• Preheat the oven to high broil. Place an oven rack approximately 6 to 8 inches below the broiler, unless your oven is on the hotter side. You might want it a little lower.
• You may line your baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easy clean up.
• Using a serrated knife, slice your bread loaf (unless your bakery sliced it for you) into 1-inch thick slices.
• Place the bread slices on your cookie sheet. They can be touching if need be to get as many on one sheet as possible.
• Spread about 1 teaspoon of the softened butter onto each slice. Adjust the amount of butter as needed.
• Lightly sprinkle the garlic powder over all the slices, as evenly as possible, adjusting the amount to your taste preference.
• Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese, dispersing evenly across all your slices.
• Place the cookie sheet under the broiler. DO NOT WALK AWAY. This takes only moments to set your fire alarm off…. Trust me, been there, done that.
• Check the browning of your bread after 30 seconds. If you are happy, take it out of the oven. If you’d like more browning, continue to watch your bread until it has the desired browning you prefer. and remove from the oven.
• Remove from the oven.
• Serve warm with your meal or enjoy it by itself.

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
• Lay the puff pastry on a cutting board, lightly dusted with all-purpose flour if it is sticky. Roll the pastry out to 10x10” square.
• Place the brie in the center of the puff pastry. Using a sharp knife, score the top rind in two directions to make a diamond design (see photo).
• Spread the fig mixture over the top of the cheese.
• If using the fresh cranberries, press them into the jam, spacing them out across the top.
• Sprinkle the nuts on top of the fig mixture.
• Bring one corner of the puff pastry up over the top. Continue around the brie, bringing the puff pastry up and over, wrapping the entire pastry around the brie, enclosing it completely if possible, similar to wrapping the dough for a galette.
• If the corners are long enough on the top, you may squeeze them together and twist slightly to keep the puff pastry closed.
• In a small bowl, whisk the egg with the water until it is completely incorporated and a thin consistency, no “clumps” of egg. Brush the puff pastry’s top and sides.
• Using a flat spatula, move the puff pastry to the parchment paper.
• If the puff pastry has become room temperature, place it in the refrigerator for about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 35 minutes, or until the puff pastry is puffed and a beautiful, golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and use a large, thin spatula to transfer it to a serving plate/board. Drizzle with honey if desired.
• Serve with a knife for cutting into and spreading onto crackers, etc.

Broiler Method:

• Turn the broiler to high. Place the upper rack about 6” below the coils.
• In a small bowl, combine the Pumpkin Sugar and Cinnamon (if using extra). Set aside.
• Spread each slice of bread on one side with butter. Place the slices onto a baking sheet.
• Broil for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the desired browning.
• Remove the toast from the oven and sprinkle with the Pumpkin Pie Sugar mixture.
• Serve very warm.

Toaster Method:

• Place the bread slices into a toaster set to your desired browning level.
• When toasted, carefully remove the hot bread.
• Spread with butter while still warm. Sprinkle with Pumpkin Pie Sugar mixture.
• Serve very warm.

Black Chocolate Tea:

• Bring 8 ounces of water up to 200 degrees F and pour into a mug.
• Place loose leaf tea into a diffuser and place into the mug.
• Steep for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Remove the diffuser and enjoy.

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13” baking dish with nonstick spray or with butter. Set the baking dish aside.
• Cut the bread loaf into ¾” to 1” cubes and place the cubes in a large bowl. Set aside.
• In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat the oil and butter. Once the butter is melted, add the onion, leeks, celery, and fennel. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir often until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down if the vegetables are beginning to brown.
• Add the oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage, parsley, garlic, all-purpose seasoning and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and cook for another 3 minutes.
• Add the warm vegetables to the bread cubes and toss to combine. Set aside.
• Pour the stock into a large bowl. Taste the stock and add salt and pepper to taste, especially if you are using unsalted or low-sodium. The stock must taste really good since the bread will be absorbing it. After seasoning, add the eggs and whisk until the eggs are completely combined and liquified in the stock.
• Add about half of the stock to the bread and toss. Continue to add the remaining stock by ½ cup amounts to the bread until it is very moist, but not soaked through. The bread should still hold its shape. Toss the mixture until all the bread cubes are evenly moistened and the vegetables are evenly dispersed.
• Pour the dressing into the baking dish and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned and a little dry-looking. You may check the internal temperature; a digital thermometer should read 165 degrees F.
• Bring the dressing out of the oven and allow it to stand for about 10 minutes.
• Serve very warm.

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place the blade attachment onto the food processor. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts, cheese, garlic, oregano, parsley and ¼ cup of the sun-dried tomato oil to the food processor. Pulse until the mixture is smooth, adding additional oil until the mixture is flowing smoothly, but not oily. You don’t want oil standing as a traditional pesto would have.
• Soften the butter in a medium bowl in the microwave. It’s fine if the butter is partly melted.
• Scrape the Pesto into the bowl with the butter. Add the parsley, garlic, Aleppo Pepper, Black Garlic Sea Salt, black pepper, and the cheese. Combine well. Taste and adjust any seasoning as needed. Set aside.
• Cut 1” slices into the loaf/baguette, but not cutting through the bottom; you want the whole loaf still attached on the bottom so that the slices will hold the filling in.
• Place the loaf onto a large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil.
• Evenly divide the sun-dried tomato filling in between the slices. A soup spoon does well for this.
• Wrap the foil around the loaf, sealing all the edges. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
• Remove from the oven. Unwrap the top part of the foil to expose the top of the loaf.
• Bake for another 5 to 8 minutes, or until nicely browned and the cheese is melted.
• Remove from the oven. You may slice/cut the slices apart or allow guests to pull the bread apart.
• The bread is best when baked and served immediately, while still warm. The Sun-dried Tomato Pesto may be made and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance. Allow the butter to soften at room temperature or for about 5 seconds in a microwave.

• Make the Creamed Corn. Remove the kernels from the fresh corn with a sharp knife over a large bowl or rimmed baking sheet. Some may fly so have enough space for the kernels to fall.
• Add the corn and the remaining “Creamed Corn” ingredients to a medium saucepan over medium to medium-high heat. Gently simmer for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Some liquid will evaporate and the mixture will thicken. Taste and adjust any salt, pepper, and/or sugar.
• Pour the Creamed Corn into a deep medium bowl and cool.
• Using an immersion blender, puree about half of the mixture. Or, you can place half of the cooled corn into a food processor or blender and gently pulse to a coarse texture.
• The Creamed Corn can be made in advance, well-covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Before using, allow the Creamed Corn to come to room temperature.
• Make the Cornbread. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a large (12”) cast iron skillet into the oven to heat while the oven preheats.
• In a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the shredded cheeses and jalapeno, if using, and toss. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine the Creamed Corn, buttermilk, eggs, and oil. Set aside. You will combine the dry and wet ingredients just before placing the pan into the oven.
• Once the oven is preheated, protecting your hands with oven mitts or dish cloths, remove the cast iron skillet onto a heat-safe surface. Add the 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl the pan to cover the bottom and sides of the skillet.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Do not overwork the batter. Stir just until all the ingredients look combined and there are no pockets of flour.
• Pour the batter into the hot skillet, scraping the bowl to get all the deliciousness in there. It’s fine if some of the melted butter finds its way to the top of the mixture.
• Top with jalapeno slices if desired.
• Carefully place the hot skillet back into the oven and bake until the cornbread is nicely browned and risen, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. It’s okay if it has domed a bit in the middle. Check for doneness - a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just a few crumbs or clean.
• Remove the cornbread from the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes before cutting into it. (You can invert the cornbread onto a cutting board or plate, or just cut and serve from the cast iron skillet.)
• Serve very warm with butter.
• Any leftovers (yeah, right) should be covered well and refrigerated for up to 5 days, or frozen up to 3 months.

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin/cupcake pan with liners or grease the individual “cups” very well. (sugargeekshow.com has a great cake release recipe called “Cake Goop” that I use for cake pans.) Set the muffin pan aside.
• Place the cookie butter in a medium, microwave-safe bowl. Heat the cookie butter on high for 30 to 45 seconds, or until the cookie butter has “melted.” You don’t want it bubbling and hot, just melted and pourable.
• Whisk in the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Add the oil and pumpkin. Whisk all the ingredients together very well until smooth. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Whisk the ingredients together. Set aside. (Using a whisk will work almost as well as sifting.)
• Make the streusel topping before mixing the wet and dry ingredients together.
• In another medium bowl, add the crushed cookies, cinnamon, flour, and sugar; stir well. Pour the melted butter over the cookie mixture and using a spoon or spatula, toss everything together gently until no flour is seen. Set aside.
• Pour the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients. Scrape the bowl to get all that mixture.
• Using a silicone spatula, gently fold the ingredients together. Do not stir or whisk.
• Once the ingredients are combined and no more flour is seen, (some small lumps are ok) evenly divide the batter into the muffin pan’s cups, filling almost to the top.
• Break up the streusel topping with a spoon or your fingers; the butter will have caused everything to solidify, but that’s perfectly fine. Using your fingers is the easiest way. Evenly divide the streusel topping over the batter, breaking it up as you go.
• Bake the muffins at 425 degrees F for 5 minutes. Without opening the oven door, lower the temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake for another 10 to 14 minutes. Mine took 12 minutes, a total of 17 minutes cooking time. Adjust baking times to your oven’s temperament.
• Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool for about 3 minutes; you do not want them to continue to bake in the hot pan.
• Remove the muffins from the pan to a cooling rack to cool completely. Be careful as the pan and muffins will be extremely hot.
• If you choose to use the Cookie Butter Drizzle, heat the cookie butter in a small bowl in the microwave for about 20 to 30 seconds, or until just “melted.” Drizzle over cooled muffins. Or, you can simply dust the muffins with confectioners’ sugar.

• Butter a 9” or 10” baking dish (3 to 4-quart dish) with 1 tablespoon of the butter and set aside.
• Place the chopped dates and Elderberry Dark Balsamic Vinegar in a small bowl. Stir to separate the dates. Set aside.
• Crack the eggs into an extra-large bowl, add the yolk, and lightly scramble with a fork or whisk. Set aside.
• Place the whole milk, heavy cream, remaining 4 tablespoons butter, vanilla, zest, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a gentle simmer, lowering the heat if necessary to keep from boiling. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, the butter is melted, and the milk is hot, but not boiling.
• Temper the eggs by slowly drizzling about ½ cup of the hot dairy mixture into the eggs while whisking the eggs with the other hand. Add another ½ cup of the hot liquid into the eggs while whisking again. Continue this process until you’ve mixed about half of the milk mixture into the eggs. Slowly pour the remaining hot mixture into eggs while whisking.
• Add the balsamic-soaked dates and walnuts to the mixture and combine.
• Add the bread cubes to the egg-date mixture and gently toss all the ingredients together. Pour into the greased baking dish.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Let it sit for 30 minutes before baking to allow the bread to soak the dairy and eggs. (There will be some standing liquid in the dish; that’s great!)
• (See Notes for alternative baking instructions.) Cover the baking dish with foil and bake in the oven for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. The top should be nicely browned.
• Remove from the oven. Serve with a sprinkling of confectioners’ sugar, vanilla ice, caramel sauce cream and/or sweetened whipped cream.
• While the bread pudding is baking, make the caramel sauce. Place the sugar and water In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Allow the sugar to melt and bubble, stirring when necessary.
• Keep an eye on the sugar as it darkens. When the caramel is turning a medium-dark amber color, remove the pan from the heat.
• Add the heavy cream. Be careful; it will bubble up. Add the butter and vanilla and stir until the mixture is smooth. Use with the Bread Pudding, or pour into a bowl to cool. The caramel can be made up to 5 days in advance, kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
• To make the whipped cream, add all the ingredients to a stand mixer bowl and attach the whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high until stiff peaks form. Best if used within 4 to 6 hours.

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment for easy clean up.
• Slice the baguette in half longways. Place the halves, cut-side up, on the baking sheet. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine the butter, garlic, sour cream, mayonnaise, black pepper and crushed red pepper if using.
• Sprinkle the cheeses over the mayo mixture and fold the ingredients together gently.
• At this point, you can taste for salt and adjust any seasonings as desired. Most likely it will be salty enough.
• Evenly spread the mixture over the two cut sides of the baguette.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cheeses are melted and slightly bubbly.
• Remove from the oven and place the baguette slices on a cutting board to cool for about 10 to 15 minutes. (Slicing the hot bread straight from the oven will cause some of the mixture to slide off. If you can wait, I highly suggest allowing the bread to cool.)
• Top with the remaining green onions and parsley.
• Slice into 2” to 3” pieces and serve warm. See Notes for serving suggestions.

• Preheat and lightly butter a non-stick griddle or large, shallow skillet over medium-high heat.
• In a medium bowl, crack your eggs and beat lightly with a fork or whisk.
• Add the remaining ingredients and beat the mixture again until all the spices are blended throughout the egg mixture.
• Once your surface is hot, dip a slice of bread into the egg mixture, flipping to coat both sides of the bread. Allow the excess mixture to drip back into the bowl.
• Place the bread on the hot surface and cook on each side for approximately 2 minutes, or until the egg is cooked and just browned. Continue the same process with the remaining slices of bread.
• Remove the French Toast slices from the heat and place on individual plates or a platter for serving. Serve while still warm with any optional toppings listed above.