Dennys Food and Recipes: Super Simple Breakfast: Texas Hash, Sausage and Egg Casserole, More Casserole Links

                                                    Photo: Sausage Egg Casserole from AllRecipes.com

Dennys Food and Recipes: Super Simple Breakfast: Texas Hash, Sausage and Egg Casserole, More Casserole Links: From Denny:  Going to the beach for Labor Day?  Company coming and you are wondering what is easy to cook up for a hungry crowd?  Here are a couple of easy recipes for breakfast any time of the day.  They are also the kind of flexible recipes that you can add some of your favorite ingredients or seasonings to your taste...

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Breakfast: Easy Simple French Toast Casserole

Funny Coffee Cats Shower Curtain

Not ready for the world before your cup of joe? Quit hissing, COFFEE's brewing!

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Dennys Food and Recipes: Breakfast: Easy Simple French Toast Casserole

          The Advocate photo: HEATHER MCCLELLAND 

                                                                    
Dennys Food and Recipes: Breakfast: Easy Simple French Toast Casserole: From Denny:  Whether it's the holidays, a busy summer when the kids are out of school or company came to visit, we all need something fast and simple to put together that's a crowd pleaser.  This simple easy to assemble breakfast casserole fits that bill!

All the ingredients required are a loaf of good French bread, a full 8 ounces of your favorite brand of cream cheese, milk, maple syrup, butter, sugar and eggs.  Add fresh fruit to serve and it's that easy!

Usually when a recipe calls for sugar I often substitute agave syrup or brown rice syrup or even molasses.  If you don't like or can enjoy cow's milk why not substitute almond milk?  When butter is in a recipe I choose to clarify it just because we love the extra boost of flavor at our house from browning and filtering out the milk solids - as well as the added health benefits.  You could use margarine in this recipe as a substitute too.  And, to gild the lily, why not add a few shakes of nutmeg and/or cinnamon, some chopped pecans or walnuts before baking?  Yeah, Flavor Town is the name at our house...

Dennys Food and Recipes: Breakfast: Easy Simple French Toast Casserole

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Sports Blue Soccer Woven Throw Pillow

A blue abstract background with bold lettering declaring your love of the sport from Louisiana artist Denny Lyon.  Available on other products too!

Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new! 

A Christmas Post: Holiday Recipe: Fig and Toasted Almond Scones

Photo: King Arthur Flour

A Christmas Post: Holiday Recipe: Fig and Toasted Almond Scones: From Denny:  Autumn is here - and so is daylight savings time this Sunday when we "fall backward" one hour - so don't forget to set your clocks back one hour!

For some reason I've been enjoying the vegan scones over at Whole Foods the past couple of weeks now that the weather has cooled.  So, that sent me on The Scone Recipe Chase to see what is out there in recipe database land.  Found these little autumnal gems over at King Arthur Flour.

Figs are quite popular here in Louisiana where many a backyard grows a fig tree.  Almonds are popular in California where they supply the nation! This is the time of year when the nation's nut orchards are releasing their bountiful harvest of pecans (Louisiana and Texas), almonds, walnuts and macadamias so we are all tempted to start our holiday baking early! At least I believe that's their marketing strategy to sell more nuts. :)

Scones are an easy way to try out some fruit and nut combinations to see how the family and friends enjoy the idea.  While I love my blueberry and lemon scones of the summer it's time for something different for the fall season so we wanted to try these fig and almond scones at our house.  Of course, if figs or almonds are not your preference, know that you can always try figs and walnuts or cranberries and almonds or whatever grabs your fancy this baking season.

Don't feel like the extra effort and time of slicing the scone dough into proper triangles?  Try the method the King Arthur Flour bakers suggest:  bake them into rounds just using 1/4 cup of dough for each scone, leaving 2 inches between them.  That amounts to the idea of a drop scone, much like a drop biscuit...

Holiday Message Potholder

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Holiday Message Dinner Placemats - design also available in cloth napkins, teapots, mugs, coffee travel mugs, aprons, serving trays, wine chillers, cocktail shakers, cocktail plates, cutting boards, cookie jars, flour and sugar canisters, dog food bowls, dog t-shirts, dog hoodies and much more! Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!

Holiday Message Large Serving Tray

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Dennys Food and Recipes: Thanksgiving: Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake

Dennys Food and Recipes: Thanksgiving: Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake: From Denny:  This is the perfect holiday table dessert!  It's so showy it's sure to impress.  Three layers of tasty goodness are the gingersnap cookie crust as it's sturdy foundation to hold the spiced pumpkin cheese layer that is marbled with a vanilla layer.

Like most big cheesecakes, this one should be baked in a springform pan, where the cake cools in the pan for several hours before you remove the sides of the pan.  If you have never used a springform pan, it's so easy it will make you laugh, definitely nothing to be intimidated about at all.

Like any tasty cheesecake, this one is rich in calories too, so a small serving would be welcomed by most.  At a dinner party I like to cut a normal to small sized slice, placing it on one plate and then encourage couples to share so people don't have to feel guilty about busting their diet plan.  After all, the whole point of entertaining is for people to enjoy their tasty treats!...

Geaux Wear Pink! Apron

Help support women on their journey to wellness and hope for a cure!

Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  

Also, please remember that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, keeping these women in your thoughts and prayers.  Here's my latest Denny Lyon Gifts design (at Cafe Press) to honor all the fabulous women and their supporters fighting this disease.

This design first started off as one of my photos of those favorite hot pink azalea blooms, in addition to many other filters, employing a kaleidoscope filter to create this abstract medallion effect. This design reminds me of how our beauty is always there, no matter what form it takes.  Of course, here in Louisiana, we take creative "French" license with English spellings. :)  The thought bubble is to remind others to support these women on their journey to wellness.  Lots of other styles of t-shirts and other products to enjoy too.  The link takes you to the page of all the products featuring this design.  Thanks for visiting!

Dennys Food and Recipes: Easy Fall Recipe: Sauteed Red Cabbage With Apples

Photo: Heather McClelland @ 2TheAdvocate.com

Dennys Food and Recipes: Easy Fall Recipe: Sauteed Red Cabbage With Apples: From Denny:  Red cabbage is both a pretty color for the table and an easy vegetable to cook up quickly.  Red cabbage, like regular green cabbage, is great for your skin, an added health benefit!  Who wants wrinkles?  Dine regularly on chicken and cabbage and you sure won't need to bother with silly botox injections or face lifts.  We really are what we eat.  It helps when it tastes good too!

Now that many varieties of apples are in season you can enjoy your favorite apple paired with red cabbage.  All you do is first steam the cabbage. Then saute the apples with some onions in butter, adding the steamed cabbage.

Ahead of time I like to clarify the butter to remove the artery clogging milk fats and it also makes it easier to store at room temperature if you desire, once filtered of the milk fats.  I use a small tea strainer once it's cooled enough to go into a storage container.  I also prefer cooking with Vidalia sweet onions or red onions, sometimes called purple onions or Bermudas, but that's just my personal preference.  This recipe calls for yellow onions.  You decide what your family enjoys best.  Once the cabbage is just cooked through then stir in the cider vinegar and brown sugar mixture...

Geaux Wear Pink! Women's All Over Print T-Shirt

Help support breast cancer awareness and hope for the cure! Design available in many t-shirts styles for men, women and kids and on other products like mugs, coffee mugs, blankets, pot holders, hoodies too!

Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  

Also, please remember that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, keeping these women in your thoughts and prayers.  Here's my latest Denny Lyon Gifts design (at Cafe Press) to honor all the fabulous women and their supporters fighting this disease.

This design first started off as one of my photos of those favorite hot pink azalea blooms, in addition to many other filters, employing a kaleidoscope filter to create this abstract medallion effect. This design reminds me of how our beauty is always there, no matter what form it takes.  Of course, here in Louisiana, we take creative "French" license with English spellings. :)  The thought bubble is to remind others to support these women on their journey to wellness.  Lots of other styles of t-shirts and other products to enjoy too.  The link takes you to the page of all the products featuring this design.  Thanks for visiting!

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Photo: King Arthur Flour

From Denny:  Summer time and the zucchini are multiplying like rabbits in our gardens!  Zucchini bread is always welcome just plain but how about "gilding the lily"?  Add some cocoa, chocolate chips and espresso powder to put it over the top.

Quick breads like this recipe are always welcome for the holidays or when you want something special - but not complicated or too demanding of your time and effort.  Like most quick breads this one is an easy recipe to make.  While this delicious bread bakes just sit down, relax and tour through your favorite collected old cookbooks or breeze through some interesting online recipe databases.  Works for me!

Celebrate Chocolate King Duvet

Celebrate Chocolate every day as a holiday!

Design available in 3 color palettes:  additional bedding sizes, t-shirts, blankets, 

pillows, jewelry, stuffed animals, mugs, ornaments, 3 sizes of laptop sleeves, shower curtains

From Louisiana artist Denny Lyon

Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new! 

Dennys Food and Recipes: Turkey Cooking Tips: How Good Is Your Holiday Roast Turkey?

Dennys Food and Recipes: Turkey Cooking Tips: How Good Is Your Holiday Roast Turkey?:
From Denny:  Roasted my Thanksgiving turkey a day early.  Sure beats stressing on the Big Day.  Also, my husband, affectionately known as "Satan" misses out on trying to micro-manage the cooking, driving me absolutely crazy.  He never did learn to cook but thinks he knows how to tell you all about how to do it anyway.  Getting the Big Bird done a day early is a win-win for everyone as he was less stressed just as much as me!

Though he did try only twice this season to be ever so irritating:  once, when taste testing the fabulous gravy he made The Yuck! Face but could not keep his composure for long, laughed, and then raved about it as one of the best yet.  Later he decided he just had to tell me how to cut the French bread for sandwiches his way rather than the normal slices I was doing for hot garlic bread, his favorite.  Since I'm basically The Spatial Engineer in this house (just ask me to pack a car for travel and I am The Expert on finding every nook and cranny to fill) I explained to him how his way made no sense but cut a few slices for him anyway.  He was so disappointed to realize I was right after all.  "Satan" lost that round.  Never a dull moment at our house, that's for sure!

Hey, we should all be challenging the White House chef to a Roast Turkey Cook Off.  Bet mine is one of  The Best!  We love spices at our house and every year I create something different.  This year's wet rub spices were swimming in clarified butter:  sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, smokey paprika, cumin, curry powder, marjoram leaves, lite sodium soy sauce, Moscato wine and Remy Martin cognac...

Santa Jingle Kid's All Over Print T-Shirt

Make some merry this holiday season! Jingle Jingle!

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Holiday Appetizer From Chef Grant Actatz: Sweet Potato Toppers

From Denny:  This is a sweet appetizer to enjoy for the holiday season while the turkey is roasting.  Because it is sweet potato it will hold over those rumbling stomachs waiting for the feast.

This appetizer is so simple as it is a sweetened whipping cream and sweet potato mixture topped off with bourbon soaked raisins rolled in spices like cinnamon and ginger with a bit of brown sugar.

With the cracker of your choice (make sure it is strong enough to hold this mixture as sweet potatoes are heavy) just spread with the back of a spoon - or pipe like icing - some of the sweet potato mixture onto the cracker.  Then place the bourbon soaked and spice-sugar rolled raisins on top all in a row.  Simple, easy and serve immediately!

Nutrition facts follow after recipe.  Good news:  very low in sodium per serving.

Just LOVE Necklace Circle Charm

Just LOVE is the shortest best message!

Holiday Cake: Chocolate Chip Gingerbread

From Denny:  Would this make a beautiful holiday food gift or what?  Who doesn't like chocolate or gingerbread during the holiday season?  The winter white vanilla glaze gives a strong visual contrast for presentation.  We do eat with our eyes...

This beautiful cake would be great for those holiday gatherings to beautify the dessert table.  Come on; if you are able to slightly warm the servings, melting the chocolate chips, then one whiff of that gingerbread and chocolate and this cake will go fast!

Santa Jingle Picture Ornament

Make some merry this holiday season! Jingle Jingle! This design also available in teapots, cocktail platters, serving trays, lots of bedding, area rugs, blankets, pajamas, pillows, clocks and so much more; come see!

Healthy Chef Recipe: Yam Chocolate Spice Bars

From Denny:  Here's an interesting twist for the holidays - chocolate chips in your yams!  This is a quick recipe utilizing a spice cake mix, canned sweet potatoes, chocolate chips, real butter and reduced-fat cream cheese to create a delectable but easy to make dessert!

This recipe comes from Holly Clegg who has been a celebrity in Louisiana from some time now.  Why?  She was on the cutting edge of the food trends to reduce calories in our favorite comfort foods while adding nutrition.

Holly's father suffers from arthritis and she has developed a book of recipes to help those with arthritis reduce inflammation through food choices (think watermelon and sweet potatoes).  Holly also has a book on diabetes recipes.  Her mind is always thinking of healthier ways to trim, substitute or re-think our favorite recipes for modern times and health needs.

Louisiana yams and sweet potatoes are quite popular in our state so the local chefs are constantly thinking of new ways to include these vitamin A and vitamin C packed veggies into our everyday diet.  Holly also suggests this recipe is a good way to use up leftover sweet potatoes.

Vintage Bicycle Cookie Jar

Vintage Bicycle, a curious blast from the past, to warmly decorate the present. This design also available in flour and sugar containers, and teapots, cocktail plates, platters, serving trays and bedding, pillows, shower curtain, clocks, area rugs and more!

Holiday Cookie: Chocolate Bon-Bon Drops

From Denny:  These are simple chocolate cookies that your kids could help you make.  You roll the dough into small balls before placing on the cookie sheet.  Little hands love to do fun projects like rolling cookie dough.  The trick is to keep them from stuffing the raw dough into their mouths! :)

These easy cookies are deep-chocolate rich, topped off with a very sweet vanilla glaze.  For the holidays you could top them with a Hershey's chocolate kiss or a bright red cherry or other holiday decoration to dress up the cookie tray.  Better yet, give them away as a holiday food gift and become the favorite friend and relative for life!

Included are reviews of bakers who tried this recipe.  Since I enjoy reading them I thought you might too.

Celebrate Dark Chocolate Queen Duvet

Holiday Cookie: Rocky Road Bars

From Denny:  Rocky road is a favorite flavor combination for everything from ice cream to fudge to cake to cookies.  If you like rocky road and shortbread then this bar cookie is for you!  This is a rich little cookie that is just perfect for the holidays or birthday celebrations.

The beauty of this cookie is that you can make ahead and store in the fridge or even freeze it.  A good recipe for taking to holiday gatherings but one you can make at your convenience when you have the time.  Included are some reviews of the recipe from home bakers.  I always like to see what other people think about a recipe and check out any fresh ideas for different twists of ingredients or presentation.  This King Arthur Flour recipe database has been fun to explore!

Calligraphy Bird Thank You Greeting Cards (10 pack)

Elegant calligraphy scroll design decorates this awesome card! Great for sending out those treasured personal snail mail notes people love to receive after the holiday season.

Holiday Recipe: Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

From Denny:  Do you love gingerbread?  Here's a chance to make a smaller version in cookie form to delight your friends, family and guests at holiday gatherings.  The beauty of this cookie recipe is that it's a wonderful surprise of gingerbread combined with chocolate! 

If your local store doesn't carry the Swedish pearl sugar then just dust with regular refined sugar or some sprinkles.  This recipe is a fun twist on the holiday favorite of gingerbread from King Arthur Flour.  Also, left in their links to various ingredients and products they sell on the site for you to check out if you wish.  What I enjoyed most was reading the many reviews which I thought you would find useful too.

Santa Jingle Clutch Bag

Make some merry this holiday season! Jingle Jingle!

Decadent Chocolate Recipe: Chocolate Brownie Sundae

Photo: Cynthia L. Nobles/The Advocate newspaper, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

From Denny:  Love brownies and vanilla ice cream?  Enjoy this brownie that is so much like a chocolate souffle and serve it warm with melting ice cream, smothered in a homemade chocolate sauce.  There is a lot of chocolate in this recipe, so stock up before the world chocolate prices go up! This is a dessert that would appeal for entertaining during the holidays, making you their favorite relative! 

Merry Christmas Star Earring Circle Charm

Santa hat decks out Merry Christmas greeting on Christmas star

Easy Holiday Recipe: Daydream Dessert of Cake, Ice Cream, Slow-Cooked Apple Topping

Photo: Patrick Dennis/The Advocate newspaper, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

From Denny:  This is an easy recipe to throw together when you are pressed for time or too tired to make something more elaborate.  The slow cooker crock is to the rescue.  Make this easy topping - which only takes a couple of hours to cook on Low on its own - while you prepare dinner and get the kids organized for school the next day or help with homework.

Remember strawberry shortcake every summer and how easy it is to put together in a snap?  Well, this recipe is just as easy.  While the slow cooker does its work just hop on over to the grocery store and pick up those same pre-made individual sponge cakes and your favorite vanilla ice cream.  

This simple cooked topping involves only two apples, a handful of coconut, a small handful of sliced almonds, butter and brown sugar.  Serve on your most decorative dessert plate.  Build with a foundation of an individual sponge cake, a generous dollop of vanilla ice cream and then topped with the hot apple-coconut topping.  Garnish with more almonds and sprinkle with coconut...

Plum Swirls Clasp Wallet

Check out these joyful noodle swirls trimmed out in plum for a chilled attitude!

Fast Holiday Candy Recipe: Pecan-Raisin Clusters

Photo by Cynthia L. Nobles

From Denny:  Talk about a simple recipe that is fast to create!  Perfect for holiday entertaining this little gem of a recipe comes from Cynthia L. Nobles and it was featured in our local Louisiana newspaper a couple of months ago.  Of course, I quickly recognized it's worth as a recipe perfect for the holidays, whether it's gift-giving or entertaining the friends and relatives! :) 

Do you have a little leftover morning coffee?  This recipe uses up a few tablespoons of it so no need to throw it out after all.  I mean, really, when you can make a chocolate recipe with some leftover morning coffee who said being frugal couldn't be fun and tasty?...

Santa Music Round Compact Mirror

Cookies: Coconut-Almond Macaroons

Photo:  Arthur D. Lauck/The Advocate, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

From Denny:  Raise your hand if you enjoy coconut macaroons.  Yeah, me too!  They make some stellar ones on their seasonal menu, dipped in the best dark chocolate, over at the French restaurant bistro chain, La Madeleine.  

But if you can't get ones as good as theirs locally, and the ones at the grocery store leave you yawning, well, make them yourself!  These lovely cookies are easy to make.

Yet another easy recipe from my local Louisiana newspaper, The Advocate.  They have an award-winning food section as Louisiana people love to cook and share our recipes for publication, especially when it comes to tail-gating season and the holidays...

Happy Holidays Poinsettia Greeting Cards (20 pack)

Christmas poinsettia vintage design updated in soft winter pales with Happy Holidays greeting suitable for the holiday season!

3 Tasty Persimmon Recipes: Bread, Cake, Pudding, Persimmon Facts

From Denny:  Persimmons.  Look forward to these every year when they are in season?  Just when you start to forget they exist, then, suddenly they show up in the grocery store.  Pretty much the story of our lives as there is so much abundance around us in the harvest time.  That sends you hurriedly searching yet again for a great persimmon recipe. So, you end up here at this food blog, right? :)

Seriously, these great recipes were recently featured in our local newspaper by an avid persimmon grower with a beautiful persimmon tree in her Louisiana yard, offering great advice on growing and cooking persimmons.  One tree yields a lot of yummy tasty treats to enjoy baking into awesome goodness!  This year her persimmon tree almost broke her record; it produced over 1,500 persimmons.

After a record amount one year, the persimmon tree will take a break next year and produce less.  After harvest, prune the house high tree because you will want it to branch out as much as possible.  Pruning is what keeps a tree producing a lot and prolongs its life for many years.  It's often difficult to reach the fruit at the top of tree so just leave it as food for your neighborhood birds.  They will be sure to thank you!...

Celebrate Chocolate iPhone 5 Case

Celebrate Chocolate every day as a holiday!

Holiday Cookie: Double-Shot Mocha

From Denny:  OK, never write a cookie post right before lunch.  It all looks so good you want to rush into the kitchen and start baking! :)  This cookie recipe is basically a dense brownie with pools of melting chocolate oozing out when you break them open straight out of the hot oven!
  
There are two cups of chocolate chips and chocolate chunks in this awesome recipe, certainly more than I'm used to baking.  It's no wonder you can get your chocolate fix in one small cookie all at once.  

If you have the discipline to wait until the cookie cools all those chocolate pools solidify into huge nuggets of gooey goodness.  No one ever said these little chocolate gems would last long in your house - or mine! 

Peace Christmas Star Round Ornament

Enjoy the profound Peace of the Christmas season!

Christmas Gift Recipe: Peanut Butter Fudge

From Denny:  This is an easy unique way to cook fudge - in a slow cooker!  What fun, a super simple fast recipe!  It has our name all over it and think how you can make up many batches of this to give as hostess gifts at Christmas parties or other seasonal gift giving.

It's also a kid friendly recipe it's so easy to do.  You cook the fudge on High in the slow cooker for about 20 minutes total and then pour it out into a pan lined with waxed paper.  Place in fridge to cool and harden.

Angels Rejoice Snowflake Ornament

'Tis the season, let the angels Rejoice!