Monkey Bread ...p85

You can see by the photo, this bread wasn't monkeying around.  It rose beautifully and the texture was amazing.  I don't know if it was the mashed potatoes, but I haven't had a better monkey bread before.  Since I didn't have leftover mashed potatoes, I actually used *gasp* boxed! Oh, please don't let that be the secret!

Usually, I think of monkey bread as taking canned biscuits, pinching off pieces and rolling them in sugar and cinnamon.  Or perhaps making a brown sugar syrup.  Since the recipe didn't include directions for doing either - leaving us a little short after "dip into melted butter" - I just did my own doctoring.  I also added a lot of walnuts between the layers - delicious!

Kimber, are instructions for sweetening this missing?  Let us know - add a comment!

Make this for a fancy breakfast - everyone will love it.

Hardy Appetit!

Homemade Sausage ...p47

This is one recipe where I'll have to agree with the critic.  Maybe it's just cause we're so used to the spiciness of Texas now (think Elgin sausages:  Southside or Meyer's; or Chappell Hill), that the impact of cloves and cinnamon alone didn't fire us up.  No one seemed quite sure if I was trying to make hamburgers or some other bun-satisfying filler, so if you decide to try it yourself, be sure to follow the directions, and roll the sausage! 

And a word to the wise, if you're gonna make the critic sausage, she wants it rolled-fashion, not patty-wack.

Since I'd already made a ton, the next day I took what I'd patted once already, dumped it in a big bowl and added bucketloads of salt and crushed red peppers to "kick it up a notch" as Emeril says.  We all decided next time, we'd skip the beef and stick to pork.

Hardy Appetit!