A friend sent me a wonderful surprise in the mail...the Gooseberry Patch Big Book of Home Cooking recipe book!  It was just what I needed, when I needed it.  Friends are great  like that, aren't they?!  Thank you very,very much Kat!  You are such an amazing friend!

I immediately dug in and started marking pages of recipes to try.  This one stood out as I was having a house guest overnight and wanted to make something special for breakfast.  Turned out delicious!  Here's what I learned:

1. I used the zest of two lemons for the crumble.  Speaking of crumble, wowza was that part delicious!
2. Definitely cube up the cream cheese pretty small.  You want them to be the perfect bite size because they don't really lose their shape while baking.
3. Use fresh blueberries.  Period.
   
4. My oven runs hot and it still took the full 55 minutes to cook through.  The middle might have even been a little underdone.  Probably will have a lot to do with the pan you choose.

Blueberry & Cheese Coffee Cake
by:  Gooseberry Patch's Big Book of Home Cooking

Ingredients
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened and divided
1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2 cups fresh blueberries
8 ounce package cream cheese, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
2 tablespoons lemon zest (approx 2 lemons)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Beat 1/2 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add 1 1/4 cups sugar, beating well.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating until blended after each addition.

Combine 2 cups flour, baking powder and salt; stir well.  Combine milk and water; stir well.  Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Mix at low speed after each addition until mixture is  blended.  Gently stir in blueberries and cream cheese.  Pour batter into a greased 9"x9"  baking pan.

Combine remaining 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, lemon zest and 2 tablespoons of butter; stir well with a fork.  Sprinkle mixture over batter.  Bake at 375 degrees for 55 minutes or until golden.  Serve warm or let cool completely on a wire rack.

This is my favorite homemade pancake recipe!  They actually turn out fluffy and have great flavor.  Here's what I learned:

1. I thought vinegar, what?  It actually just helps to sour the milk (like buttermilk).  You may smell it, but you won't taste it.
   
2. One recipe makes enough for the three of us.  I would double it if you have more than two adults eating.
3. I put a little butter in the pan before each batch.

Recipe can be found here:  Fluffy Pancakes

_A super sweet friend bought me a donut pan recently.  I've always wanted one!  A few short days later the family was enjoying these tasty treats for breakfast.  Here's what I learned:

1. Using a pastry bag without a tip would make filling the pan very easy.  I plan to do that next time.
2. I dunked the hot donuts in melted butter and then rolled them in a white sugar/brown sugar/cinnamon mix.
3. When rolling said donuts in the sugar mixture I way overdid it.  We were brushing sugar off them before eating.  They don't need to be completed coated to taste good!

Baked Donuts

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly grease a doughnut pan.  In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt.  Stir in buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter.  Beat together until well blended.

Fill each doughnut cup approximately 3/4 full.  Bake 8 - 10 minutes until they spring back when touched.  Allow to cool slightly before removing from pan.

You can create your own cinnamon sugar mix, glaze, frosting, powdered sugar, etc.  Whatever toppings are your favorites!

_My husband said it was like eating cookies for breakfast.  I'm already thinking about making them again!  Very tasty!  Here's what I learned:

1. I didn't have chocolate milk on hand.  Instead I mixed white milk with cocoa powder and sugar.
2. I would recommend using 2% or whole milk.
3. Sliced bananas on top were delicious!
4. The batter seems runny but no worries.
5. They got a little burnt around the edges but I like it that way.

_Recipe can be found here:  Chocolate Chip Pancakes

_Quiche.  It's good.  Here's what I learned:

1. I like using the precooked Jimmy Dean crumbled turkey sausage.  Makes for really simple prep!
2. You can easily adapt this to your liking.  Change up the meat, veggies, cheese and it's a whole new recipe.
3. It should be ready between 50-60  minutes.  Keep an eye on the crust.  As you can see mine started to get a little dark.

_Recipe can be found here:  Andrea's Quiche

_This one is really tasty!  Here's what I learned:

1.  I used pecans instead of walnuts.  Personal preference.
2.  I halved the recipe and used Grands flaky biscuits (8 count).
3.  After the initial 30 minutes was up they did not look done.  I read past reviews and one person suggested covering it with foil, turning the oven off, and letting it sit in there for 10 minutes. They were the perfect balance of soft but not too doughy.
5.  Cream cheese inside = A+.
6.  Even better re-heated the next day.

Please keep in mind the pictures didn't turn out as well as the recipe tasted!  And a few of the pecans got a little burnt.

_The recipe can be found here:  Paula Deen's Gorilla Bread