This week the fall Sunday School program begins at Calvary Episcopal Church with simple breakfast breads and fruit, so I’ve been poring over old recipes and looking for a few new ones. The oldest, which I was sure I had written about, is for a bread called Sausage Swirls, a simple biscuit dough wrapped around raw sausage that is always a hit. Looking through my records, I could not find it had ever appeared, so it will be among those featured this week. I also remembered a very good scone recipe that I had found on the Internet several years ago — and found it again. In Louise Dodd’s wonderful cookbook, “Eating from the White House to the Jail House,” there is a recipe for scones, but it came from England and is expressed in metric measures, so I decided against it. Maybe our readers could translate it, but I couldn’t, so I’m sticking with what I know. There are choices old and new, simple and complex. That’s one of the things that make cooking fun — and challenging. To be safe, stick with something that has been repeated over and over and always turns out well. But to be adventurous, go with something outside your comfort zone. It could fail. But when it turns out well, you can add another recipe to your collection and brag a bit about your success.

SAUSAGE SWIRLS
4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
¼ cup cornmeal
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup milk
2 pounds hot sausage
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift dry ingredients together. Blend in vegetable oil. Add enough milk to make a stiff dough. Roll out thin on lightly floured surface. Spread on raw sausage and roll up lengthwise. Chill well and slice. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 15-20 minutes. Note 1: This can be made ahead and frozen. It’s easier to slice if partially frozen. Note 2: I usually cut this recipe in half, using one pound of sausage, etc. Note 3: There are seldom leftovers.

CRANBERRY SCONES
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup cold butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 cup whipping cream, divided
½ cup dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Stir together first four ingredients in large bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until crumbly and mixture resembles small peas. Place in freezer 5 minutes. Add ¾ cup whipping cream and the cranberries, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn dough out onto waxed or parchment paper; gently press or pat dough into a 7-inch round (mixture will be crumbly) and cut into 8 wedges. Place wedges 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush tops of wedges with remaining whipping cream, just until moistened. Bake at 450 degrees F. for 13 to 15 minutes, or until golden. (Variation: Use brown sugar instead of white and stir in ½ cup chopped pecans with the cream, omitting cranberries.)

CRUNCHY OAT AND BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
(Tasty and nutritious)
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup uncooked oatmeal (not instant)
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking power
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup blueberries
4 tablespoons (half-stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup milk
1 large egg
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly butter a 12-cup regular muffin tin. In a bowl, combine the flours, oatmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Toss the blueberries with a tablespoon or two of the dry ingredients. Beat together the butter, milk and egg. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and mix. Add the blueberries and stir until well distributed. Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let the muffins stand in the tins for about 5 minutes before unmolding.
Now, prepare a plate with servings from a couple of these recipes, add some fresh fruit and perhaps a glass of juice, along with a cup of good, hot coffee and a perfect breakfast is right before your eyes. How could such a beginning fail to signal that a glorious day awaits?

Joni Woolf, a writer and editor, now lives in Schley County, having moved from her home in Macon several years ago. Contact her at indigojoni@windstream.net