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HISTORIC HOUSEKEEPING TIP

These tips come from The Modern Priscilla, November, 1917. The article is titled, Helps for Housekeepers:

"Good Dust Cloths: Use old stockings with a good furniture polish. These may be used once and discarded."
"Before Cracking Pecans: Pour boiling water over them and let stand twenty minutes, drain water off and crack. You will find that the meats do not crumble but come out in large pieces, even if a small hand-cracker or hammer is used."

TWO SEWING TIPS FROM MARLIS BENNETT, A BERNINA EDUCATOR

Hi there Martha, I've been reading the comments about removing the blue marks left by the water soluble fabric markers. A very easy and safe solution is to mix a weak solution of Baking soda and water and dab the marks. They remove every time with no damage to the fabric. I also thought I'd pass on a tip given to me by Sylvia from White Bear Lake, MN. Whenever she attaches a straight stitch foot to her machine, she engages the security feature. On a Bernina, you would tell the machine you've selected a straight stitch plate. This will then automatically narrow the stitch width to straight and should you select another stitch or fiddle with the stitch width, you won't break your needle as the security function locks in a width of zero. Take care and big hugs, Marlis

TIP ON GETTING MARTHA'S SEWING ROOM IF YOUR PBS STATION DOES NOT CARRY IT

The first tip is to call to request our television series. Secondly, I have been informed that if you have a satellite tv, it is aired from BYUN out of Provo, Utah, and Denver FYI carries it. Thanks to BYU and to Denver for sending it out over satellite. If you want to request that your station carry it please click here to find your local PBS station, then request from your station director that they air Martha's Sewing Room. Thanks for all your letters telling us how much you enjoy the show. We love doing it for you.

SWEET LETTER FROM BEV S. FROM the Martha Pullen Fan Club MarthaPullenFanClub@yahoogroups.com (THIS IS A REALLY FUN CLUB AND WE WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN!)

I joined this group, hoping to get some smocking ideas, lots inspiration and encouragement. I bought the Pullen Pleater and "The Joy of Smocking" 2 years ago, and I want to know how something so small can be so intimidating? I take it out of the box, stroke it and put it back. I love doing heirloom christening gowns and I want to incorporate smocking into my dresses. Last October, I became very ill. What was thought to be terminal was not. When things looked so bad, I laid in my hospital bed and regretted not getting all my projects completed. Too pass the time, I had my husband bring a stack of "Sew Beautiful" issues. I was too sick to read, but they are wonderful picture books. My grandmother would call them "wish books." Now I am on a mission to do everything that I have ever put off, (hopefully I will live forever) and smocking is where I want to start. After reading lots of the posts, I know that I am in good company and can ask anything and expect some terrific answers. I apologise for this long post.

Bev S. MORE COMMENTS ON THE NEW IEC ANTIQUE REDWORK ALPHABETS FOR 2004 MEMBERSHIP (From the message board at www.marthapullen.com)

"I think they are great but what does the character represent with the "I"? I know the flower is an iris but I'm lost on the other one. Also the "W" has a child with a hoop maybe they are considering it a wheel, okay I'm being picky but I'm just curious." (Note from Martha: The other "I" is an imp! The Victorian child with a hoop is indeed a wheel.)

"I love the fact that some of these will look cute on clothes for little boys. I have 4 dgs and I love MP's embroideries, but very few are suitable for boys. Now I'll have to get busy - maybe on the short-all in the applique book. Any other ideas?"

BUSINESS IDEA FROM ROBYN BISH – A MARTHA PULLEN LICENSED TEACHER

One of my favorite things to sell in the craft fair is a "Precious Child of God" pillow embroidered with the child's name and birth date. People tell you all kinds of stories about how the Lord has blessed them with children or grandchildren when they see the pillows on display. Martha, I cried Saturday when someone ordered one for her mother in her 80's... she said that her mother was a "Precious Child of God".

Dear Sewing Family,

  There are no words to describe the joyous experience we had in Pasadena. It was very hard to say good-bye on Sunday; however, we already have plans to come back to Pasadena - either next year, or for sure in 2005. I hopped out of the bed about 3am this morning to begin our story for this newsletter and I apologize for the newsletter being a day late. Friendship is the most wonderful part of going out teaching sewing. Meeting new friends, seeing old friends and appreciating God's gift of friendship in our sewing sisterhood. I searched for some quotations which might possibly explain this instant friendship which we sewing women and men have for each other. I found a few which I would share with you:

  1. Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends. Richard Bach, in 'Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah'

  2. Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years. Richard Bach

  3. This communicating of a man's self to his friend works two contrary effects, for it redoubleth joys, and cutteth griefs in half. Francis Bacon, Essays

  4. A faithful friend is the medicine of life. Ecclesiastes 6:16

  5. A friend loveth at all times. Proverbs 17:17

  6. Friendship! Mysterious cement of the soul! Sweetner of life! and solder of society! Robert Blaire

  I'll share with you some of the things that happened this week. All of the Viking gang had already set up the fabulous Designer I's and sergers by the time I arrived. What a fabulous job that Viking/Husqvarna and Bearly Stitching did co-hosting this event with us. THANKS TEN BILLION. There are not enough words to thank both of them for their part in our wonderful weekend. Sue Hausmann came to give the banquet address and I never cease to be inspired and motivated by her wise words. It was also a pleasure to have her son, Bruce, and his wife, Tamera, and their precious baby, Amanda, with us. Herb, her wonderful husband, was with us also. Sue was on her way to Sweden very early the next morning so Herb was going to get to spend some time with Bruce and the family in California.

  So many of our students "adopted" new Designer I's and sergers that it made our heads swim. Sue and I signed tons of machines and sergers. As a matter of fact, we laughed as we traveled from room to room personalizing machines and sergers for individuals. I actually signed machines until late Sunday afternoon. What a joy to get to autograph a new machine for one of my friends! What a joy to know that these new Viking machines were going home with my friends to have the joy of sewing travel right from the Pasadena Convention center to their homes!

  Gayle, one of our students, brought her collection of laces and told me upon arrival, "Martha, I want people to donate this lace to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Why don't we sell the bags for $5 per bag and have the total amount go to St. Jude?" What generosity! The women began purchasing these bags, some began donating money. By Saturday afternoon they had donated over $500. One of our students came up to me and told me she wanted to match the donation and presented me with a check for St. Jude! By Sunday many people had given me checks and money to add to our St. Jude collection. bringing the total donation to $1135. It was my suggestion that we give their donation in memory of Blair and Hugo, our two Sew Beautiful/St. Jude models who have passed away. Thank you, Gayle for starting this tradition of having a fund raising event every time we have a Martha Pullen event. We will definitely have a St. Jude fund raising idea for our Quilt Conference in Orlando. I'll let you know what we come up with. This tradition will continue.

  I heard some of the cutest stories. We had shipped several Susan Marie dolls out since I knew people would love to have Sue Hausmann (Susan Marie) sign her dolls along with my signing them. Many of the ladies purchased doll dressing books to begin their doll wardrobes for their Christmas gifts of a lifetime. One friend brought some of the doll wardrobe which she has started for her granddaughter for her Christmas present. One grandmother had me sign the doll "To Raleigh." I commented on what a beautiful name that was. She laughed and told me, "Martha, she could not say "r's" at first and when someone would ask her what her name was she would reply, "Hannah" instead of Raleigh. I thought that was so cute since neither one of her names is Hannah. One lady told of a ring bearer growling as he carried the gorgeous heirloom pillow down the aisle of the church. When his mother asked him why he growled during the wedding, he replied, "Well, I was the 'ring bear.'" Although we have not read the evaluations yet, Angela Jones, one of our staff had read the cutest statement from one of the evaluations. We ask many questions and one of them was, "What was your least favorite class?" Our student answered, "My high school math class. I LOVED all of the classes here at this sewing school."

  We saw some of the cutest outfits including two outfits with Zundt machine embroideries of sea horses and "under the sea" embroideries. Please go to http://www.zundtdesign.com to see Urban's sea creatures designs. They were precious on a blue jean jacket as well as a denim vest. Another student had on a "sweatshirt" which she had made using a sweatshirt pattern with knit fabric around the neckline and the sleeves; however, the blouse was made from yellow linen/cotton blend with beautiful white machine decorative stitches down the front. She had not put the knit band around the bottom but rather hemmed it like a blouse. IT WAS GORGEOUS. So many of the women had on beautiful blouses and other heirloom garments as well as machine embroidered garments. What fun to see garments modeled which the students had made.

  This is just too funny!! Krispy Kreme has invaded health conscious California. There they were on the breakfast menu: "Krispy Kreme/Starbuck Continental Breakfast." I told you a few weeks ago that Krispy Kreme's are now being sold in Harrod's in London. In the lobby of the hotel there was a coffee, Krispy Kreme bar. Well, we Southerners have known about these luscious delights for many years. We are happy to share with the rest of the world.

  You will be glad to know I did not eat even one of these California Krispy Kremes....however, I have a "true confession." Sue Hausmann and I have both celebrated our 60th birthdays this year. We have not had a party for each other so we decided this was the time. We ran across the street to the Cold Slab ice cream parlor and had ice cream mixed with pecans in one of those waffle bowls with chocolate on the top. For two women who are "off sugar" we decided that we "somehow needed to celebrate our birthdays." Well, we celebrated and I got up early and went to the gym two mornings in the hotel. Thank goodness I stayed at the same weight this week. I assure you the sugar "thing" has been put away and I am back on no sugar; however, Sue and I both enjoyed our birthday party which was not on either of our birthdays! Why not?

  At the banquet, several of the students have a club called the "Ya, Ya California Sisterhood of Sewing." They had a present wrapped up to present to me to make me a member of this Ya Ya California Sisterhood. When I unwrapped the gift it was a bra decorated with beautiful iron-on crystals with a little crystal angel on one strap. It even has "diamonds" on the straps. They all showed me that they had one, also, and showed us their straps with "diamonds" on the straps also. (I promise this was all very decent. We only saw a little of the strap.) The best part of this story is that one of this group, Bettie Harris, is a breast cancer survivor and their dealership had "bra decoration days" to decorate bras and to collect money for breast cancer research. What a great idea. Actually this is the prettiest lingerie that I have ever owned. VERY FANCY! Our very own Patty Smith, one of the teachers for this event, is a breast cancer survivor as is Kris Broom, one of our artists who illustrated the lesson plans which were used this week.

LETTER FROM ONE OF MY CALIFORNIA YA YA SISTERS (VIA E-MAIL) "Dear Martha, what a delightful time I had...so much fun, so educational, so emotional. I will always be looking for seminars that I might attend along with the other "Board Members." My name is Bettie Harris and I am a two year survivor. I decorated my bras after my mastectomy, to make me feel better about myself and be able to laugh, rather than cry. My Father in Heaven has smiled with me and laughed at my sparklin' bra. I hope you truly enjoy yours, and I hope that Joe is delighted with his sparklin' lady. We love you Martha. Your ya ya sister...."

  When our students asked, "What should we do next to learn more about heirloom sewing?" I replied, "Come to Huntsville either in February or July." I assured them that we "refrigerate" Alabama in July and they will have to bring jackets and sweaters to wear the whole time they are in their classes. We also furnish buses to drive them right across the street from their hotel to their classrooms. Many students expressed interest in becoming Martha Pullen licensed teachers and we had several of our licensed teachers there assisting in our classrooms. THANK YOU VERY MUCH! For those of you coming in February, usually we have gorgeous, very mild weather for that school. I cannot promise that it won't be a little cold; however, we might just get lucky this year and have spring weather.

  The day we arrived in California, Dj Stefek, my very close friend and business colleague, drove us around the historic part of Pasadena. What a treat it was to see those gorgeous old houses and pristine lawns. Wow! Pasadena is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and also has some of the nicest people. We drove by Cal Tech and it does not even look like a college but rather like homes. Very interesting. Very historic.

  After we packed up everything, my staff and the Viking teachers went out for dinner. I loved seeing my niece, Mollie Page, who is an environmental engineer graduate from Duke University who has accepted a two year teaching assignment in an inner city school in Los Angeles. This program recruits young people from areas of study outside teaching to spend two years teaching kids at high risk. As I am sure you must know, this is difficult teaching. Molly loves it and says that she has 43 kids in one biology class and as many as 37 in others. She also told us that she loves these kids and has many who are very bright and some who are also excellent students. It was so good to see her in California since she won't be coming home for our family Thanksgiving dinner. She is currently working on her master's degree at night and plans to get her PH.D when she finishes her teaching mission in California.

  If you want to come to our February school please call immediately and register. We had a waiting list of people who could not get into our California school and we are nearing the "waiting list" stage for several of our schools here in Huntsville. At this time the only one which is closed with a waiting list is the Jenny Haskins school. We have a few places left in all of the other schools. To see a complete February 5-8, 2004 school brochure please click here. Or call 800-547-4176 ext. 105. We would love for your to come to our Huntsville school.

  Registrations are coming in quickly for our Quilt Conference in Orlando, January 8-10, 2004. January is the absolutely best time for you to come to Orlando for a fun quilting experience. We will have lots of vendors with live demonstrations inside the vendor mall in addition to the fabulous, international quilt experts who will present lectures between shopping times. For a complete brochure of the Quilt Conference/Orlando please click here. We will have more about the classes within the vendor mall in this newsletter a little later on. Just trust me, our vendor mall will be buzzing with activity. Also I hope you can join me for a day of sit and sew, heirloom style and quilting, on Wednesday, January 7th, which is the day before the Quilt Conference. You can come to just the sit and sew, just the conference, or both.

  Our new book with the pattern for the brown dress that I have on at the top of this newsletter is coming along well. We wore the clothes (4 patterns in all with sizes 2-30 in one book) all week in Pasadena. We have never had such rave comments about any clothing that we have ever worn. I think we pre-sold a book to nearly everybody there. I will let you know as soon as it is ready to be sold. The name of the book is Martha's Fabulous Fashions and I expect it to be ready by January 1, 2004, if not sooner.

  We cannot wait for our Martha Pullen "Beginning Sewing Teacher" Licensed students to arrive to begin their training next Monday. We are doing final proofing on the projects and the technique sheets which they will use for their sewing next week and for their teaching beginning sewing when they graduate.

  The news from Africa is that Benjamin weighs over 13 pounds and is very long. Since his Dad is over 6 feet tall, his Mom is 5'9" tall, his grandfather Bill is 6'4" tall, I am 5'8" tall and his grandfather John is over 6 feet tall-it makes very good sense that Benjamin could be very tall. He is very healthy and has many immunities that breast-fed babies have. Thank God Suzanne is breast feeding him since their medical care is limited. All of them, including Benjamin, are taking malaria medicine, a complete necessity in any African country. John reports that his language study and his ministry both are coming along very well. Suzanne's parents have just been there for a month. She promises to write stories for you as soon as possible. Suzanne is such a talented writer.

  One of our students who has come to many, many Martha Pullen events gave me a very generous check made out to Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. She said, "Please thank the Lottie Moon people for all they have done for John and Suzanne. I am Catholic but I want the IMB of the Baptist Church (Lottie Moon is the Christmas offering) to have a donation in appreciation of all they did to bring Suzanne home safely to have Benjamin." Thanks be to God for all of the generosity at this meeting not only for St. Jude but also for the Christmas Lottie Moon offering for mission work.

  I will keep the Gotz baby dolls on sale this week. We do not have a tremendous number of them but we still have a few. There are enough that I can still keep them on sale for a little while. I had to remove the 18" dolls, which will not be offered at sale prices again. I don't even want to advertise that we have any of the Susan Marie's or the Nancy Lea's until we take a count to see how many we have left. Hopefully the last part of our Martha Campbell shipment will be here within the next several weeks. If you want one of the Martha Campbell dolls PLEASE CALL THIS WEEK TO GET IT ON HOLD FOR YOU. (Likewise the other two 18" dolls which we can ship if we have any left.) Please know that the Gotz company is closed forever and these dolls are going up in value by the day.

  On this Veteran's Day, I am so thankful that so many have given so much for our country – and that so many continue to risk their lives for America. I pray for the men and women defending our freedom and the freedom of many other nations of the world and I pray for their precious families back home. I pray that each family has a faith in God to carry them through this difficult time and that each family has a loving support group of caring friends around them. If you have a loved one serving in Iraq or in another dangerous place at this time, know that I am praying for his/her safe return and for you and your family while your loved one is away.

  I better get this letter off. Thanks for being patient and waiting a day late for your letter. I was writing down things all week thinking of you and sharing the excitement of the week. I pray that you will have a great week and I thank you for letting me visit with you.

May God Bless You,
Martha

  I will now share the secrets about this year's IEC (Internet Embroidery Club) alphabets for the 2004 IEC membership. (The IEC is a totally different internet club from the Sew Beautiful Subscribers Internet Club.) The redwork alphabet is taken from an antique quilt, circa 1920, which I purchased about a year ago. I had never seen a redwork alphabet on a quilt until I found this one. I purchased it immediately(at a very high price, I might add) knowing that this would be the perfect alphabet for our IEC members. The quilt was called "The Flag Quilt." That name came from the fact that an American flag was used for the picture which went with the letter "F." Because all of our IEC members are not American, we have added another version of the "F" which has a fishing pole.

  To get a complete idea of what you receive with your membership, over a year's time, please click here to see not only samples (from 2003) of the machine embroidery designs but also links to samples of the antique pictures, hand tinted antique pictures, articles and poems which you may download each month. All of this is available to you for the 2004 designs for only $49 if you join (or renew) before December 31, 2003. After that date the 2004 membership is $59 per year, just like the previous years. The value of the machine embroidery designs alone is $315! All of the photos, history articles, paintings and poems are in addition to the $315 machine embroidery value.

MARTHA CAMPBELL – BRAND NEW 23" DOLL FOR CHRISTMAS, 2003

Martha Campbell, my maiden name, is our second 23" doll made exclusively for Martha Pullen Company by the Gotz Company of Germany. You might want to order her now to get the lowest number and not be disappointed if the dolls are totally sold out before they arrive in this country (like Katherine Ruth sold out last year). We expect arrival in early November, 2003. I will be signing and numbering each doll and her worldwide production will be limited to 400. She is gorgeous with her red hair, brown eyes and elegant ecru and green pleated dress and jacket (very detailed tailoring on her jacket including scalloped cuffs) and her pretty ecru panty hose and gorgeous ecru shoes. The price is $249 plus $9 shipping (in USA, international shipments extra). Call 800-547-4176 ext. 2 to order. Your card will not be charged until the dolls are ready to be shipped.

SALE ON BABY DOLLS!

Dress Me Sarah 21" Baby Doll Blue Eyes	Dress Me Alex 21" Baby Doll Brown Eyes	Dress Me Sydney 16" Baby Doll Blue Eyes	Dress Me Rebekah 16" Baby Doll Brown Eyes

The large dolls (21") retail for $79; the small dolls (16") for $59. The book retails for $16 and the little play-with dress and matching pantaloons retail for $14. You can have all of this for $63 plus shipping (for the 21" dolls); for $47 plus shipping (for the 16" dolls). The value for the 21" dolls is $109 (your cost $63); the value for the 16" dolls is $89 (your cost $47). I will sign and number each and every doll. Some of the dolls are in very limited supply. For a limited time these dolls are offered at 20% off 2 plus you get the dress and the book on top of that! Click here to order.

FREE with Baby Doll Order!

Calendars are $11.99 each, two for $20, or three for $28 (plus s/h)
Click to Order

NEW BUTTERSOFT 100% COTTON CORDUROY NOW IN STOCK! We have lots of colors, so click on the link below to see this gorgeous fabric for which I searched and searched! Only $11.95 per yard!!

(See all the colors in our online store. This all-cotton fabric is 58" wide)
Click to See and Order

MARTHA'S QUILT CONFERENCE ORLANDO! How would you like to have a ton of fun in ORLANDO and learn lots of new quilting techniques from very famous Australian and American quilters from January 8-10, 2004, at The Expo Center? How would you like 9 (1-1/2 hour) celebrity lectures/seminars over three days? The classes will be lecture/demo only, not sit and sew. In addition to these seminars how would you like mini-lectures lasting fifteen minutes each inside the vendor hall while you shop each day in between your lecture classes? How would you like to see many beautiful quilts on exhibit including our teacher's fabulous quilts? Click Here for Lots of Information

Pre-Day Sit and Sew with Martha will be January 7, 2004, prior to the Quilt Conference. Two great classes with limited enrollment. Click here for details!

FEBRUARY SCHOOL OF ART FASHION REGISTRATION GOING ON NOW! We are now registering for our February School of Art Fashion! We have a few openings in every school except Jenny Haskins School. Pre-days are Feb 1-4, 2004. The four day school is Feb. 5-8! Please call to register as quickly as possible if you want to come! The complete brochure is on the web site so click here for links to the complete guide to classes. Please call 800-547-4176 ext. 105 to register.

SALE ON Sew Beautiful SUBSCRIPTIONS! REGULAR PRICE $29.99 - YOUR PRICE $23.99! PLUS YOU GET FREE, COMPLETELY FREE, THE INTERNET MACHINE EMBROIDERY, HAND EMBROIDERY, PROJECT, SMOCKING PLATE AND TIPS AND TRICKS CLUB ABSOLUTELY FREE IF YOU SUBSCRIBE AND GIVE US YOUR VALID E-MAIL ADDRESS.

The Sew Beautiful Internet Club has started. You will receive your FREE goodies the months that you do not receive Sew Beautiful magazine. This means that you get "Sew Beautiful goodies" every single month! Please subscribe today and do not miss the current issue.

Click on this link (Sew Beautiful INTERNET CLUB) to read complete details about the brand new Sew Beautiful subscribers Club! SAVE 35% off the newsstand price by subscribing and get MUCH, MUCH MORE IF YOU SUBSCRIBE! Don't forget about ordering the Sew Beautiful 2002-2003 Video for $9.99 if you subscribe. You can subscribe on the internet - don't forget to send your e-mail address on the form or call 800-547-4176 ext. 115 or 116.

IEC IEC IEC IEC - Internet Machine Embroidery Club - The machine embroidery Internet Embroidery Club is truly something to save for future generations. When you join you will get to download two antique alphabets. During the year, along with the new embroidery designs to download each month, we also have antique pictures and articles which can range from 60 to 120 years old! Each month you ALSO get SALE prices on regular Martha Pullen Company merchandise and during the year our new machine embroidery CD members' price is $54 plus $5 s&h. Click here for complete information

MARTHA PULLEN LICENSED TEACHER WEEKS The next machine groups (which have openings) and dates are as follows: Beginning Sewing Teacher Licensing, November 17-22, 2003 (full, but taking a waiting list); Viking, February 15-21, 2004; Beginning Sewing Teacher Licensing, April 22-27, 2004; Pfaff, May 23-39, 2004; SERGER Licensing, Sept. 17-23, 2004; and Viking, Oct. 13-19, 2004. Call 800-547-4176 ext. 107 or 108 to get more information. Or visit our licensing info page: Licensing Link

TO CONTACT US BY PHONE: 800-547-4176 ext. 2 or 256-533-9586
TO e-mail ONE OF OUR DEPARTMENTS, choose from this list:

catalog@marthapullen.com (send your postal address to request a color catalog)
orders@marthapullen.com (for order questions)
subscriptions@marthapullen.com (for Sew Beautiful subscriptions)
schools@marthapullen.com (for School of Art Fashion)
licensing@marthapullen.com (for teacher licensing questions)
markets@marthapullen.com (for our sewing markets)
mcpullen@marthapullen.com -- MY PERSONAL E-MAIL ADDRESS

SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK – Revelation 4:11

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

This week in Pasadena we had one husband/wife team sewing –Deborah and Mark. Both are devout Christians; Mark gave me a scripture and a lesson which I used in my Sunday School lesson Sunday morning at the Pasadena Convention Center - at 7am I might add. Lots of people got up very early to come to our worship service.

Mark wrote out a passage for me to repeat to myself pertaining to this scripture. He said to read this verse and put my name in it. "The Lord created (my name or your name) for his pleasure. I am and was created." I indeed read that verse many times with a new realization that God did indeed create every person on this earth. Please repeat that statement with your name and know how much God loves you and that God does not make mistakes. God is perfect and he is sovereign and He created you. Mark and Deborah, thank you for sharing this insightful message with me and enabling me to share it with thousands of others.

RECIPE FOR THE WEEK FROM Jane Windberg, Bellevue, WA

(Note from Martha: With the holiday visitors time right upon us this sounds like the perfect solution to a company breakfast!)

Breakfast Company Casserole

Greased 9x13 pyrex dish
10 slices bread (white or sourdough) - tear or cut into quarters
1 lb. grated cheddar cheese
8 large eggs
3 - 1/2 cups milk (whole milk not skimmed)
2 t. dry mustard
2 t. salt
Optional: diced jalapeno peppers,
veggies (chopped broccoli or spinach),
1 t. cayenne,
cooked bacon or sausage (crumbled)

Layer into dish: one-half the bread. Sprinkle to cover with grated cheddar cheese. If using veggies or meat, sprinkle evenly over cheese. Layer second layer, bread and cheese. Whisk together: eggs, milk, dry mustard and salt.

Pour over entire pan evenly. Press down slightly with spatula. Top with remaining cheese. Cover with plastic wrap or foil. Place in refrigerator overnight.

Next morning: Place dish in cold oven with foil under pan to catch any overspill. Turn oven on to 350 degrees. Cook approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour (when cheese starts to bubble). Delicious served with fruit!