All criminal history aside, Martha Stewart is amazing. I wish I had the encyclopedia of all things crafty, delicious and beautiful that is her brain. It doesn't even matter when she runs out of ideas now because I'm sure there is a whole team that comes up with even more (not that they get any of the credit). Instead, I just try to read Real Simple and pretend that level of organization and craftiness is achievable in my life.

This cake is a masterpiece. The raspberry jam in between layers makes the whole thing moist and flavorful..and the icing. Oh lord. My mom is a huge meringue fan so she is the one who initially picked this cake out for Easter Sunday. The icing is like a meringue and frosting hybrid. It spreads on smooth, but peaks out and tastes like meringue. My granddad called me the next day to tell me how much he liked this cake. While he would never say he didn't like something I made, the extra phone call says it all. There's nothing like having an appreciative audience!

The cake is perfect for any sort of event. It's not one of those "middle of the week, I think I'll bake a cake!" cakes (yes, I realize some people don't find that normal behavior). It is beautiful, and it deserves a crowd. I somehow lose cake pans all the time, and so I had to make do with two 9-inch pans instead of three 8-inch. I swear there is a ghost in my house who likes to steal things. Cake pans, sifters, one half of my double broiler...they are all among the long list of odd bakeware disappearances in my house. As if baking wasn't already an expensive enough hobby.

Also, I'm sorry for being m.i.a. these past two weeks. I had a big advertising competition on Friday and now that it's over I have my life back. Woohoo! Just in time to enjoy the last week of my senior year of college. And to enjoy all of the delicious food that comes along with graduation parties. Get excited.

• Raspberry White Cake
• Recipe from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

Vegetable-oil cooking spray
2 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar (1/2 cup plus 1/2 cup)
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons whole milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 1/2 cups raspberries (8 ounces)
2/3 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup large-flake dried unsweetened coconut (I just used bakers unsweetened and toasted it)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat three 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray, line bottoms with parchment, and coat again. Whisk together flour, salt, and 1/2 cup sugar. In a separate bowl, beat together cream, milk, baking powder, and egg whites until mixture thickens. Whisk in vanilla, almond extract, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar.

Fold in flour mixture. Fold in raspberries, then divide among pans. Bake until golden and top springs back when touched, about 25 minutes. Let cool in pans 30 minutes. Remove; let cool completely on a wire rack.

Spread half the jam over top of 1 cake layer, and sandwich with another layer. Repeat with remaining jam and layer. Swirl frosting over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle top with coconut.

Meringue Frosting

1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
5 large egg whites, room temperature

Directions

Bring 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, the corn syrup, and 3 tablespoons water to a boil, stirring. Wash down side of pan with a wet pastry brush, and cook sugar syrup, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 230 degrees.

Meanwhile, beat egg whites with a mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.

Add sugar syrup in a slow, steady stream down side of bowl. Beat on high speed until thick, fluffy, and cool, about 7 minutes.

Sometimes I sit around and analyze food. I know it's weird. I can't help it. I'll be eating a really great bowl of cereal and think, "Man, whoever came up with the concept of cereal was brilliant. This is the best thing EVER." And then of course I will think the exact same thing about a million other foods. It probably gets obnoxious for my friends because if anyone is around me chances are I'll say it out loud. I'd imagine it's hard to be friends with me if you don't like food (I'd like to think I don't have any friends like that, but you never know with college girls).

That being said, sandwiches are another creation that I constantly sit there eating and think about how much gratitude I have for whoever invented them back in the day. I make myself sandwiches all the time, but they're pretty standard. The thing is, it is SO easy to take a sandwich up a notch. All you have to do is go heavy on the cheese and butter, and buy better bread. The fresh sourdough bakery bread is going to beat Sara Lee 45 calorie slices every time. There's just no getting around it. Life's too short to count calories.

Kevin at Closet Cooking always has the most amazing recipes and absolutely perfect food photography. I'd be jealous if I didn't love gawking at his page so much. I work three days a week, have class the other two, and am rarely around my house during lunchtime on the weekends. So, I decided that a Saturday at home over Easter weekend was the perfect time to try one of the sandwich recipes I'd been drooling over. I've been hooked on guacamole (not just avocado) in sandwiches for quite some time. Guacamole and cheese quesadillas are easily one of my top three favorite late night food choices. Adding bacon to the combo was brilliant. It was the best sandwich I've had in a good long while.

It's not all that time consuming, it's just about allowing yourself to break away from the same old sandwiches. Switching from provolone to sharp white cheddar is not breaking away. Making a delicious grilled guacamole bacon cheese sandwich is so much better.

Enjoy!

Bacon Guacamole and Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Recipe from Closet Cooking

Ingredients

• 2 slices bacon
• 2 slices sour dough bread
• 1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup jack and cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 tablespoons guacamole, room temperature ***
• 1 tablespoon tortilla chips, crumbled (optional)

Directions

1. Cook the bacon until crispy and set aside on paper towels to drain.
2. Butter one side of each slice of bread, sprinkle half of the cheese onto the unbuttered side of one slice of bread followed by the guacamole, bacon, tortilla chips, the remaining cheese and finally top with the remaining slice of bread with the buttered side up.
3. Grill over medium heat until golden brown and the cheese has melted, about 2-3 minutes per side.

* I had some extra Wholly Guacamole in the fridge, so I took the shortcut and just combined that with a little lime juice, fresh diced tomatoes and garlic. It was homemade enough for me! If you have time, I bet his is delicious, too.

Yellow cake with chocolate icing. Such a simple concept, yet I always find it incredibly hard to execute up to my expectations. I would say about half of the people I know consider yellow cake with chocolate icing their all time favorite cake. Maybe it reminds everyone of childhood. I think of delicious yellow Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines cupcakes with chocolate icing and sprinkles being brought to school for birthdays. It's just too darn hard to beat. With yellow cake, boxed is better more often than not (though I do like to add sour cream to the boxed version to jazz it up a notch).

I always find something wrong with the homemade versions. This is the best I've made yet. Shirley O. Corriher's fantastic, well-known book BakeWise is to thank for it. She offers three different ways to make the cake. I didn't have buttermilk, which was required in the others, so I made the "Dissolved Sugar" method. I highly recommend buying this book. She was a biochemist, so she breaks down recipes scientifically to explain why they work and what each ingredient does. This is without a doubt the only science I have ever been interested in. What can I say, I'm an advertising and anthropology major...it's just not a pre-req.

I think the cake got even better after the icing had cooled and settled. I tend to think sour cream-based icing is much stronger at first, and not always in a good way. But then it seems to become milder as it cools. Maybe that's just me. I may try it with a buttercream next time, but this icing was fantastic.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! If you have any great yellow cake recipes with high success rates, or perfect chocolate icings (can you ever have too many of those?) I'd love to try those out as well!

Magnificent Moist Golden Cake
Recipe from Shirley O. Corriher's BakeWise

Makes 2-3 9-inch cake layers or two dozen cupcakes
2 large eggs, at room temperature
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/3 cup buttermilk, divided
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups cake flour, spooned and leveled
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch springform pan or two (or three) 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray and dust them with flour, or line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners for cupcakes.

In a large measuring cup or similar vessel, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, 3 tablespoons of the buttermilk and vanilla.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl of your standing mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat in the butter, oil, and remaining buttermilk on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened, then crank it up to medium speed and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl. Add one third of the egg mixture, and beat for about 20 seconds, and scrape the bowl again. Repeat two more times until all the egg mixture is incorporated and the batter is smooth.

In a cold bowl with cold beaters, whip the cream to just beyond soft peaks. Stir a quarter of the whipped cream into the batter to lighten it, then carefully fold in the remaining cream.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans (about 2/3 full for cupcakes). Drop the pans onto the counter from a height of about 4 inches to knock out air bubbles. Bake until the center of the cake springs back when touched and a toothpick comes out clean but moist–about 40 minutes for one thick layer, 25-30 minutes for individual layers, and 17-20 minutes for cupcakes (checking progress early and often).

Do not overbake. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Lucious, Creamy Chocolate Icing 
Recipe from Shirley O. Corriher's BakeWise

(she sure does like descriptive titles!) 

12 ounces milk chocolate, cut into medium pieces
9 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into medium pieces
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon (pinch) salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups sour cream

1. Place both chocolates in a food processor with the steel blade. Use quick on/offs to finely chop, or alternatively finely chop the chocolate with a sharp knife. (The whole point of her book is to emphasize why little things are important, she has a reason for chopping it up, but my food processor is at my parents house so I skipped this step. Whoops!) Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave on 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds. Stop and remove it from the microwave when most of the chocolate is melted. Continue to stir until all of the chocolate is melted and smooth.
2. In a mixing bow, stir together the brown sugar, salt, vanilla, and corn syrup. Stir in the sour cream with 1 or 2 strokes only. Add the melted chocolate. Beat on low until very smooth. It will be beautiful. If it is too thin, allow it to stand for an hour or so at room temperature until slightly thickened. Use about 1/4-inch later of icing between the cake layers.

**Addition: the bf was upset because this cake disappeared so quickly around my house that I never got to bring him any. I guess I was feeling nice, because I made him another one two days after this one (yes, it disappeared that quickly). It was EVEN BETTER. I am quite confident that this is the best yellow cake I will make for quite some time.

Has anyone heard that Dr. Pepper Ten radio commercial that asks all these questions starting with "Have you ever...?" The gist of the commercial is that women are supposed to answer "No" for this list of questions because we do womanly things and those are manly things. Blogging about bacon is apparently on the man list. Oh please!

Here's my "manly," brief blog about bacon. I love bacon. I love bacon on pretty much anything and everything. Bacon and eggs, bacon on cupcakes, chocolate covered bacon, bacon in pasta, scallops wrapped in bacon, filet mignon with bacon (red meat, extra man points!), cheddar bacon burgers, blts, etc. One last thing, I really love bacon in dips. Especially this hot and cheesy bacon dip.

The dip is super easy, and it so delicious. I'll be honest, I would sit there and eat a dip I thought was just average for 20 minutes without thinking twice (I'll blame it on the salt in chips). However, this dip is WAY above average. In fact, it is one of my new favorites. Prepare to be hooked!

Sorry the pictures aren't great. I have yet to find a good way to take pictures of dips. You'll just have to trust me on this one.

Hot and Cheesy Bacon Dip
Recipe from Heather Likes Food

1 C Mayonnaise

1 C Sour Cream

2 C Grated Monterrey Jack Cheese

1/2 C shredded Parmesan cheese

6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder (I used 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic from the fridge)

1 tsp dried tarragon, rubbed between your palms to release some of the oils of the herb

a few dashes Chipotle Chili Powder, more if you like it spicy! (I used Cayenne Pepper since I didn't have this on hand - just a dash or two)

Preheat Oven to 400°

Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl and transfer to an 8×8″ baking dish. Bake for 15-20  minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted. Serve with chips, veggies, or bread. 

Note: I got a little cheese crazy and added it on top as well the most recent time I made this (pictured). This makes the top very oily. I think the Parmesan is fine to do this with (what I did the first time), but the Monterrey Jack is not.

I know most people post their holiday-themed foods before the holiday itself so that everyone else can make them, but unfortunately I don't have the time or the money to make things twice. Therefore, I'm a day late, but here are the green velvet cupcakes I made yesterday! Maybe you can find another excuse to make green cupcakes, such as if your favorite team's color is green. You can also use this exact recipe but change it to other colors depending on why you are making them.

Green is a slightly off-putting color in food at times. I always think about when green and purple ketchup was introduced and everyone went crazy. I didn't like dipping my fries in purple ketchup, and I had easily convinced myself it tasted different. Alas, I love themed foods, so I decided to get over my green issues and jazz these cupcakes up for St. Patty's Day. My green is a little darker than I would've liked, and I think it's because I had to add a few ounces of regular red velvet cake mix to reach the 18 ounces it calls for. I can't remember which is which, but Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines have different box sizes, and if you have a recipe that calls for the 18 oz box you should make sure you get the right brand at the grocery store.

I'm a red velvet fanatic, and I am pretty particular about it because I've tried so many different red velvet cupcakes. I have one rule: you absolutely must use cream cheese icing. Making a red velvet cake or red velvet cupcakes and not using cream cheese icing is a sin (at least in the south). This is the first time I've tried this recipe and it is going to be my new go to for cream cheese icing. It's easier than almost all of the others I've tried, it uses less cream cheese and it tastes amazing. I'd prefer to make a more homemade version of the cupcakes if I had time, but even with the cake mix there are still enough other ingredients that I didn't feel like I was making just a boxed mix recipe.

Enjoy!

Green Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing
Recipe from Food Family Finds

Cupcakes

• 1 package (18 1/4 ounces) German chocolate cake mix with pudding
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 bottle (1 ounce) McCormick® Green Food Color
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat cake mix, sour cream, water, cocoa powder, oil, food color, eggs and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed just until moistened, scraping sides of bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes.
2. Pour batter into 24 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.
3. Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire rack.

Cream Cheese Icing
Recipe from Slash Food

Ingredients
8 oz cold cream cheese
5 tbsp. softened butter
2 tsp vanilla
2-3 cups powdered sugar

Beat 8 oz. cold cream cheese (not rock solid, but it means you can use it straight out of the refrigerator) with 5 Tbsp. softened butter and 2 tsp. vanilla until combined. Gradually add 2 c. powdered sugar that has been sifted after measuring. Continue to add more sifted powdered sugar until you reach a consistency and sweetness that fits your taste (I added at least 3/4 cup more).

Last week was Spring Break. This week is my birthday. It's 75 degrees in North Carolina, and March Madness is upon us. All is well.

You'd think that after a week of boozin and cruisin (for lack of a better way to sum up spring break), I would be in detox mode. Kind of like most girls were dieting in the weeks leading up to Spring Break and I was eating mac and cheese. Nope. I made this. And it's amazing.

I love finding easy recipes, and this is one of the easier breakfast recipes I've come across. If you haven't noticed, I love me some Pillsbury crescents and biscuits. While I'd prefer homemade biscuits (who wouldn't?), these do the trick for a quick fix in a recipe. My step sister and brother-in-law are starting a food truck in Nashville that serves fresh biscuits and biscuit sandwiches. Now, if I were closer and had the option to have the family make me delicious homemade biscuits I wouldn't have to resort to the blue tube, but such is life. If you live around the Nashville area check out www.biscuitlovetruck.com. Nom.

Although senior year still doesn't seem to be giving me as much time as I'd like for me to blog, I'm going to get back on my post a week schedule. Any suggestions for what I should make myself for my birthday? I know, I know. It's my birthday, I shouldn't be doing the baking..but that's just no fun.

Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring
Recipe from All Things Deliciousness

2 small tubes refrigerator buttermilk biscuits OR 1 tube Pillsbury Grands buttermilk biscuits
 * I used one tube Grands. One and a half would've been ideal, but one worked great as well.

3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

1/2 C. pancake syrup

1/3 C. packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 C. chopped pecans, opt. (I opted out on both of these. Per usual.)

1/4 C. chopped almonds, opt.

Spray a fluted pan with non-stick spray. Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts (if desired).

Place about half of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan. Then sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top.
Lay the biscuits on the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges (closely together) to form a ring.
Top with remaining syrup and sugar mixtures.
Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool for 1 minute in the pan, then invert onto a serving platter and enjoy!

Mac & Cheese. What a match made in heaven. If I had known the homemade kind was this easy all along I would've stopped making it from the box years ago. Move over Kraft. Move over Annie's white cheddar shells. Helllooo creamy, dreamy, cheesy white cheddar homemade macaroni and cheese.

Spring break starts next Friday, and I'm going on a cruise. Yet somehow or another I find myself making this. What can ya do? When carbs call, I answer.

This is just as simple as any boxed version of macaroni and cheese. The only problem I ran into making it was that I accidentally managed to get a cloud of red pepper in my nose and mouth when breaking into a new spice container. This sent me into a coughing attack, which then made my eyes water, which then caused spontaneous coughing for the next hour. It's a good thing I'm by myself in the kitchen sometimes.

I chose to make this with sharp white cheddar instead of the regular cheddar the recipe called for. Though I do love white cheddar, the only reason I had it on hand is because it was on sale at the grocery store. I'm sure regular sharp cheddar is great as well. I feel like with this recipe you could experiment with any type of cheese in that genre. The same thing goes for pasta. I chose shells because I used to love Kraft shells since they were like little pockets of cheese. Use whatever you have on hand or whatever sparks your interest at the store. One important thing that I have read on countless macaroni and cheese recipes is to make sure you don't buy pre-shredded cheese. It will take you one minute longer to grate the cheese yourself, and from what I've heard the difference is night and day.

You will love this recipe -- enjoy!

Stovetop Mac and Cheese
Recipe from Evil Shenanigans
Serves 4-6

8oz macaroni, or any smallish tube shaped pasta
1 tablespoon butter
6 oz evaporated milk
6 oz freshly grated cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
Hot sauce, to taste
Salt and pepper

Boil the pasta according to package directions, but reduce the cooking time by one minute.  Drain and pour back into the cooking pot.

Over medium-low heat, add the butter and stir until melted.

Mix the egg, milk, and spices and pour over the pasta.  Stir until it begins to thicken, about three to five minutes. 

Remove the pan from the heat then add the cheese in four installments, making sure the first is melted completely before adding the next.

Hectic weeks sure do get in the way of posting. It's a shame because the number one stress reliever is proven to be chocolate, so just when I need it most I'm too busy to make any chocolate treats. Thankfully I have a very large emergency stash of chocolate and animal crackers for times like this. Does anyone else have an obsession with animal crackers? I load up on them in the $1 section of Target, but I've begun to realize no one else likes them.. To each his own!

Anywho, the question is: why did I decide to try out a new chocolate chip cookie recipe when I have already given my heart to this recipe? I guess it was something about the picture. It also might have been the description that said "Readers, whatever you're doing, stop. Right now. Make these cookies NOW."

I didn't make them right when I read that, but it did move them to the top of my "must make list."

The secret/odd ingredient in these is cornstarch. They are incredible. My dough was a bit warm when I finished, so I stuck it in the fridge for 30 min or so before making them. That's the only thing I changed about the recipe. The longer you can put them in the fridge the less they will spread. The final result is a chewy, moist, flavorful cookie. As far as I know, it's impossible to have just one. Regardless of whether you already have a favorite cookie recipe, this is absolutely one to try. I don't know if it beats my previous favorite recipe, but it's pretty darn close! Enjoy!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe from Apple a Day

Ingredients: 

3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened 

3/4 c. brown sugar 

1/4 c. granulated sugar 

1 egg 

2 tsp. vanilla extract 

2 c. all purpose flour 

2 tsp. cornstarch 

1 tsp. baking soda 

1/2 tsp. salt 

1 c. bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy and light in color. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.

3.  Mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chunks.

4.  Using a standard-sized cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop dough onto a prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges.  (The tops will not brown, but do NOT cook longer than ten minutes.)

5.  Let cool, on the sheet, on a wire rack for five minutes.  Remove from baking sheet and let cool completely.  Makes approximately 3 dozen.  Try not to eat them all.

There are few things in life better than a full cookie jar.

This is a perfect example of the kind of food I simply cannot have around my house. It's effortless, bite-sized and addictive. I have a theory for puppy chow: it is 10x better when you double the toppings and keep the amount of chex mix the same (it's truly a wonder that I'm not 400lbs by this point in my life). Still, if you want to make the best puppy chow around, try it out. No one likes digging around in the bowl for the pieces with the most topping.

This lemon puppy chow reminds me of lemon cooler cookies from the grocery store (their real name is escaping me). I'm enjoying them as a nice break from chocolate, but I will also be happy when the bag of them isn't tempting me in my kitchen. I've grabbed a handful pretty much every time I've been in there...and I'm in the kitchen a lot. If you're ever looking for something quick and easy to bring to a party, this is it. I'm the type to spend days coming up with what I will contribute to a buffet, but I'm also finally coming to the realization that it's often the easiest things that get the best reviews. Enjoy!

Chex Lemon Buddies
Recipe from Joyful Whimsy

9 cups Rice Chex cereal 
1 1/4 cup white vanilla baking chips 
1/4 cup butter or margarine 
4 tsp grated lemon peel 
2 Tbsp lemon juice 
2 cups powdered sugar

Measure cereal into a large mixing bowl and set aside. In a microwaveable bowl, microwave chips, butter, lemon peel and juice uncovered on high for 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 more seconds or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into a 2-gallon re-sealable food storage plastic bag. Add powdered sugar, seal bag and shake until all the cereal is well-coated. 

I've had a lot of breakfast casseroles. I'm not sure how it is in other parts of the country, but in the south I feel like just about everyone I know has their own version of a breakfast casserole. In my family we've always used my grandmother's. Her breakfast casserole has been on the table for Christmas brunch since before I was born. It's a good, no gimmicks breakfast casserole. My family doesn't like it when people throw onions or peppers in, that ruins a perfectly good casserole (though I wouldn't object to mushrooms). My grandmother does it just right. I tell you this because I want you to realize that saying a recipe is better than my grandmother's is going against my entire upbringing. I blame Paula Dean.

This casserole has potatoes in it, something not in my grandmother's, and I think those really add to the overall makeup of it. It's incredibly cheesy and rich, and absolutely amazing. Will I try to get my grandmother to start serving this? Oh goodness no. Her recipe will be in my recipe book for the rest of my life..but it will be right beside this one, and this is the one that I will be using.

As a side note, Paula Dean's cookbook The Southern Cooking Bible is fantastic. I've linked to it on Amazon, so if you're feeling in the mood to buy a new cookbook today this is a great choice!

Sunday Morning Breakfast Casserole
Recipe from Paula Dean's The Southern Cooking Bible

Ingredients

6 slices day-old white bread (french bread works best)*
1 lb breakfast sausage
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced cooked, unpeeled red potatoes
1 1/2 cups mixed shredded Cheddar & Monterey Jack cheese
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper

Directions

1. Grease a 2.5-3 quart baking dish (attractive enough to bring to the table) with butter, oil, or cooking spray. Cube the bread and place in the dish in a single even layer.
2. In a large skillet, cook the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon, until it's almost cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain off the fat. Layer the sausage over the bread, and top with potatoes. Sprinkle the cheese on top.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, mustard powder, salt, and black pepper to taste. Pour the egg mixture over the sausage and potatoes in the casserole. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
4. When ready to cook the casserole, preheat the oven to 350. Bake the casserole until set and golden about 30 minutes. Serve hot.

*Recipe as written calls for two slices of bread. I adjusted this based on reader comments. If you are using big slices of thick bread you can go down from six. I would recommend using a sturdy, day-old white bread for best results. Regular sandwich bread won't give the same crunch of the crust, and it is more likely to get mushy.