Cooking in the UK - Breakfast Casserole

After going home for Christmas, some friends of our brought their dog back to Edinburgh with them.  We've been getting the dogs together for long walks to play and burn some energy.  Last weekend Luke had to work so he didn't get to join us.  This weekend we planned an outing to the west side of the city and invited our friends over for brunch before our adventure.  Unfortunately Bethany hurt herself Friday night and wasn't able to join us so we're still working to find a time when all 6 of us can go explore.  Luckily there are so many places to explore that eventually we should be able to do that.

Anyway - as I was deciding what to make for brunch I thought back to this awesome breakfast casserole that our friend Megan introduced to us.  It's your typical breakfast casserole with eggs, sausage or bacon and eggs.  Should be no problem, right?  Wrong!

I am most thankful for my iPhone when I am at the grocery store.  I always have to Google substitutes or UK equivalents or what things are called by the Brits.  Yesterday I had to Google both Swiss cheese and frozen hash browns.  

Luckily Swiss cheese was easy.  Apparently Swiss cheese is actually an American version of Swiss Emmental cheese.  Done.

Hash browns were not so easy.  There is a section about 6 feet long of frozen potatoes but the only hash browns are shaped like triangles.  Not exactly what I needed for my casserole.  So I did the Google and learned that I could boil potatoes and then shred them to make my own.  And that's what I did.  

Sorry for the poor picture quality.  I was rushing and my hands were all covered in potato while I was trying to take the picture.

It was a success!!!  The casserole tasted great and it was probably actually better for us because the potatoes were fresh.

So that's my second adventures in cooking story for you.  Moral of the story is - always keep your smart phone handy and give yourself some extra time in case you have to substitute.  

Here's the recipe so that you can enjoy the awesomeness that is this breakfast dish.

Cheesy Amish Breakfast Casserole

1 pound sliced bacon, diced (or 1 pound sausage because I'm not a big fan of the bacon here)

1 sweet onion, chopped

4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed (or 4 cups freshly made shredded potatoes)

9 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese 

1 1/4 cups shredded Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; cook and stir bacon and onion until bacon is evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain. Transfer bacon and onion to a large bowl. Stir in potatoes, eggs, Cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, and Swiss cheese. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven until eggs are set and cheese is melted, 45 to 50 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Love you & miss you!

Aubs, Luke & Luther

Guest Post......My First Castle

Hey everyone!  Sorry its been a while since my last post but January has been exhausting.  Once mum went back to work and dad finally went back to school, it took me a few days to get back into my routine of sleeping, eating, stretching and sleeping again.  Now I'm all rested up and am ready to tell you all about my newest adventure....

Mum and dad took me to see my very first castle on Saturday!  It was awesome!  

Saturday morning we got up early and headed to the bus stop.  After about an hour, and a ride through some beautiful countryside, the bus dropped us off right outside of Dirleton Castle.  As we walked through the gates, I got a big rub from the man who worked there.  He was really nice.

When we got to the castle, mum let me off the leash to run around.  It was so much fun to explore all the passages and rooms.  We even got to play hide and seek a couple of times.  I'm a really good finder though so mum never got lost.  

Cellars. - with interesting rounded ceilings

Checking out one of the many fireplaces.  I think they used this one for bread.

Two gigantic fireplaces in the kitchen.  Can you see me? 

We had a beautiful day to explore too.  The sky was such a pretty blue and the sun was shinning bright.  It was a little bit chilly but I have a fur coat so it didn't bother me.  

Mum and dad said that Dirleton was smaller than some of the other castles they had been to, but that it had some really cool features.  I've included some pictures so you can see for yourselves.  

Really interesting vaulted ceiling.  You can't tell how awesome it really is from the picture.

Outside of the vaulted ceiling in the picture above.

Buffet where they displayed silver 

Bowling green

Dovecot

I bet these gardens are amazing in the summer

For Aunt Benja

After we explored the castle, we headed across the road to The Castle Pub for lunch.  There was a nice, warm fire going and mum brought a bone for me to have while she and dad ate lunch.  

After lunch we walked around a Kirkyard for a bit while we were waiting for the bus.  You have to be careful with the buses outside of town because even though it says it comes very 30 minutes, the bus that goes all the way home only comes every hour.  It's all about the fine print here.

And when I got home I took a nap.  That was a lot of history for one pup to take in.  But I am definitely looking forward to exploring more castles.  If you come to visit me, I'll play hide and seek with you too.

Cheers,
Luther