Bacon and Egg Cups

4 eggs
4 slices of bacon
4 slices of white bread
2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.   Spray or grease 4 cups in a cupcake tin.  

Cook bacon over medium high heat and remove when it's pliable, not well done.  Place on paper towels.

Using a 3 inch cookie cutter, cut circles out of the white bread.  

Place butter and maple syrup in a small saucepan and cook on low/medium heat until butter melts.  Dredge bread circles in butter/syrup mixture and place in the bottom of the greased cupcake tins.  Line each cup with a slice of bacon.   Place shredded cheddar in each cup.  Crack one egg in each cup and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or to desired consistency.  

Adjust recipe accordingly for more than 4 bacon egg cups.

Glazed Walnuts

1 lb walnut halves
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread nuts in a single layer over a baking sheet.  Roast for approximately 8 to 10 minutes or until the nuts start to turn brown.

Stir together sugar, cinnamon, salt and milk in a medium saucepan.  Cook over medium-high heat for 8 minutes or until the mixture reaches 236 degrees (soft ball stage).  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla immediately.

Add walnuts to sugar syrup and stir to coat well.  Spoon nuts onto waxed paper lined cookie sheet and immediately separate nuts with a fork.  Cool and store in airtight containers.

Pasta Salad

1 box vermicelli pasta
1 tomato
1 cucumber
1 green pepper
1 small onion (or onion powder to taste)
1 stalk celery
3/4 bottle McCormick's Salad Supreme
3/4 bottle Viva Italian dressing

Cook pasta to desired firmness and cool.  Wash and chop tomato, pepper, cucumber, celery and onion.  Add to cooled pasta.  Slowly add Italian dressing and Salad Supreme to pasta and mix well. 

Crockpot Beef Brisket

4 lb beef brisket 
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons ketchup
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 Tablespoons flour
1/3 cup water

Place onions in bottom of crockpot, then place brisket, fat side up, on top of onions.  Sprinkle garlic on top.   Add salt and pepper to brisket.  Combine ketchup, vinegar and brown sugar in small bowl and then rub into beef.  Add enough water to coat the bottom of the crockpot.  Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours.

For gravy, remove brisket from the crockpot, place on serving plate and cover tightly with foil.  Turn crockpot temperature to high.  Mix flour with a1/3 cup water, add to crockpot and bring to a boil, stirring frequently with wire whisk.