Ok, first of all, it may seem like I have a slight fixation with the Pioneer Woman aka Ree Drummond.  I admit, that may be a little true.  I think she is beautiful, witty, smart, and I love her recipes.  She has 4 kids just like me and she was a city girl who married a country boy and learned to adapt and bloomed where she was planted.  I got to say, that is a lot like my story.  So I guess I identify with her and I love to cook and her recipes seem to be the ones I gravitate to.  So, I showcase many of her recipes on my blog and all of this is amounts to a hill of beans except you get the benefit of my take on her recipes and I share them with you.  Do ya’ll remember this pic…

Yeah…I guess I have a little fan obsessed when it comes to PW.  That’s ok…we all have our thang, right?  So, naturally I follow her on Facebook and the other day a picture popped up on my newsfeed that made me drool.  A recipe that I knew I could not walk on this Earth much longer without making.  It practically cried and begged me to make it.  Bless its little heart…I had to answer its cries.

So,  a little back story here.  Big Daddy loves him some breakfast.  I grew up in a household that did not make breakfast except for rare occasions and on vacation.  He grew up in a family of pancakes or french toast every morning.  Breakfast was a must and for him it still is.  I have certainly developed a deeper appreciation for the most important meal of the day and now that we have our kiddos, they of course eat breakfast every morning.  It stands to reason that seeing a recipe for a wonderful concoction called an Eggberts Sunriser would drive me to drop it all and make one ASAP.  Well, it just so happened that the perfect occasion presented itself almost immediately.  Our 13th anniversary.  What?  You say, a breakfast recipe for your anniversary.  Well…yes.  Let me tell you, Saturday my youngest starts complaining of a sore throat.  When I tell you my easy going baby boy does not complain often, I mean that.  So I knew something was up.  Then Sunday, when some friends were over to celebrate our oldest daughter’s birthday, started running fever and it was downhill from there.  The writing was on the wall…our anniversary was the next day and going out to dinner was probably not going to happen that day.  BUT I could make him a delicious anniversary breakfast.  Eggberts Sunriser seemed appropriate.  So I made it.  Ya’ll…it was so perfect.  I looked so tasty when I put his together that I followed right in there and fixed myself one.  OH.  MY.  WORD.  All I can say is, if you are a breakfast lover or like me a brunch fanatic, you have to get in there and try this.  You can read all about PW’s take on this recipe here…http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/12/the-eggberts-sunriser.  For now, here is my take on this fabulousness. Oh and after a trip to our pediatrician’s office, it has been confirmed that my baby has strep throat and a double ear infection.  Yeah, fancy dinner out for 13th anniversary was not in the cards.  That’s ok…plenty of time for that.

Happy 13 years of wedded bliss/craziness to us!!  I love this man so.  He makes me happy.  And nuts.  But mostly happy.  

Eggberts Sunriser 

Serves:4

Stuff you need~

8 cups frozen hash browns

20 whole frozen mini potato wedges (I used some leftover baked potatoes that I had from Sunday lunch.  I cut those up into wedges and then did the same thing)

Canola oil for frying

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 whole medium onion, diced

1 whole green bell pepper, diced

1 whole red bell pepper, diced

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced (optional)

1 1/2 cups diced ham

1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

4 Tablespoons butter

8 whole eggs

Salsa for topping, optional

What to do with the stuff~

Now, I will start by telling you that I halved this recipe because I knew it would be only Big Daddy and I eating this, but next time I will probably make extra because you could easily reuse this stuff together for breakfast burritos.  We love breakfast burritos in this house and also like to use up what we cook, so for us this is a win win.  Also, I think next time I will omit the hashbrowns and mini wedges and just use all cut up baked potatoes.  What my mother in law (the great and wonderful Deb) calls country fried potatoes.  Mmmmm.

Ok…Now, to start off…grab a big cast iron skillet and really douse it well with canola oil.  Cover the bottom and then add some more.  Trust me.  I tried to use my oil sparingly and it resulted in the frozen hash browns sticking to the bottom of the pan.  You don’t want to deep fry them, but you want them crispy and browned well.  Not stuck to the bottom.  Got it?  Good.  Heat the oil over medium heat and then cover the bottom of the pan with the hash browns.  Now, season them really well as they cook and don’t turn them much.  Ideally, you want to let them brown and then flip them maybe once.  Let them be, precious little darlings.  Let them become crispy and brown.  Again…don’t let them burn.  If you need more oil, add some to the pan.  I did and it was all good.

Now, if you are going the frozen wedge route, you will add considerably more canola oil to your skillet so you can kind of deep fry the wedges.  I just added the baked potato wedges to the pan at the end of frying the hash browns and let them brown some.  Or you can bake the frozen wedges.  It is really up to you.  I HATE to deep fry.  It is just so messy and makes the house smell.  To each his or her own though so do your thing!  In another skillet, add some canola oil and warm it over medium heat.  Not a lot of oil, but enough to just grease the skillet.  Now, stir in the diced veggies and ham.  You want to stir it around just let the raw veggies get a little tender and take the rawness away.  Unless you like all that stuff raw, then, well skip this step I guess.  I probably cooked mine for about 8 or 10 minutes, stirring several times.

Now, in a bowl, layer a some of the hash browns, then wedges, then the veggie and ham combo.  Now, sprinkle some cheese over this.  While the cheese is doing its melting thing, get out a small skillet and add your butter to it.  Turn on the heat on medium low and let the butter melt.  Crack your eggs into the skillet and cook them to taste.  Big Daddy likes his sunny side up but I am an over medium gal.  The pic I took is of mine so it is not as pretty as his was.  Or PW’s picture on her’s.  But mine still had the yellow juice and it dripped down over the potatoes and…oh just writing about this is making my mouth absolutely water.  Sweet Maria, that was an excellent breakfast.  Definitely put a fresh start on our 13th anniversary and if this next year of our marriage is as good as Eggberts Sunriser…well we are in for one wonderful year.  I am pretty dang sure we have started a new anniversary tradition…or a once a week tradition.  Yeah, this dish is that good.

Happy, happy, happy!