Useless Facts

You know how sometimes you run across facts that really have no significant impact on your life?  Well I learned two useless facts this week.  Did you know a group of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope?  Yeah, I didn't either.  Also, did you know a shallot is a cross between an onion and garlic?  You can find them with the garlic bulbs at the grocery store.  The last fact may have had a slight impact on my life. 

We went to our daughter's house for Christmas Eve.  She served the most magnificent Kale Salad.  Yes.  It was magnificent!  She had gotten the recipe from a friend of hers so she named it Anna's Kale Salad.  Thank you for sharing the recipe Anna!  All I can say about this salad is OH!  MY!  GOODNESS!  I made it with dinner tonight and I am so glad I have some left over for lunch tomorrow.  I found the kale already chopped up at Aldi's.  It did have some pieces with the thick stem, so I just pulled the green off of it and threw the stem away.  You'll enjoy this even if you don't think you'll like kale.

Anna's Kale Salad

Dressing:

1 diced shallot

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 Tbs. Red Wine Vinegar

½ tsp sugar

½ cup olive oil

Make the dressing a day before so it has time to sit and blend.  Store in a glass jar and leave on the counter.

Salad:

Kale

Sweet nut and seed salad topping (I used honey roasted pecan and cranberries)

Crumbled goat cheese

Pull kale into small bites.  Toss in dressing and let it sit for about 30 minutes to tenderize the kale.  Add the salad topping and goat cheese.  Toss and serve.

My sister-in-law would make sausage bread on occasion.  She gave me the recipe a number of years ago.   I made a few changes to make it more like what my family enjoys.  I just changed the cheese, gave 2 options for the bread, and took out the parsley.  If you would like it to be spicy, just use the hot sausage.  I prefer the mild sausage myself.  I usually use the pizza dough and cut it into slices after it's baked as an appetizer for Christmas parties, Thanksgiving dinner, etc.  Today, I thought it might go well with breakfast.  I didn't have any pizza dough so I used crescent rolls.  It turned out tasting even better than the pizza dough and this time I cut it into triangles and served it with eggs and grits.  It was a nice way to change it up.

Sausage Bread

 1 can pizza dough or 2 cans crescent rolls

1 lb. roll of sausage

1 cup Mozzarella cheese

1 tsp. fresh minced garlic

2 eggs

Cook sausage, drain, and chop up.  Mix sausage, cheese, eggs, and garlic in bowl.  Roll dough to 1/4 inch thick.  Spread sausage mixture on the center of the pizza dough.  Bring sides together in the middle and press edges together.  If using crescent rolls, unroll one can and press perforations together.  Spread sausage mixture on dough leaving ½ inch around the edges free.  Open 2^nd can of crescent rolls on top of mixture and press perforations and edges together.  Brush the top with olive oil.  Bake at 350 degrees 25-30 minutes.