Weekend Brunch 10.29.10

This weekend, embrace the power of the pancake. It's fluffy and sure to please a crowd. After all, who doesn't love a pancake? Check out this just-a-tad decadent version.

Banana Yogurt Pancakes

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour


• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour


• 1 tsp. salt


• 1 Tbsp. sugar


• 4 tsp. baking powder


• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract


• 1 1/2 cups skim milk


• 1/2 cup fat free greek yogurt


• 2 Tbsp. butter, melted


• 2 ripe bananas, cut into bite size pieces


• 2 Tbsp. butter


• 1 Tbsp. maple syrup

I suppose someone will complain that they don't like pancakes or bananas, so whip up a casserole dish full of this and you'll have options for everyone!

Ham and Scallion Brioche

• 4 large eggs+ 1 cup egg beaters/all whites


• 3 1/4 cups skim milk


• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt


• 1 teaspoon black pepper


• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil


• 2 bunches scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced


• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped


• Pinch crushed red pepper


• One 1-pound loaf brioche, cubed


• 1/4 pound lean ham, coarsely chopped


• 2 cups shredded gruyère cheese

This brunch just might be making an appearance at my house in the next few weeks. Enjoy!

Weekend Brunch 10.22.10

Here's a quick brunch tip: Invite only the number of people you can accommodate with seating. Unlike a cocktail party, you don't want to have people standing to eat.

Now onto the goodies! This week let's try some twists on the classics.

Check out Rachael Ray's BLT Fritatta (with my healthy mods)

• Cooking Spray


• 1/4 pound sliced turkey bacon or pancetta, chopped


• 4 cloves garlic, chopped


• 3 cups loosely packed arugula (about 2 bundles), trimmed and chopped


• 1 can diced tomatoes (15 ounces), drained


• 6 extra-large eggs and  1 1/2 cups egg beaters/all whites


• 1/3 cup fat free half-and-half or skim milk


• 1 teaspoon salt


• Black pepper

This fresh faced Crunchy Vanilla French Toast is bound to be a crowd pleaser! It's easy to prepare this dish before people arrive and place the slices in one of these to keep warm.

• 4 large eggs and 1 cup egg beaters/all whites


• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar


• 1 cup fat free half-and-half or skim milk


• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract


• 2 pinches salt


• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, ground or freshly grated


• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon


• 3 cups corn flakes, lightly crushed


• 1/2 cup sliced almonds, lightly crushed


• Cooking spray


• 12 (1 1/2-inch-thick) slices challah bread or soft "Italian" style bread


• Maple syrup

Don't forget to serve up some fresh fruit, mimosas or bellinis, and coffee/tea. Pretty soon your guests will be asking for your secret recipes, so print them out on some fun paper. You can even compile all your brunch recipes into a sweet book perfect for a holiday or birthday gift!

We're Floored

By all the choices when it comes to hardwood, vinyl, and tile options for our basement. With winter coming and beer still brewing regularly, we started thinking seriously about putting flooring down. The plywood subfloor gets wet quite a bit with the brewing action, and it's hard to keep it clean. Fortunately our basement is mostly above ground (our house was built into a slope) so we don't have moisture problems...well, at least the naturally occurring kind. Instead we have the it-looks-like-a-toddler-bathed-in-here puddles.

With that in mind, we narrowed our choices down to ceramic or vinyl tiles. The floor gets a lot of wear (if you remember, we also have a workshop down there), which in addition to the waterproof requirement, pretty much eliminates traditional hardwood. Laminate or engineered wood floors could be an option, but we were still worried about denting them (dropping tools, moving equipment, etc).

I was cruising the flooring aisles at Home Depot when I came across a new product called vinyl plank. Now this ain't your momma's vinyl, so before you dismiss it-hear me out.



Looks real, eh? It even has texture, so walking on it will feel similar to real wood. But this stuff is totally waterproof. Not only that, it installs in a jiffy-you only need a utility knife and a tape measure. The grip strips on 1 long and 1 short side overlap, which bonds the floor planks to each other-not to the subfloor. Light scoring and snapping is all it takes to cut planks to size. This type of installation is called a floating floor. Price-wise it's reasonable ($1.79/sq ft here), more expensive than laminate or traditional vinyl but less expensive than most hardwood or even engineered wood products. Plus, when you factor in the cost of floor prep for laminate or hardwood, I think the vinyl tile really flexes its muscles as both an economical and aesthetically appealing choice.

So far, we're digging the "Teak," but stay tuned for an update when we make our choice and install a basement floor!

Weekend Brunch 10.15.2010

I thought I'd start a new series inspired by weekend brunches I've been hosting lately. Every Friday, I'll post a brunch menu along with ideas for gathering your friends and family and having a good time.

This week's brunch came straight from one of my favorite shows on Food Network- Down Home With The Neelys, and features some great fall foods: apples and sweet potatoes. As usual, I modify recipes quite a bit to make them a bit more healthy. I'll list the modified ingredients, then link to the recipe so you can follow the original directions.

Memphis Morning Brunch

Baked Eggs and Tomatoes

I doubled this in a large casserole dish, spreading the tomato mixture on the bottom and cracking 8 eggs on top, evenly spaced. I used cooking spray instead of butter to coat my glass dish.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil


• 1 shallot, finely chopped


• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped


• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes


• 5 plum tomatoes, seeded and roughly chopped


• 1 tablespoon tomato paste


• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper


• 2 tablespoons chiffonade basil leaves, plus more for garnish


• 4 eggs

Sweet Potato Pancakes with Ginger Applesauce

• 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled


• 4 green onions, finely chopped


• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour


• 1/2 cups egg beaters


• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika


• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt


• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


• 1/4 cup peanut oil, for frying

Ginger Applesauce

• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch slices


• 2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch slices


• 1/2 cup apple cider


• 1 lemon, juiced


• 1/4 cup light brown sugar


• 1 cinnamon stick


• 1 (2-inch) piece ginger, smashed

Grilled Melon and Ham

• 2 limes, juiced


• 1 tablespoon honey


• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper


• 1/2 honeydew melon, sliced into 12 pieces


• 12 (6-inch) wooden bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 20 to 30 minutes


• 12 slices ham, cut in 1/2

We finished off with Ina Garten's French Apple Tart, no modifications here!



This brunch got rave reviews, so I hope you will try this at home!

Double Duty Flowers

It's rare that I get a beautiful arrangement like this delivered to my house.



But it was our 2 year anniversary, after all. I felt like the luckiest woman in the world! These flowers lasted almost 2 weeks because I kept refreshing the water, but the inevitable was bound to happen...they started to die.

But, don't fret! You can totally repurpose the slightly-more-alive flowers into new arrangments like this.



Or this...



So next time you receive a lovely bouquet, don't be so quick to toss it when it looks a little pukey. Pick out a few hardy blooms and make them work!

 

A New Addition

No, I'm not pregnant (sorry, mom!)

But we did recently acquire another body in the house.



You may recognize the beast on the right as our very own Millie, but her brother-from-another-mother on the left is new to us. His name is Mason- formerly-Lobo-formerly-Hercules. Just Mason, for short. We picked him up from the shelter September 30th with the help of my friend Robbie from WNC Boxer Rescue. Robbie has been trying to convince me to foster for his rescue pretty much since the beginning, and he finally won. So Mason has found a home with us for at least a few months, and he's making the most of it. Having both another dog and cats, we have the ability here to test him in a variety of situations to determine the best forever home for him.

Mason is very polite, he is the only animal who ever laid on the dog bed more than once.



It took about 3 days to figure out he was allowed on the couch. Then, it was downhill from there.



Pretty soon he was making himself at home.



It wasn't long before he wiggled his way into our hearts (and laps!).





Look at this face! (his, not mine)



Mason  likes sleeping in on the weekend, like someone else I know.



He's also quite fond of Millie, she does make a great pillow...



Mason is a great dog, and we've enjoyed having him with us as a foster. His loving nature has not been dimmed at all, despite several traumatic events. He was hit by a car a few years ago and was unable to walk for a year. Now he runs and jumps with the best of them, but evidence of an arthritic hip can be seen on x-rays. This doesn't slow him down at all, he always greets us with enthusiasm when we come home. We found out that Mason was given up by his original owners at age 7 to some "friends" who either lost him or dropped him off at the shelter shortly after getting him. He was there for 3 weeks and was about to be euthanized.  As if he hasn't been dealt enough bad cards, Mason has heartworms-and people are very reluctant to adopt a HW positive dog because it is fairly expensive to treat. If left untreated, this is a death sentence on its own. We want Mason to live a long and healthy life, and that's why we need your help! His poor heart is already showing signs of damage, so he really needs to begin treatment soon. We have set up a Chip In site where you can donate to help us get Mason healthy again. If he has touched your hearts like he has ours, please donate. Every little bit counts.

 

Bar None

When it comes to the home bar, what's your style? Do you prefer to keep your stash hidden in the pantry, or do you display it proudly for all to see?

What about your stemware? Is it shoved into the cabinet with the rest of your glasses, or does it have its own home?



Maybe you prefer hanging storage?

In case you didn't get the hints, I'm thinking about putting a small bar area up in our kitchen/dining room. Nothing over the top, but maybe some cool shelves for hanging glasses and a cabinet for keeping liqour and other things for entertaining. What about you guys? Do any of you have a bar set up at your house?

Kitchen Stool Rehab

Our kitchen counter stools have seen a lot of action-and I mean that in the best possible way.  Everyone always seems to gather in the kitchen and dining areas, which meant it was only a matter of time before something like this happened.



After many cleaning attempts, I came to the conclusion that this must be an oil based food stain. Oh well, time to bust out my trusty staple gun and painter's drop cloth (see an upholstery tutorial here).

In about 10 minutes, both stools were in and out of my rehab program.



Brand new, durable, and most importantly-easy to redo in case it ever happens again.

So don't throw out those tired stools or chairs, just give them a quickie makeover!

Fall Vegetable Soup

At the first hints of fall, I start thinking about soup. There's nothing better on a chilly day than a big bowl of warm, healthy, good-for-the-soul soup. My favorite is a vegetable soup my mom used to make. Although when she used to make it back then, I was not a big fan. It was only as an adult that I came to appreciate this simple yet delicious concoction.

Here's the secret: Lipton's Noodle Soup packets. Yes, the dry ones in the box. You'll need two packets (1 box) and a sifter. The recipe goes loosely like this, and it makes A LOT of soup:

Separate the bouillon powder from the noodles (I just toss these out) as best you can with a sifter, and bring that to a boil in 8 cups of water. Add about 3 cans of stewed tomatoes (chopped), a can of tomato sauce, and 1 box of chicken stock (32 oz). That's your base. You can really add whatever veggies you like, but I usually use these (chopped): a bag of carrots, 3 squash, 4 zucchini, a head of broccoli, a head of cauliflower, and a head of cabbage. Lower the heat to medium and cook until the veggies are soft.

The cabbage totally makes the soup. Even if you think you don't like cabbage, try this soup and see if it doesn't change your mind. It's hearty, healthy, and so yummy!

Apples Gone Wild

Fall in Asheville is so amazing, I wait all year to leave windows open and run in the cool mornings. What better way to celebrate the start of fall than with some good old fashioned apple picking.

Every year we try to head up to Sky Top Orchard and pick as many apples as we can lug back to the car. This year, even the rainy weather couldn't stop us on our quest. We hiked further than ever before to find trees still filled with apples. Mutsu, Granny Smith, Gala, and Blushing Gold were still plentiful- and perfect for our marathon cooking and baking plans.



First up was Apple Butter, a southern favorite. We even tackled canning- click here for the recipe (**Note-we cut the sugar to 5 cups, 4c white and 1c brown).



And of course, there's always Apple Pie.



And Apple Dumplings...



We baked our fingers off, but overall it was an awesome day filled with great friends, yummy treats (and some hiking to balance it out)!