Debbie’s Cinnamon Rolls

1 loaf frozen sweet dough

1 stick margarine (½ cup)

1½ cups sugar

Cinnamon, to taste

Set oven at 325 degrees.

Following directions on bag, let sweet dough thaw and rise. Lightly flour dough and roll out. In a bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Melt margarine. Brush melted margarine over rolled dough. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon mixture over the dough. Roll up dough like a jellyroll. Cut approximately every 2 inches. Press rolls into muffin pan, lightly greased with vegetable oil cooking spray. Cover and allow to rise again. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Linda’s Banana Bread

¾ cup sugar

Scant ½ cup shortening

2 eggs

1½ cups flour

½ tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 cup very ripe bananas, mashed or puréed

½ cup chopped walnuts, optional

Set oven at 350 degrees.

Cream sugar, shortening and eggs together in mixer until well blended. Sift dry ingredients together; add half of mashed banana to creamed mixture and blend; then add half of dry ingredients and mix well. Repeat with second half of banana and dry ingredients. Stir in nuts.

Every morning as we set off for school, mom would yell out the door to us,
“Put your thinking caps on!”
--Momism

Tip: I don’t know what it is about bananas: one moment they’re too green, the next, too ripe. If you have some bananas that are starting to go bad and you simply haven’t the time to make up some banana breads, don’t fret. Wrap each banana in tin foil and freeze until ready to use. But be prepared, once you take them out, the outer layer will be black and the inside fruit, mushy. But that’s all right. I swear, these bananas will make the BEST breads!

Types of food you’ll rarely hear one of us eating for breakfast:
--hash browns

--biscuits and gravy

--fried potatoes

--grits (UCK!)

I feel my arteries hardening just mentioning these foods! )

Eating big breakfasts on a regular basis has never been a family tradition. If you ask a family member what they ate for breakfast today, you’d more than likely hear one of the following:

--cereal

--toast

--pop tart

--yogurt

--donut

--bagel

--grapefruit or melon

--health bar

--eggs

--big glass of milk

--glass of juice

--nothing

Now, we all know the importance of eating a good first meal to jumpstart our day, but isn’t that why we adults drink coffee? There simply aren’t enough seconds in our busy schedule to spend quality time preparing and then cleaning up a big meal first thing in the morning.

Egg Sausage Casserole

1 pound ground pork sausage

2¼ cups milk

10 eggs

1½ tsp. dry mustard

1½ cups shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese

3 slices (about 2 cups) white bread, cubed

Set oven at 350 degrees.

In a large skillet, brown sausage over medium heat. Drain well and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine milk, eggs and dry mustard. Beat 1 minute on medium speed. Stir in cheese, bread and sausage.

Pour into ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking dish.

Bake, uncovered, for 30 - 40 minutes, or until knife inserted comes out clean. Makes 12 servings.

Note: This casserole can be made up ahead. Prepare, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees, for about 40 - 50 minutes.

Oatmeal

3 cups water

1½ cups oats

Brown sugar

Raisins

Milk

Cook water and oats in pan on the stove for about 5 minutes.

In 2 separate serving (cereal) bowls, add brown sugar, raisins and milk, to taste.

Strawberry or Banana Muffins

Use either: ⅔ cup (about 5 ounces) frozen sliced strawberries, thawed and drained, or ⅔ cup bananas, mashed (about 1 - 1½ bananas)

1 cup flour

⅓ cup sugar

½ Tbsp. baking powder

⅓ cup milk

1 egg

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Set oven at 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, combine strawberries (or bananas), milk, eggs, and oil until blended. Add to dry ingredients. (For strawberry muffins, stir just until moistened.)

Lightly spray muffin cups with vegetable oil cooking spray and fill each about ⅔ full. Bake 20 minutes. Remove muffins from pans immediately. Serve warm. Makes 8 muffins.

The Spirit of Christmas, Book 15, pg. 107

Baked Honey Fruit

1 20-ounce can pineapple chunks, in juice

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 6-ounce jar maraschino cherries, drained

1½ cups coarsely chopped orange sections

1½ cups coarsely chopped grapefruit sections

⅓ cup honey

Set oven at 375 degrees.

Reserving juice, drain pineapple. In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in reserved pineapple juice. In a medium bowl, combine pineapple, cherries, orange, grapefruit, and honey. Stir in cornstarch mixture. Pour fruit mixture into a 9-inch square baking dish. Bake 1 hour or until mixture is thick and bubbly. Serve warm. Makes 9 servings.

Little dose of “home” wrapped up in a bag…

When we lived in Wisconsin, we had the freedom to go home from school each day to eat lunch. After the bell rang, we trudged home—even in rain, sleet and snow—for a truly “hot” meal and dosage of soaps, like All My Children and Ryan’s Hope.

But things drastically changed when we moved south. It was against school policy to go home during the day. Besides, there was no lunch “hour,” just a 20 minute lunch “break.” So, much to our chagrin, we started eating at school.

Every morning was the same: there was mom in her red robe standing at the kitchen counter with one eye open making peanut butter sandwiches, which she wrapped in wax paper or plastic wrap, and placed in a half dozen brown paper bags. On each bag she scrawled our names with a pencil—sometimes adding a smiley face—and lined them up on the counter in front of her.

The only time we didn’t take our lunch is when, tragically, we were out of bread. That meant we had to buy our lunch, which allowed us to taste what the school defined as a “hot” meal. (No comparison.)

The best part of our bag lunch was the little surprises mom hid inside: chocolate chip cookies (when did she make them?), blonde brownies, cake. There was ALWAYS something homemade in our lunches, which often made us the envy of many students.

Breakfast any time…

Sometimes when dad was out of town and mom’s enthusiasm for cooking waned, she would pile us all into the car and take us to the local McDonald’s for cheese burgers and fries for dinner…..NOT! Nope. Sorry. Wrong age, wrong family.

Though we did eat at restaurants every now and then—like Stuckey’s traveling to and from Wisconsin—as kids, we rarely ate out. We just had too big a family and it was too expensive.

Poor mom had to cook dinner whether she felt like it or not! Got hungry mouths to feed? Ya gotta cook. It’s in your job description.

So, to give herself a little break from preparing the same ‘ole meals over and over, mom would make what quickly became our favorite for dinner: breakfast food! French toast with maple syrup, waffles (not the frozen kind) made with the old, clunky waffle iron, bacon, scrambled eggs, YUM!

This was such a treat for us. When dad was on a business trip, I would tune out the episode of Gilligan’s Island or Little House on the Prairie and use my special radar to monitor the sounds emanating from the kitchen. If you didn’t smell ground beef cooking on the stove, but heard the fry pan come out of the cupboard, you knew there was hope!

I can’t recall ever missing a meal as a kid—unless I was sick. Of the thousands of suppers we ate, eating breakfast food at night is a special memory for me.

Mom’s Homemade Waffles

2¼ cups flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1½ Tbsp. sugar

2 beaten eggs

2¼ cups of milk

¾ cup vegetable oil

Mix together dry ingredients. Then combine with remaining ingredients and add the oil—just before baking. Beat until just moistened. The batter will be thin. Bake it in your waffle iron. Makes 10 – 12 waffles.

Mom may have made the above recipe + another half to serve everyone.

When using a waffle iron, you may want to lightly brush with oil to help prevent it from sticking.

Serve with butter and maple syrup.

French Toast

3 beaten eggs

¾ cup milk

1 Tbsp. sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

10 slices dry white bread

Powdered sugar, optional

Butter or margarine

Maple or strawberry syrup

Fresh strawberries, optional

In a shallow bowl, beat together eggs, milk, sugar and cinnamon. Dip bread in egg mixture, coating both sides.

In a hot skillet (sprayed with vegetable oil cooking spray), cook bread on both sides ‘til golden brown—be careful not to burn.

Whatever’s in the ‘frig
Scrambled Eggs

6 – 10 eggs

½ - ⅓ cup milk

2 Tbsp. butter or margarine

Whatever you have in the ‘frig:

⅓ cup shredded mozzarella, cheddar, Swiss, or American cheese

⅓ cup diced ham or cooked sausage

¼ cup diced onion, green pepper, and/or mushrooms

Seasoning to taste: salt, pepper, dill, cilantro—whatever you want

In a bowl, beat together eggs and milk. (Stir with a fork to mix.) In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat and then pour in egg mixture. Cook, without stirring, ‘til mixture begins to set. Using a large spoon or spatula, fold in your other favorite ingredients. Cook, stirring as needed (and to prevent burning on the bottom), ‘til eggs are done. (Not runny—but still moist.) Remove from heat and serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

Serve scrambled eggs with toast, cooked bacon or sausage, etc.

Snapshot memories…

Basket full of torn clothes and mom’s Singer sewing machine

As soon as mom and dad left to run an errand, Dave and Brian lured me into the defrosted freezer in the garage and closed the lid. Course, they swear to this day they never did it, but I remember!

Debbie and her favorite barbecue potato chips or French onion dip and Ruffles potato chips

Sleeping during long drives to and from Wisconsin; David car sick in the back

Hancock Street: weird roommates, sour milk, Strawberry Quik, and Brian’s blue robe

Unruly hair and cowlicks

Bunk beds; the “hat of the day” hung on the bed posts each night by Bruce and Brian; cowboy hats and firemen’s hats; baseball caps; Bruce’s Daniel Boone cap

Cartons of bottled pop

Wedding vows; “tails”; bridesmaids in pastel dresses; concealed bottle in a brown paper bag passed ‘round before the ceremony; doin’ the hokey-pokey; doin’ the Chicken Dance to “Come on Aileen…”

La’s complicated puzzles spread out on the card table worked from the inside out

Is that a Stuckey’s sign out there in the distance? Smell them hot dogs!

The vaporizer and the flow of steam, damp and cool on our face

“Children are to be seen, but not heard!

Mom made this German Coffee Cake recipe both for breakfast and as a quick cake for company. When for company, the day of the get-together was always a frantic one for mom. She had baking and cleaning to do—wanting the house to look perfect—and you quickly learned to keep your distance and not venture into certain rooms, like the living room, after she meticulously vacuumed and dusted them. (You only made that mistake once!)

After a quick supper, the kids were often banished to the basement (or the upstairs bedrooms) with strict instructions to stay put, be quiet, and “absolutely no fighting!” Now would we do that? In a second!

You know, kids will only be good for so long. The majority of the time, mom was the disciplinarian in our house. But on company night, it was ALWAYS dad.

At least once an evening, it was his job to admonish us with a verbal warning yelled from the stairwell. That was all it took—normally—unless there was bloodshed or tears, which was usually a lose-lose situation for everyone. Even if you weren’t involved in the actual altercation, and vehemently pleaded innocent of any wrong-doing, you were still guilty by association! On company night there was no justice, just swift non-negotiable punishment: bed!

Kaffee Kuchen
(German for Coffee Cake)

½ cup softened butter or margarine

1 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1½ cups sifted flour

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ cup milk

2 stiff, beaten, egg whites

The topper:
⅓ cup flour

¼ cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp. butter or margarine

2 tsp. cinnamon (a little more is always good!)

Set oven at 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg yolks. Add dry ingredients, alternating with milk—a little at a time. Beat after each addition. Fold in egg whites. Pour into greased 9 x 9 x 2-inch pan.

Mix flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter (or margarine). Add cinnamon. Mix until crumbly.

Sprinkle topper over the batter. Bake for about 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Note: Mom normally doubles this recipe. If so, place in a 9 x 13-inch pan.

Ole’ Fashioned Pancakes

2 cups flour

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

Dash of salt

1¾ cups milk

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Set fry pan to 325 degrees. (You can also use a skillet on the stove, but a fry pan is much easier.)

Mix flour with sugar, baking powder, and dash of salt. Then add milk and eggs. Blend thoroughly—but only ‘til lumps disappear. Stir in vegetable oil.

Pour batter and bake until bubbles break and edges are cooked. Turn and bake on other side. Serve immediately.

Makes 16 4-inch pancakes.

Serve with fresh sliced fruit (like strawberries or blueberries), syrup, or powdered sugar. You can also serve pancakes with cooked bacon, sausage, etc.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes: For fun, gently stir in mini-chocolate chips when preparing batter. Cook as normal. Or, you can make pancake batter and, after flipping the pancakes once, allow to set up, and then sprinkle with mini-chocolate chips. Finish baking, as normal.

The Birds…

As young children, we had a bedtime that was strictly adhered to. It was a rare occasion when we got to stay up late—like ‘til 9 o’clock. Consequently, I remember always waking up with the birds.

Still dark outside, and before anyone else had risen, I wrapped myself in my blanket, tip-toed downstairs to the family room and curled up on the couch to wait for dad.

Every weekday was the same routine. He’d wander downstairs, still half asleep in his PJs, fill his coffee pot with water, set it on high, and go into the half bath to wash his hair and maybe shave (that part I don’t remember). Once finished, he’d make us both breakfast (usually toast or cereal), make his coffee and then we’d eat.

It was usually a quiet time, with little conversation. (That mighta been a ground rule.) In truth, that didn’t bother me. I just enjoyed being with my dad.

Dad writes: As I thought about these stories, it occurred to me that my follies as a child could have done me in along the way, and there would be no current Owen clan. Scary ain’t it?!

Being run over by a car

On a warm summer Sunday afternoon, when I was five years old, I was playing with neighbor chums and we all decided to cross the gravel road in front of my house. The others took off and I was behind them with my left foot in a toy dump truck that I was using as a kind of scooter. I saw a blue car coming and I started across the road as soon as it passed. What I did not see was a second car behind the blue one. The driver of the second car, an elderly man, saw me near the edge of the road ready to cross the road and he tried to put on his brakes. Unfortunately, it was too late. The front right wheel ran over my left foot, which was out in front of me. Matters were made worse by his back wheels locking as they also ran over my foot. My leg was broken in two places, and almost severed at the ankle. The only thing holding my foot on was the Achilles tendon. The old man was devastated, and it was all my fault.

Banana Graham Cracker Cake

1¼ cups flour

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

⅓ cup margarine, softened

1¼ cups sugar

¾ cup Egg Beaters (or 2 eggs)

1¼ cups mashed bananas (2 bananas)

⅔ cup plain yogurt

½ cup walnuts, chopped, optional

Powdered sugar, optional

Set oven at 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and baking soda; set aside.

In a large bowl, with electric mixer at medium speed, beat margarine and sugar until well combined. At low speed, blend in Egg Beaters (or eggs) and bananas. Add flour mixture alternately with yogurt, mixing until smooth. Stir in walnuts, if desired.

Lightly spray 13 x 9-inch baking pan with vegetable oil cooking spray. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Dust with powdered sugar before serving. (Should be cool first.)

Makes 24 servings.

Breakfast Cinnamon Loaves

1 package yellow cake mix with pudding

4 eggs

¾ cup vegetable oil

¾ cup water

1 tsp. vanilla

½ cup sugar

3 Tbsp. cinnamon

Set oven at 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat cake mix, eggs, vegetable oil, water and vanilla at high speed for 5 minutes. Pour half of batter evenly into 2 greased loaf pans.

In a small bowl, stir together sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle half of sugar mixture evenly over batter in loaf pans.

Now pour remaining batter evenly into loaf pans, and sprinkle evenly with remaining sugar mixture. Gently swirl with a knife.

Bake for 45 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool in pans. Makes 2 loaves. Store in freezer, if desired.

Note: If you can only find regular yellow cake mix, then pick up a small box of instant vanilla pudding to add to the mix.

Mini Cinnamon Loaves – great for gift bags or baskets

Being run over by a car, continued

I was operated on, my leg put into a cast, and I was in the hospital for several weeks.

The rest is history. My leg healed and my illustrious career as an athlete was saved.

Needless to say, fate was on my side and I am forever indebted to Doctor Kenneth Pierce for stopping by the hospital on that Sunday afternoon.

Not quite Tarzan of the Apes

I was about nine years old and was climbing trees, in a vacant field, with friends and we were playing Tarzan. It was all pretty harmless as we shimmied up the trees and climbed out onto limbs. It was close to dinnertime and all the others went home. I stayed in this big tree and thought it would be great fun to jump from one limb to another like Tarzan. I looked at a nice limb a few feet away and about 8 - 10 feet from the ground. Tarzan made these jumps so easily. I took kind of a casual jump towards the selected limb and, lo and behold, I completely missed it. Since I was stretched out to the limb I was horizontal to the ground and came down like a belly flop. The wind was knocked out of me, I hurt all over, and I layed there dazed for it seemed like hours. It was probably only fifteen or twenty minutes. I was finally able to pick myself up and struggled home. My clothes were all dirty, but not unusual for me, and I did not tell my parents of my mishap. I guess my acting dazed was not unusual either and they did not ask me what happened.