addition. Gradually stir in flour, vanilla, and chocolate chips.

3. Pour batter into a lightly greased aluminum foil-lined 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

4. Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes.

5. Cool completely, and spread with Cappuccino-Buttercream Frosting. Cut into squares.

Cappuccino-Buttercream Frosting

1 (1.16-oz.) package instant mocha cappuccino mix (such as International Foods brand)

1/4 cup warm milk

1 cup butter, softened

1 (16-oz.) box powdered sugar

1. Dissolve mocha mix into warm milk.

2. Beat butter and mocha mixture with an electric mixer until blended; gradually add in powdered sugar.

Dinner for 11

Tonight the women in my summer Bible study (we did Beth Moore's Daniel—amazing!) came over for dinner. I made an eclectic menu: homemade tortilla chips with queso, kettle chips with garlic-herb cheese, Lemon-Chicken Pasta (see post on August 25), Baby Blue Salad (myrecipes.com), Cappuccino-Frosted Brownies (myrecipes.com), and Walnut Cake With Praline Frosting (pictured; from Cooking Light, September 2008, myrecipes.com). (Note about this recipe: I love Cooking Light recipes for main dishes, but I've never had good results with their baked goods. This recipe has changed my mind. It is yummy!) This group of women has been such a blessing to me. Together we had an experience that is challenging each of us to keep growing in our relationship with Christ.  —PHH

Queso

This is my version of the Spicy White Cheese Dip from the February 2006 issue of Southern Living. To make it in a slow-cooker, visit my recipes.com.

1/2 small onion, chopped

1 minced garlic clove

1 lb. white American cheese (purchase in the grocery store deli)

1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles

1/2 cup milk

Tortilla chips

1. Sauté onion and garlic in a small amount of olive oil until tender. Tear cheese into pieces, and add to onion mixture. Add in tomatoes and green chiles and milk. Stir until combined. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted and dip is thoroughly heated.

Potato Chips With Garlic-Herb Cheese

1 bag kettle-cooked potato chips (such as Cape Cod)

1/2 container garlic-herb cheese spread (such as Alouette)

Milk or whipping cream

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Arrange chips in a baking dish. Place cheese and a small amount of milk in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave cheese mixture at HIGH for 30 seconds or until heated. Stir mixture to combine. Drizzle cheese mixture over potato chips. Bake at 350° for 2 minutes or until chips are heated.

Fiesta

Tonight I used my grill pan to cook a flank steak (sprinkled liberally with salt and pepper); it was cooked for about 8 minutes per side, this is perfectly medium. Then the steak was thinly sliced across the grain. This was served with homemade tortilla chips—my new favorite food, guacamole, pico de gallo, peach salsa, and black beans and rice. I bought the pico de gallo and peach salsa in the produce section of Whole Foods. —PHH

To make guacamole, peel and seed one avocado; mash avocado with a potato masher. Stir in the juice from 1 lime, 1 minced garlic clove, ground red pepper to taste, salt to taste, 1 diced plum tomato, and some dried or chopped fresh cilantro.

To make homemade tortilla chips, cut corn tortilla rounds into six triangles. Fry, in batches, in hot peanut oil (about 1 inch deep in a Dutch oven) until golden and crisp. Drain on paper towels. Once all chips are cooked, sprinkle with kosher salt to taste. (A little salt goes a long way.) You'll never buy tortilla chips again!

Black Beans and Rice

This also makes a great meatless meal. Serve it with sour cream, homemade tortilla chips, guacamole, and additional salsa. This makes a lot, so divide leftovers into zip-top freezer bags and freeze.

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp. olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 cans black beans, drained

2 (10-oz.) cans tomatoes with green chiles

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

2 cups cooked brown rice

Sour cream

Salsa or pico de gallo

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. Sauté onion in hot oil 5 minutes; add in garlic, and sauté 1 more minute. Add in black beans, tomatoes with green chiles, and cilantro, and cook for 20 minutes. Stir in brown rice, and pour black bean mixture into a 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover with aluminum foil.

2. Bake at 325° for 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream and salsa.