My family calls it egg bread; others call it bunny-in-a-hole, but whatever name people call it, it’s a tasty breakfast meal.

It’s a great food to make in a cast iron skillet over the fire or on a camp stove. Plus it’s fast so you’ll be eating in just a few minutes. It will probably take you longer to read these directions than it will to make it.

The basic premise is to take a round cookie cutter, cut a hole out of a slice of bread, put it in a frypan, break the egg into the hole, cook, and enjoy.

But I don’t take cookie cutters when camping so I use a drinking glass to cut the hole out of the bread. While a glass with a top diameter of 2 1/2″ is best; any glass that has a top diameter smaller than your slice of bread will work.

Here’s how I make it:

EGG BREAD
Ingredients needed for each serving:
1 slice bread (Brownberry 12 grain recommended)
1 egg
approximately 1 teaspoon butter
approximately 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the extra virgin olive oil and butter in cast iron fry pan. While the oil and butter are heating, place the slice of bread on a flat surface. Using the top of a round drinking glass with a diameter smaller than the slice of bread; push down firmly to cut out the center of the bread. Save the center piece for sandwiches (kids love them made into crustless peanut and jelly sandwiches).

Place the slice of bread in the preheated pan. Cook for about 2 minutes or until the bread is browned on one side. Flip it over. (Note: if the bread has soaked up all the olive oil and butter, put another small pat of butter in the center of the hole and let it melt). Crack the egg into the hole of the bread. Sprinkle the egg and bread with salt and pepper.

Cook for another two minutes or until the egg is done for sunny side up eggs. For eggs over easy or over medium, flip the egg in the bread and cook for another few seconds.

If you like your eggs over hard, don’t precook the first side of the bread to brown it otherwise it will burn before your egg is cooked hard.

Eat immediately.

Note: if you’re wondering why I use a combination of butter and olive oil, it’s because I love the taste of butter and like that olive oil is a much healthy fat to use. It’s my compromise between health and taste.

When I camp on campsites with electricity I like to take my crock pot along to make delicious no fuss meals. It’s pretty hard to find a sparerib I don’t like, but I have to admit I don’t always enjoy the time it takes to make really tender ones over a fire or on a grill (I’m impatient and don’t like to fuss). That’s why I enjoy these crock pot spareribs. The recipe goes together in a flash. Then it’s just a matter of leaving them be and letting them cook slowly until they are tender and falling off the bone - yum!

CROCK POT SPARE RIBS
Ingredients:
3-4 pounds pork spareribs (use as many as you need for the meal or as many as will fit comfortably in your crock pot or slow cooker. You may need to cut the racks of ribs in half or thirds to get them to fit. Plan for approximately ¾ to 1 rack of ribs per person)
1 large onion, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce (Sweet Baby Ray’s original recommended)
¼ cup water

Cook on low for approximately 8 hours or until the ribs are tender.

If an Italian deli is your favorite hangout, this pudgie pie is for you. An Italian deli is the best place to find the ingredients for this pudgie pie although most large supermarkets will carry the ingredients as well.

ITALIAN DELI PUDGIE PIE RECIPE
Ingredients Needed for Each Pudgie Pie:
2 slices sourdough bread
1 slice prosciutto di parma, or any other type of prosciutto (a dry-cured Italian ham)
1 slice Genoa salami
1 slice Capicola (Italian cold cut made from pork meat)
3-4 small chunks fresh smoked mozarella (don’t overdo it or the cheese will overpower the sandwich)
1 thin slice Asiago cheese
arugula
fire roasted red bell pepper slices (see note below for how to make your own)
Olive oil or Extra virgin olive oil and butter
Generously brush both sides of the pudgie pie maker with olive oil or butter and place a slice of bread on each side (Olive oil has a lower burn tolerance than butter so the sandwich needs to be watched carefully to avoid burning. If you don’t want to have to watch the sandwich as carefully, brush the bread with butter and use a drizzle of olive oil inside the sandwich instead).
Layer the ingredients on one slice of bread in this order: asiago cheese, fresh smoked mozarella, red pepper slices, extra virgin olive oil (if using), a few pieces of arugla, and the sliced meats. Cover with the second slice of bread.
Close the pudgie pie maker and cook in glowing embers of campfire until bread is golden brown and mozarella cheese is melted.
Remove from pudgie pie maker, cut in half, and eat immediately.

Note: It’s important to layer the ingredients in the order given because the arugla needs to be near the center of the sandwich to avoid overcooking it.

The Peppers: The roasted red pepper slices from a jar work fine in this sandwich but if you’re willing to take a little extra time beforehand and make your own fire roasted red bell peppers, it’s worth it.
Take a red bell pepper and cook it over the flame of the campfire until it’s black on all sides. Remove from heat; place on a paper plate, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit about 20 minutes. Unwrap, peel off the blackened skin, remove the seeds and membrane, and thinly slice.