1 1/2 c flour
1 c sugar
2 bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of allspice
1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional!)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter a 4 x 8 loaf pan.

Combine flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder, set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together sugar, oil, mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla. Add flour mix and stir until just combined. If you’re including walnut pieces, fold them in now.

Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for one hour.

What worked for me last time was to bake it for 45 minutes on 350 and then drop the temperature to 300 for the last 15 minutes. It smelled burned, but I was unable to find any burned bits.

Warning: Cinnamon rolls take time – lots of time. The following recipe is 4-5 hours or overnight. This recipe is supposed to make 12, but I always end up with 16-20 rolls.

5 cups cheap all purpose flour (or 4.5 cups of King Arthur AP flour)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1/2 cup seedless raisins (optional)
3 eggs, beaten
7 T shortening
7 T white granulated sugar, plus 2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 T warm water (105-115F)
1 T ground cinnamon
1 T active dry yeast
1 tsp salt

4 T – 8 T melted butter, or as much or less as you want

Scald 1 cup of milk (I like to put it in the microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir, on high for a minute, stir, then on high again for 30 seconds). Add shortening, stir well. Set aside to cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes).

In a small bowl, combine yeast, water, and 2 tsp sugar. Let sit for 3-5 minutes or until frothy.

In a large mixing bowl, combine white sugar, eggs, and salt. Add cooled milk mixture, mix well. Add yeast mixture, mix well. Add flour, mix well for 3-5 minutes, until all the flour is completely incorporated.

Transfer to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled (3-4 hours).

Lightly flour the surface of the dough and your hands. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board. You might want to lightly flour your rolling pin, as well. Roll dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch, rectangle optional.

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon until the color becomes a uniform brown.

Spread the surface of the rolled dough generously with melted butter. Sprinkle cinnamon mixture as evenly as possible across the surface. Follow suit with pecans and/or raisins.

Starting at one side of your dough, fold dough in tightly and roll as snugly as you can to the opposite side. Cut into 1 inch slices and place directly into lightly greased baking tin. Place rolls 1/4 inch to 1 inch apart. Cover and let rise 30 minutes, or cover and store in the refrigerator up to 48 hours. (Remove from refrigerator and let rise 30 minutes before baking.)

Bake 15-30 minutes in a 375F oven, until tops are golden brown (eggwash optional). Just keep an eye on them after the 15 minute mark. I use the middle rack.

When I bake 4 in my 8 inch brownie pan, I only bake them for 15 minutes. Same thing if I squeeze them into a circle on my cookie sheet. When I put 8 in my lasagna pan, I have to bake them quite a bit longer, hence the “15-30″ minute range on baking times.

Check out Joy the Baker’s photos here for step by step instructions on how to roll, sprinkle, and prepare cinnamon rolls (not to mention a much sweeter recipe).

3 cups cheap all-purpose flour (or 2 1/2 cups of King Arthur flour)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup – 1/2 cup minced ginger root
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a small mixing bowl, set aside.

Beat sugar and softened butter until smooth. Add eggs, zest and vanilla, beat until smooth. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and mix just until just blended. Fold in ginger.

Divide dough into two pieces. Form into long flat loaves about 1/2 inch tall and 12-15 inches long. Place the loaves 3-4 inches apart on a prepared or non-stick baking sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 10-15 minutes (or until you can handle the loaves without burning yourself) on a cooling rack or cutting board.

With a serrated or extremely sharp kitchen knife, cut diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices. Lay the slices flat on the baking sheet.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, turning over once. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 2 dozen.

I’ve used both lemon zest and orange zest to great, tasty success.

This recipe works best if you have a sandwich maker.

~ 4 bread slices
~ 2 eggs
~ 1 tsp vanilla extract
~ 1/4 c milk
diced ham (I like to cook ham slices first, and then dice it)
cheddar or a mix cheese (shredded is my preference, but sliced works as well)
powdered sugar

Fix your mixture of eggs, vanilla and milk to your preference for French Toast. Coat one side of the bread and place wet side down on the sandwich maker. Pile on the cheese and the ham. Dip another slice of bread on one side only. Place the undipped side on top of the meat and cheese, and close your sandwich maker. Let it ‘cook’ to your desired doneness.

Repeat with remaining bread slices.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve with scrambled eggs.

This recipe is completely off the top of my head. I had it once at a nice diner that no longer exists, and while craving it like a pregnant woman, I just created the recipe.

1 Slice of Bread
1 Egg
1 tsp Butter

Butter one side of the bread.
Use a small cup or cookie cutter to cut a hole in the center of the bread.
Place bread and cutout piece in frying pan buttered side down. Crack egg into the hole in the bread. Cook on medium heat until egg is done sunny side up or over easy (it’s important to have the yolk). Serve on plate with cutout piece for dipping.

Works best if, when breaking the yolk open, you make erupting sounds -Chris

1/2 pound ground beef
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 Tbsp sage
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp ground mustard

2/3 c ricotta cheese
4 oz cream cheese
4 Tbsp heavy cream, divided in half
4 eggs
pie crust

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Brown hamburger with onions, then stir in seasoning. Remove from heat. While that’s cooling, mix together your cheeses and 2 T of the heavy cream. In a separate bowl, mix together your eggs and remaining 2 Tbsp heavy cream.

Spread the meat mixture across the bottom of the pie crust. Dollop and then spread the cheese mixture on top of the meat. Pour the eggs and cream evenly across the top of it all.

Bake approximately 45-50 minutes or until eggs are set. (May take up to an hour.)

If you read it, you might recognize my seasoning blend from the Un-Sausage Cheesy Meat Wad recipe. It makes the hamburger taste remarkably similar to sausage. You can, of course, replace the meat and seasonings with sausage.

For my pie crust, I used half the recipe for Empanada Dough I. It was a perfect fit, and I could pull little pieces off and “reseal” anything that broke.

2 cups Bisquick or baking mix
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375F.

Blend mix and water together. Knead on a floured board. Roll or pat dough about 1/2 inch thick. Cut out biscuits and place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes or until golden. (Don’t wait for them to be brown on top! Brown = Burned!!)

Don’t feel like rolling and cutting? Add 1/4 cup milk and make drop biscuits.

2 cups Baking Mix
1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg, room temperature
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Mix together, batter will be and should be somewhat lumpy still.

Spoon 1/3 c – 1/2 c of batter onto waffle iron. Makes about six 6-inch waffles.

Another addition to my collection from the recipe exchange.  The karo syrup makes me avoid this recipe, so I haven’t tried it yet!

1 loaf French bread
8 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup maple syrup
6 oz cream cheese
6 T real butter

Syrup:
2 cups sugar
1 cup white Karo
½ cup water
1 t. cinnamon
12 oz can of evaporated milk

Rip French bread into bite-sized pieces and place in greased 9×13 pan.  In blender, mix up eggs, milk, maple syrup, cream cheese and butter.  Pour over bread.  Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake at 325 for 40 minutes.  For Syrup, mix sugar, Karo, water, and cinnamon in sauce pan.  Boil rapidly for 2 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes, then add can of evaporated milk.