After Jeremy said he was coming home for lunch today, I reached for my trusty new cookbook, full of my old favorites. I tried to go to another book but I wasn't feel real adventurous, not to mention I wasn't going to go shopping between last night and noon today. Enter cheesy sausage stromboli. I understand that stromboli doesn't really need a recipe (bread dough, meat, cheese, seasonings, roll up and bake. Done.), but this way you don't have to hunt down a bread recipe on your own. Of course, frozen bread works perfectly too.
Anyway, I think I've tried this dough in the bread machine before and it's fairly sticky and makes a decent amount. I'm pretty sure this is the dough that overfilled the bread machine and made this huge mess. Just a warning if you like your machine. :) So I used my kitchenaid mixer. The dough is a cinch to make if yeast dough scares you.
The recipe actually makes two loaves. Since I only need one I halved the filling, and I put the other half of the dough in the freezer. I've never frozen my own dough before so I'll see how this works out.
The original recipe says to roll out the dough into a 10 x 15 rectangle (see top picture), and to put the filling down one side, leaving a 1 inch margin, and then fold the dough over the filling. I left the recipe in the cookbook as it was originally, but the problem with making the stromboli that way is that you end with a hunk of bread on one side and all the filling on the other. Not ideal. So I made a braid.

 I put the filling down the center of the dough, and then used the pizza cutter to slice diagonal strips in the side. I didn't count the strips, I just made them roughly 1 inch wide. (I know, Martha Stewart, I am not.)

 My less than perfect braid.

 The braid after the second raising.

 I  have a little chef-in-training who likes to sit on the counter and "cook" with me. See that little hand in the top picture? He was actually messing with the faucet while I was cooking the sausage when I heard this crash. I thought it was a dish, but no, it was River in the sink full of dirty water and dishes. As you can tell from his expression, he didn't like it too much.

 But did he learn? Nope, he was back on the counter after I took his soggy clothes off. (BTW, he did have a welt on his back so it had to hurt.)

Finished stromboli. The less than perfect braiding is hardly noticeable anymore which is good for those of us that have to race through our baking. :(
I always serve this with marinara sauce (open a can of spaghetti sauce! :)).
This served 4 adults. I had one piece left after lunch. If I pause to think too long about the fact that I spent practically all morning getting lunch ready, only to have it inhaled in about 15 minutes, I might never want to cook again. But I don't like having leftovers. And I like cooking (usually).
Again, this is an heirloom cookbook recipe. If you get around to making it, and have questions, let me know!