Breakfast of Champions

Our usual breakfast when growing up consisted of opening the "cereal cabinet" next to the table and making a selection from a wide variety of cold cereals found next to the stash of napkins. In the winter, the options might include hot oatmeal or Cream of Wheat with chopped-up dates adding sweetness to a few lucky bites.

On the other hand, Randy grew up eating hot breakfasts the majority of the time. I got him converted in no time at all - ha!

I love eating an occasional breakfast out at a restaurant. In fact, it's one of my favorite meals to eat outside the home. And, at the Ladd B & B, where we often stay before or after K-State games, a hot breakfast is sometimes on the menu plan. This past weekend, Jill was already feeding a crowd after the homecoming parade Friday night with yummy slow cookers full of chili and chicken and rice soup. When I volunteered to bring food of some sort, she suggested Saturday breakfast.

I sometimes bring banana bread (and I did this time, too). But with an 11 AM start time for the game, I wanted to add a substantial start to our day ... and try to avoid spending a bundle at the stadium concession stand at the same time.

What did we do before we could go to a search engine, type in "breakfast casserole, sausage, eggs, hash browns" and get a list of possible ways to combine those tasty ingredients? Well, we used the shelves of cookbooks I have cluttering my kitchen, but the typing method is usually faster.

This time, I found a simple recipe at The Country Cook, a food blog. While it's not a blog I normally read, I definitely qualify as a "country cook," and the recipe qualified on the ingredients I wanted to use. I made a few modifications, and we ended up with a tasty, pre-game breakfast. (Check out the recipe below). 

Our whole family was able to sit together at the game this time, which was a lot of fun. 

After a week of rain, it was a perfect fall day. 

 And K-State even won the game vs. Oklahoma State with some help from this cute fan club!

Yes, Kinley was able to eat the breakfast casserole ... even with her current lack of front teeth.

Uncle Brent and Eric got to answer plenty of questions about the whys and where-fors of football games.

The girls actually made it the whole game, though they did take a brief time out to play with their cousins on "the hill."

We arrived in Manhattan in time for the Friday evening homecoming parade. The girls enjoyed hanging out with their cousins and a Sunday School friend.

 Who doesn't love a parade? (OK. Don't ask Brent that question. He's not a big fan.)

We saw Willie ... (Brooke hid from him) ...

... and the marching band ...

... and got a head start on Halloween candy. 

After all the candy collected, let's get back to that recipe, shall we? Besides a tasty breakfast, it would make a great breakfast for supper choice. Enjoy!

Breakfast Casserole

(Hash Browns, Eggs, Sausage)

Adapted from The Country Cook blog

2 lb. bag frozen hash browns, thawed
1 lb. pork sausage (you choose the spiciness level)
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 sweet red, yellow or green pepper (or equivalent of mini peppers), finely chopped
8 eggs
1/2 cup cream or half and half
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 13- by 9-inch baking pan with baking spray. Set aside.

Cook sausage, onions and peppers in skillet until the meat is browned and vegetables are softened. Drain any excess fat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, 1 cup of cheese, salt and pepper, mixing well.

In the prepared baking dish, spread out the thawed hash browns. Put cooked sausage mixture evenly on top. Pour egg mixture evenly over the sausage layer. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of cheese on top.

Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Take foil off, and bake for additional 10 minutes, checking to make sure the cheese doesn't become overly brown. Serve with fruit, etc.

Note: I put the casserole together the night before and refrigerated it. Because it started out cold, I baked it at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes before removing the foil and baking for 10 minutes more. I started in a cold oven so I wouldn't break my glass baking dish.

While the Parade Passes By

re·un·ion

rēˈyo͞onyən/

noun

noun: reunion; plural noun: reunions; noun: re-union; plural noun: re-unions

1. an instance of two or more people coming together again after a period of separation.

   "she had a tearful reunion with her parents"

   • a social gathering attended by members of a certain group of people who have not seen each other for some time.

     "a school reunion"
   • the act or process of being brought together again as a unified whole.

     "the reunion of East and West Germany"

Stafford's Oktoberfest is not quite so dramatic as the reunion of East and West Germany, but, for 25 years, it has gathered people back to our little town. It began as a fall festival, but it didn't take long for Stafford High School classes to move from their traditional Memorial Day alumni banquet to Oktoberfest weekend. Now the first weekend in October has become a time of reunions, with school classes and families coming home.

Under the Friday night lights of the Lou Brock Field at SHS, the Trojan class of 1974 gathered around their spirit flag. Classmate Marcia Vasey Bauerle made the flag as a high school senior. Gemma Austin, who still lives in Stafford, has become the official keeper of the flag, and, for the past 40 years, it's flown as Trojans have left in motorcades to state track meets and other events when some extra school spirit was warranted.

On Friday night, there was no mistake: The Class of '74 was back and cheering every touchdown with a wave of the red and white and a shake of pom pons (also furnished by Gemma, ever the cheerleader).

I didn't graduate from Stafford High. But after 33 years of reunions and with two children who are also SHS alumni, I feel like an honorary member of the group. 

Our small town loves a parade, so the next morning, the Class of  1974 waved to their friends and families as they bounced down the brick streets.

"Lordy, lordy! We've hit 40" pretty much says it all, doesn't it? (Of course, I wouldn't know ... until next year, anyway.

We had two little parade goers watching for Grandpa. Well, one was watching. The other one seemed unimpressed with the small-town festivities.

Kinley was also watching for her Mommy, who was celebrating her 10-year reunion.

And we waved at Great Aunt Kathy, too, who didn't see us from her perch on the Class of '84 wagon.

I thought Kinley would be excited about gathering candy thrown from the floats and vehicles.We had her sack ready.

But her parents have obviously trained her well. She wasn't too excited about leaving the sidewalk to venture into the street.

She got a few pieces of loot and then enjoyed the parade as it passed by.

From patriotism ...

... to a small, but mighty marching band ...

... and some pretty snazzy vehicles.

Main and Broadway was the place to be.

It's good to be with family - whether it's blood that connects you ...

... or people who share your graduation date ...

... or just ties that bind in a small Kansas town.

A Penny for Your Thoughts

A Penny for your thoughts. Really, Penny was in my thoughts last Friday as Randy and I went to the Stafford Rodeo.

I've never been a horse person. I didn't go through the preteen fascination that seems to afflict a bevy of girls, including my sister, Lisa, who had a horse named Penny. I left the fancy fringed shirt and cowboy boots to Lisa and her 4-H project. I was much more inclined to have both feet planted firmly on the ground. Give me a foods project or even a sewing project - both decidedly indoor activities - and I was much happier. I even liked working on 4-H books. (I know I am an anomaly, but I've always liked the art of telling a story.)

Lisa on Penny and me on the ground - where I belong!

But even though a rodeo is not something I want to do every weekend, I have to hand it to them. They sure know how to honor the American flag. That's not to say that my patriotic pride isn't similarly stirred at the Bill Snyder Family Stadium on K-State game day.

But there's still something moving about watching as the American flag is honored before a small-town rodeo.

This year, they included a reading of Johnny Cash's poem, "The Ragged Old Flag" while our own local cowgirl Jayme Ramsey carried a threadbare flag on horseback through the rodeo arena.

And then a brand new flag was similarly ushered past the assembled crowd that stood, hands over hearts and hats in hand, as "The Star-Spangled Banner" played. What a way to begin an evening of small-town entertainment!

The night at the rodeo had me remembering visits to my Grandma and Grandpa Leonard's house near Sublette when we were growing up. We often timed our summer visits to coincide with the Haskell County Fair in August, and a rodeo was always part of the fair's attractions.

When our kids were little, we took them to the rodeo, too. Neither of them went through the horse phase either. But that didn't mean they didn't enjoy the rodeo parade. They just saddled up their bikes instead of horses.

Brent and his friend, Erica, at a long-ago rodeo parade

A pink and white cowboy hat complete with feather trim came home from a rodeo once upon a time with a little girl who just may have talked her Daddy into an impulse buy. I couldn't find a photo of Jill in the pink cowboy hat. But the memory is still as vibrant as that hot pink hat.

Jill at the same parade

Small towns mean rodeo, parades and patriotism. There's nothing wrong with that.

If you'd like to hear Johnny Cash's "The Ragged Flag" click on the YouTube link. Enjoy!