Mother's Day - Brunch

This one is going to fall under the category Shannon set up last week: a great recipe but I have horrible pictures for it. Like I said on Friday, since this was our 5th time hosting Mother's Day Brunch, we have a good handle on the menu. We served baked ham, mac and cheese, baked beans, baked french toast, mini quiches, and hash browns. I also had some fruit salad out and my mom brought over bagels and danishes. I have made this baked french toast

Source: All Recipes

every year and its always a hit. I have made it for a couple other occasions as well. I have seen other (overnight prepped) baked french toasts that take less prep time the day of, but the delicious topping with this one is totally worth the effort (and calories!). 

These pics actually span a year. I started taking pics last year during the prep so I could post about it then, but didn't get any finished product shots. This year I only remembered to take some when I was reheating a piece for dinner so please forgive me if it doesn't look that appetizing.

Its actually really simple - just slice up some french bread (I used challah last year) and line up the slices in a buttered baking dish. Mix up the eggs, milk, cream, vanilla, and cinnamon and cover the bread with the mixture and refrigerate overnight.

To make things easier on myself for Sunday morning, I measured out the ingredients for the topping (minus the corn syrup) and threw it all in a ziplock bag so I wouldn't have to do that while I was managing all the other food. 

The next morning, just bring the topping ingredients to a bubbling boil, pour over the bread that has soaked up most of the egg mixture, and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. 

I really wish I remembered to take a picture of it right out of the oven. The bread puffs up and gets really high. These photos are from later on in the day after the leftovers had been in the fridge and then reheated. Still tasted great, it was just a bit deflated.

The Verdict: Clearly I love this recipe if I have been repeating it every year. Its always a big hit and I actually double the recipe to make sure we have enough. It was a light year this year so I probably could have gotten away with one batch, but I didn't mind the leftovers :) It's light and fluffy and sweet - the topping almost caramelizes in the oven. 

Things to Consider: There is lots of sugar and butter in this recipe. It is in no way healthy or diabetes friendly. That being said - I make it once or twice a year and if a mother can't eat bad on Mother's Day - what's the point? I do have to juggle a bunch of things in the oven so I usually have it in longer than 40 minutes with the oven set at 325. I just leave it in until its all puffed up and I can see the juices bubbling. 

Maybe next year I will remember to take a decent out-of-the-oven shot! I have one more Mother's Day roundup post on the gift JJ gave to all the moms. Hopefully I get a chance to type it up this week. Have a great Monday! 


Baked French Toast
from ANTLALA on Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 lb of French Bread, cut into 1" slices
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups half and half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup

Directions:
1. Butter a 9"x13" baking dish. Arrange slices of bread in bottom. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, cream, vanilla, and cinnamon. Pour over bread slices, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
2. The next morning, preheat oven to 350. In a small saucepan, combine butter, sugar, and corn syrup; heat until bubbling. Pour over egg and bread mixture. 
3. Bake in preheated oven, uncovered for 40 minutes.

Spinach Berry Smoothie Packets

I have been a longtime reader of CensationalGirl. I love almost everything Kate does design wise. I have total house envy too - she had a beautiful home in California near wine country. But I digress, with my goal to be a bit healthier, I have been on the lookout for a smoothie recipe. I have been reading about green smoothies for awhile, but the thought of drinking something made entirely out of spinach or kale or celery just isn't appetizing to me. Then, just last week, Kate had a post about berry smoothies.

Source 

Even more appealing to me was the fact that she made little freezer packets so they are ready to make one at a time! So when Joe went food shopping last week, I had him get the necessary ingredients. Friday night I froze my yogurt in an ice cube tray and rationed out 6 spinach leaves, half a banana and the berries in little baggies.

Of course my packets look a hot mess and nothing like Kate's.

Saturday morning, after I finished my workout during JJ's nap, I decided to give the smoothie a try. I pulled out my packet, added a half cup of skim milk and half a cup of cranberry juice and blended...



Looks good, but is something missing??

My blender had a hard time getting through the frozen banana. Perhaps I need to invest in a new one.

 I gave it a taste, and, well, I wasn't a huge fan. It tasted a little too sweet and gritty and I felt like I could taste more of the spinach than I should have.

It took me until I was halfway done to realize I had completely forgotten to put in the frozen yogurt cubes. Fail. I dumped it back in the blender, and threw in a cube.

Yes, that's a Mickey Mouse cube. Its the only ice cube tray we have in the house. First world problems: having an ice maker in the freezer means we have only one ice cube tray.

Much, much better.

 Again, my blender had a hard time getting through the frozen yogurt. It felt like it was just mixing the frozen little ball around and not breaking it up. I finally got it somewhat blended and give it another try.

JJ in his little hoodie photo bombing.

The Verdict:
Much, much better with the yogurt. It was pretty tasty. I think Joe was a little skeptical of the spinach so he didn't try it, but he is a smoothie lover and I think he would love it. Clearly, I didn't use the SuperFood powder Kate used - I wanted to make sure I actually liked it before I ordered the powder. Once I give it a try a couple more times, I might give the powder a whirl.

Things to Consider:
My kitchen was a mess after I finally got it right. Berry juice was everywhere. Obviously it came from me going into and out of the blender 10 times, but I had to bleach my counters when I was done. Apparently I was supposed to mix the liquids first and then add the solids so perhaps that's why my blender had a hard time getting through the frozen stuff? Either way, does anyone have any recs for a new blender? 

I used frozen berries, and the 2 cups the recipe calls for used more than half the bag. It makes a big smoothie. I filled the glass in the pics to the top almost twice. Once I get through these initial packets, I think I am going to half the recipe for the next round.

I think I am going to try and pull out a packet before I start my workout so it thaws up a bit, then blend it up when I am done. I will report back after I get the hang of it.

SuperFood Berry Smoothie Recipe
by  Kate at Censational Girl
 
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh or frozen berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries)
3 frozen cubes nonfat yogurt (vanilla, plain, or fruit flavored)
5-6 spinach leaves
1/2 banana
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1/2 cup nonfat milk, almond milk, or soy milk
1/2 scoop SuperFood Berry powder*

In a blender, mix liquids (1/2 cup cranberry juice and 1/2 cup milk). Add berries, yogurt, banana, spinach leaves, and SuperFood powder. Blend for a full minute on high until contents are thick and creamy. Add additional liquid or ice cubes or banana and berries to taste.

*Green Berry SuperFood is made by Amazing Grass, and is available at Whole Foods, at the Amazing Grass website, and Amazon.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Wow, its been way too long without a post. We have no real excuses, just busy I guess. I have a backlog of things to type up but have been busy crafting for JJ's 1st birthday party and busy chasing him around. Yes, he's completely mobile - running all over the place. I can't believe at this time last year I was anxiously awaiting his arrival! Anyway, be prepared for a bunch of pumpkin related posts. The birthday party theme is (surprise!) pumpkins!

I am trying to get JJ to eat more "real people food" and less baby food, but he has a tendency to just throw food off his tray. I had pinned these pumpkin pancakes while ago and decided to whip them up for breakfast a couple weekends ago. I thought maybe he would like them because they are sort of sweet.

Pumpkin Pancakes from High Heels and Grills

 

 

Mixing up the dry ingredients



 

Whipping up the wet ingredients:

 

Into the hot pan:

And the only "finished product" shot I got:

The Verdict: They were fluffy and sweet and delicious! JJ wasn't really interested in the fresh pancakes (he threw them on the floor), but he ate them up the next day for breakfast. I would definitely make them again, they didn't really take anymore time than regular made-from-scratch pancakes, but you do need to have buttermilk on hand (which I already had from the pumpkin donut muffins). They are definitely the perfect fall morning breakfast.

Things to Consider: This batch makes a ton of pancakes. I was only feeding 2.5 people and we only used half the batter and had a ton of cakes left over. We ate them the next day (toasted up) and I was planning on making more with the leftover batter and freezing them, but time got away from me. I would either devote more time to making the whole batch (and then freezing them) or half the recipe next time. Also, because they were so fluffy, it took me awhile to get the amount of heat/cooking time right. A couple came out looking great, but were a little wet in the middle. Anyone know any tricks on the perfect time to flip super fluffy/cake-like pancakes?

Pumpkin Pancakes from Sarah at High Heels & Grills
Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ginger
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 (15 oz) can Libby's pure pumpkin
• 3 cups buttermilk
• 3 eggs

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and brown sugar, combining well.
2. Add pumpkin, buttermilk, and eggs to dry ingredients and mix gently. {If batter seems stiff, add water until it can be easily spooned onto a griddle.}
3. Heat griddle to medium heat and grease lightly.
4. Scoop about 1/3 cup of batter onto griddle and let cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes.
5. Let other side cook again until lightly browned.
6. Repeat these steps until all the batter is gone.

Pumpkin Donut Muffins

Happy October everyone! I have been itching to break out the pumpkin for 2012. I was making a visit to the hospital and wanted to bring something tasty to the lovely nurses there. I was also looking for something relatively easy. Enter the Pumpkin Donut Muffin:

Pin from Ezra Pound Cake

First up, mixing up all the dry ingredients:

Then whisking the pumpkin and buttermilk:

Creaming the sugar and butter:

Alternating dry and wet ingredients:

 

Filling the cups

Fresh out of the oven

 

Dunk and roll!

 

Finished Product:

 

 

 

 

The Verdict:

Delicious! I was nervous because the batter wasn't all to tasty, but I guess anything dunked in butter and rolled in cinnamon and sugar would taste good! I have actually made them twice now since Joe complained I didn't save any for him the first time!

 

Things to Consider:

Like the I said, the batter wasn't too great. It was thick and sticky - it held its shape in the cups. But I guess that's what the consistency of donut batter is like. Also, I made them sort of small and got almost 24 muffins out of one batch so they were a bit flat. They sort of turned out like giant munchkins (I guess that's a bit of an oxymoron, huh?)

 

For the first couple I dunked the whole muffin in the melted butter, but that seemed to soak up a little too much so I started just brushing it on and it worked better. And, of course, I dunked the whole muffin, not just the top.

 

 

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins
from Ezra Pound Cake

Makes 12 muffins

• 3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/4 cups pure pumpkin purée (FROM a 15-ounce can, NOT the whole thing!)
• 1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs

Glaze:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (use 1 to 2 tablespoons if just coating the tops)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 12 standard muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin and buttermilk. Set aside.
4. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping bowl as needed.
6. With the mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions pumpkin mixture, and beat to combine.
7. Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each muffin cup. Bake for 30 minutes.
8. Let muffins cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack.
9. Working with one at a time, remove muffins from pan, brush all over with melted unsalted butter, then toss to coat in sugar mixture. Let muffins cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container, up to 1 day.

FREEZING: The naked muffins can be frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat in a 350 degree oven, then coat in butter and sugar.


Hopefully Shannon and I free up some time to get posts up a bit more regularly. Anyone have any pumpkin recipes for us to try?



Mini Quiches

You know I have a good backlog of posts when I still have a Mother's Day related topic and I have already posted about Father's Day! Since Joe and I have lived in this house, we have hosted a Mother's Day brunch for our families. At first I thought it would be nice to give the moms a break and let them enjoy themselves. But once I became a mom, I didn't want to give it up. This was our 4th year, so we have a pretty good system and menu down pat. This year though, instead of making one big quiche, I wanted to try making some mini quiches. Oven space here is at a premium and there is also a ham and a couple french toast casseroles that have to get in there. I figured with mini quiches they would take less time, I could make them in the morning, and then just heat them back up in the toaster oven when it was time to eat. I got the idea from this pin:

source

Of course that pin was really about freezer meals, but it gave me the idea to make my traditional Quiche Lorraine in mini form. The recipe I have been using for years is from cooks.com -  you can find it here and below (my adaptations are in red). Here are my pics and the modifications I made along the way:


First up, I prepared my muffin/cupcake pans. I sprayed them with some baking/cooking spray, then cut little circles of premade refrigerated pie crust with the biggest round cookie cutter I had.

cutting the crusts

Then I mixed up the filling. I had actually chopped and measured everything out the night before, so I could just throw it all together in the morning. It was super easy.

fillings all ready to go

I tried two different approaches - with one pan, I baked the crusts for a couple minutes to try and make sure they were crunchy, then I filled and baked the quiches. With the other pan, I just filled them and baked them with the raw dough (like the recipe calls for). Unfortunately, I think because the pans were sprayed well and the dough circles were already sort of hard, the precooked ones floated up to the middle of the quiche. It still tasted good, but they weren't as pretty.

onion, bacon, and cheese all sprinkled on the pie dough

Obviously, since they are smaller then a full sized quiche, I had to play with the cooking times. I had them in the 425 degree oven for maybe 7 minutes, then in the 300 degree oven for maybe 12 minutes. Just keep an eye on them - when they are all puffy and a tooth pic comes out clean they are done.

egg mixture poured on top and in the oven

I forgot to take pics of them in our Mother's Day spread - but I have since made them again one night when we had "breakfast for dinner". I made the same sized batch (makes maybe 22ish quiches) and froze the leftovers. Now its so easy to pop a couple out and throw them in the toaster for an easy (but delicious!) weekend breakfast!

fresh out of the oven

mmmm, bacon.

really need to read up on some photography lessons - I can't seem to get the lighting right!

The Verdict: Delicious. I can't speak for anyone else, but I loved them. I liked this recipe in its pie form, but I think I like it more in a mini form. I feel like the filling to crust ratio is a little better and the convenience of being able to freeze the extras is great (although we only had one left over from Mothers Day!). It was also great for our brunch because no one had to deal with cutting and scooping out a slice. Once we run out of our freezer stash I will definitely make another batch. I might mix it up and try another kind - but this is definitely a standby.

Things to consider: Just watch the baking time. I totally just guessed and it seemed to come out right. Also, I couldn't get enough full circles cut out of the dough - so I had to piece some scraps together for the last couple quiches. It came out fine, just not as pretty. I did notice that they "deflated" a little bit once they came out of the oven - anyone know how to keep them fluffy?


Quiche Lorraine (adapted from Cooks.com)

1 9 inch pie crust (I used both crusts that came in the refrigerated package)
12 slices bacon, fried crisp and crumbled (I used the pre-cooked bacon and just cut it up)
1 c. shredded Swiss cheese
1/3 c. finely chopped onion
4 eggs
2 c. half and half
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne red pepper

Prepare pastry (I cut circles out of the dough and placed them in a greased cupcake pan). Sprinkle bacon, cheese, and onion in pastry lined pie plate. Beat eggs slightly; beat in remaining ingredients. Pour egg mixture into pie plate. Cook uncovered at 425 degrees for 15 minutes (for mini quiches - 7ish minutes).

 

Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. Cook uncovered until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean, about 30 minutes (for mini quiches - 10-15 minutes). Let stand 10 minutes before cutting (I waited a few minutes before popping them out of the pan).

We have a lot of events coming up that should generate some more posts: a baby shower, a bbq, JJ's Baptism (finally!) and hopefully some more home-related projects this summer as well - stay tuned!

Donut Muffins

This past weekend I was invited to enjoy brunch at my friend's house before we went on a Valentine’s Day Bar Crawl. I wanted to think of something cute to bring (in addition to the Prosecco for mimosas) and I came across this pin on Pinterest:

Macandcheesereview

I figured that this would be the perfect carby thing to eat before a bar crawl.

I was also excited to try this recipe because it finally gave me the opportunity to try this flex edge beater that Grace gave me for Christmas. It’s supposed to scrape the edges of the bowl so you don’t have to stop every so often and use a spatula.

I started by making the batter as directed.

See how the new KitchenAid attachment scraped the sides? It definitely made mixing the batter easier.

Then I went ahead and filled the muffin pan up 2/3 of the way.

Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes.

Once the muffins are cool, you can spread some melted butter on them and cover in sugar. Before I started this recipe, I read the comments on Macandcheese and a few people suggested to put some cinnamon into the sugar coating. I followed the advice and I think it added a little something.

The Verdict: Did they taste like donuts? Not really. But, they tasted alright. Personally, I thought they were a bit dry. Without the sugar coating, they would taste awful. Everyone at the brunch seemed to enjoy them. I don’t really eat fruit but my friends paired them with strawberries and said that the combination of the two was awesome! Also, they were super easy to make.

Things to Note/Consider: I would definitely follow the comments and add cinnamon to the sugar coating. Make sure you put the sugar coating on no more then a few hours before serving or else the sugar crusts up. Also, this recipe only makes 10 muffins. So if you’re having a large gathering, you’ll have to double it up. 

As a side note, my friends nicknamed these muffnuts and I thought that was hilarious.

Donut Muffins
adapted from Mac and Cheese Review

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Coating

2 tablespoons butter, melted (optional)

1/2 cup sugar

• Lightly grease a muffin tin with vegetable oil or spray.
• In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg until light in color. Add vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla to sugar mixture and combine.
• In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Then pour into liquid mixture and stir to combine.
• Fill muffin cups 3/4 full, and bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.