Jiffy Hands Pear Bread

In my real life, I teach second graders.  The first day of fall means a whole new set of books on display in my classroom.  Without hesitation, I will read Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears by Cynthia Rylant. I love Mr. Putter, his fine cat Tabby, busy Mrs. Teaberry, and Zeke the dog! When my children are through with Mr. Putter, I will have to find a way to continue reading them to anyone who will listen.

The Pick the Pears book finds Mr. Putter unable to pick pears because of some "cranky knees," but he does have some "jiffy hands" to get rid of the pears littering the ground. The book ends with Mr. Putter being surprised by wonderful, fall baked goods.

As I picked up my CSA box with 4 not-so-ripe looking pears, I thought, "What can I do with these overripe pears?"  A quick Google search of those exact words showed me tons of ideas, but the bread seemed best for our family.  It will be a great treat as we enjoyed reading and listening to the adventures of Mr. Putter.

Those pears have seen better days!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 t baking powder
•  1 t salt
• 1 T ground cinnamon
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 pears
• 1 t vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. 
2. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in large mixing bowl. Mix well.
3. Peel and core the pears.  Grate them. Set aside.
4. Combine butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and pears.  Mix well.
5. Add pear mixture to dry mixture.  Combine well.  Add nuts. Mix.
6. Bake for 60 - 70 minutes; until a toothpick come out clean.
7. Cool bread on wire rack. 

TIME: 20 minute prep time; 60 minutes baking time

DIFFICULTY: Medium 

SOURCE: My search led me here: http://www.thekitchn.com/falls-other-fruit-8-things-to-131549

Sausage, Egg, and Potato Breakfast Casserole

As I prepare to leave for a camping trip with my family to one of our many amazing National Parks, I find myself turning to this recipe for the third time.  We travel in our RV and though there are generally no hook ups (for electricity, water, etc.) at the National Park campgrounds, we do have a gas oven that we can use.  I have made this recipe for two other trips and it has been the perfect breakfast to fill us up for the adventures of the day.  There are three steps to the process: the prep, the baking with foil, and the baking without foil.  I do the first two of those steps at home before we leave.  This leaves just the baking without foil to do on the trip.  Unfortunately, I have never taken a picture of the finished product on one of our trips.  Maybe this time I will and post an update.  In the meantime, I didn't want any more time to go by without posting this!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound Italian sausage (sweet, hot, or mild)
• 1 medium white onion, peeled and diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and diced (or 1 jar of roasted red peppers, drained and diced)
• 6 eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 (20 ounce) bag frozen hash browns, thawed
• 2 cups shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
• (optional topping: thinly sliced green onions)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Add the sausage to a medium saute pan. Cook over medium-high heat until browned, crumbling the sausage with a spoon as it cooks. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Reserve about 1 tablespoon of sausage grease in the saute pan, discarding the rest. 
3. Add the onion and red pepper* to the saute pan, and saute for 5 minutes until cooked. Add the garlic and saute for an additional 2 minutes until fragrant. (*If using the jarred roasted red peppers, wait to stir them until after the garlic.) 
4. Pour the vegetable mixture into the mixing bowl with the sausage. Add the hash browns and 1 1/2 cups cheese to the mixing bowl with the sausage and veggies. Stir to combine.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and black pepper until combined. Then add them to the hashbrown mixture, and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a 11x7-inch or a 9x9-inch baking dish (a 9x13-inch dish will also work), and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.
6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the aluminum foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes and the top of the potatoes begin to slightly brown. Remove and let the casserole rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with green onions and serve!

Difficulty: Medium

Time: 20 minutes prep, 35 minutes baking

Source: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com