apple oatmeal breakfast bars
I love breakfast, but 90% of the time I don’t eat it. On the weekends we’ll cook up a big breakfast...sausage, bacon, potatos, eggs, pancakes, waffles, crepes... But that’s when we have the time to make and enjoy it.
Toasted coconut double chocolate banana bread
This bread is pretty dreamy. The chocolate flavor is pretty intense, amped up by the addition of some espresso powder. The toasted coconut adds a wonderful texture. And despite the ample amount of banana in the bread, the crumb remains pretty tender and not at all squidgy. It’s good for dessert, snack, or … yes … breakfast.
Read MoreGreat British Bake Off Challenge March 2019: Kouign Amann!
It may seem like we have significantly upped the ante this month with our GBBO Challenge. But let me assure you, these are easier than you’d think. The dough comes together beautifully in a stand mixer and is a dream to work with — smooth, soft, and supple. There were several times during the process I was convinced I must be doing something wrong; it didn’t seem difficult enough to produce the insane goodness I’ve had at a pastry shop.
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Avocado toast with soft boiled egg
Posting this as a recipe feels a little like posting a recipe for, say, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It’s just so basic, just another toast variety that we eat on the regular. I never give a thought to amounts or proportions. On the other hand, there’s definitely a technique for the eggs ... and even if it is a teensy bit fussier than a simple fried egg, the final product is so aesthetically pleasing that it feels that much more of a treat. This is the number one favorite breakfast in our house.
I’ve done these eggs on a couple different stove tops and it always works so I’m going to go ahead and call it a fail-proof method. The trickiest part is peeling the shell but that just requires a little patience and gentle touch.
I highly recommend a sprinkle of Trader Joe’s Everything But The seasoning. That stuff is bonkers. We put it on everything - eggs, avocado, vegetables, cream cheese on crackers, even in my sourdough. It’s so good.
Avocado toast with soft boiled egg
Ingredients
your favorite bread or whatever you have on hand, sliced and toasted
ripe avocado
1 egg or more depending on how many you are serving (I’ve done up to 5 eggs)
Instructions:
For the egg(s): In a small saucepan, bring 1/2 inch water to a simmer over medium low heat. Add the eggs, return the water to simmer, cover, and set the timer for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, remove the pan from the heat, carefully pour out the hot water, and run the eggs under cold water to cool down. Add a handful of ice cubes to the water to speed up the process.
Meanwhile, have your toast ready and spread with slices of avocado. Sprinkle lightly with salt (if you’re not using the TJ’s Everything But The seasoning).
Carefully peel the eggs. This can be a finicky business, especially because with the soft yolk inside they are still, well, soft. I try to crack up the shell all around before I begin peeling, and I always start from one of the ends. Sometimes they come out like a dream, sometimes I end up taking off chunks of egg white. It doesn’t really matter much to me.
Place the egg on the toast and cut open. Watch all that beautiful yolky goodness spread like a rich sauce over your toast.* Sprinkle with aforementioned seasoning. Eat and enjoy.
*If you prefer your yolk to be on the more gelatinous and less liquid side, simmer for 30-45 seconds longer.
Vintage recipes: Fluffy Cakes
These are some super light and tasty pancakes. The amount of baking powder makes the batter almost spongy by the time you get it onto the griddle. They remind me of the pancakes you get at a pancake house - they’re so light that they just soak up alllllllll the syrup. It does have a faint metallic taste if you eat it plain but you can’t detect it under any toppings. The batter came together so quickly and easily, they were ready in 10 minutes, and they made perfect amount for my kids’ breakfast. I imagine I would turn to these on a weekday morning for a quick treat. I won’t say they’re better than my own go-to Cook’s Illustrated Buttermilk pancakes or our Dad’s pancakes because they’re just not. But they’re light, easy, yummy and kid-friendly and that checks a lot of boxes!
Read MoreBeans on Toast
Hello again! Yes, we have been on an almost month long hiatus. It was not intentional. In fact, the three of us discussed how we wanted to avoid the post-Christmas silence this year. Obviously that fell through.
Read MoreCranberry Crunch
When the fresh cranberries first hit the shelves I couldn’t resist buying a massive bag at Costco. But besides plans for fresh cranberry-orange relish for the Thanksgiving table, and cranberry orange muffins of course, I didn’t have many more fresh cranberry recipes up my sleeve... and yet there were still pounds of cranberries in the fridge.
Enter this delightful cranberry crunch.
Read MoreBlueberry Muffins
You notice I don’t say “best” or “magic” or “the only recipe you need” blueberry muffins. Because these aren’t. In fact, there are so many blueberry muffin recipes out there, I was debating even to post these. But, they come from a much beloved family cookbook that has pages falling out and is missing its back cover. And, these are good. Really good.
Read MoreVintage Recipes: Oatmeal cake
I've got another installment of Project Vintage Recipes for you: Oatmeal Cake. I chose this recipe because it sounds like the kind of cake that can be unashamedly eaten for breakfast. Or at the very least it sounds like a perfect snacking cake that mommy can eat for breakfast and kids can eat for snack. (I've got to be honest, I save most of my cake for breakfast. It's just so good with a morning cup of coffee.)
Read MoreBreakfast week! Dad's Buttermilk Pancakes
About two years ago, on a long family update email chain, Dad simply shared his pancake, crepe, and waffle recipes. That was it. No latest news from him and mom and the younger kids, no stories or anecdotes, just the recipes with a one-liner introduction: "I wanted to share with everyone my recipes for crepes, pancakes, and waffles." While this may seem odd, Sarah aptly replied: "Wow! Thanks, Dad. I feel like you just doled out our inheritance."
Read MoreBreakfast week! Baked Oatmeal
Oatmeal is such a great breakfast. It's filling, nutritious, and super cheap. But, lots of kids don't really like oatmeal. Lots of adults don't really like oatmeal. And yeah, when oatmeal isn't prepared well it tastes like flavorless goopy mush. You can manage some pretty tasty stovetop oatmeal, but baked oatmeal, well, it tastes like an oatmeal cookie, and I can't imagine many kids or adults complaining about that.
Read MoreBreakfast week! potato feta scallion (or what you wish) Frittata
I love frittatas. They seem fancy, even though they are easy to whip together, taking just a little longer than regular fried or scrambled eggs. They make a great breakfast, but are more than suitable for lunch or dinner too. They are economical, easily vegetarian or milk free, and, best of all, adaptable to whatever you have on hand.
Read MoreBreakfast week! Chocolate, orange and date scones
Is there anything prettier than a display of assorted scones on various tiered trays? With a floral tablecloth, delicate china tea cups, and silver spoons? the sun angling through a window lined with soft muslin curtains, illuminating the faces of friends?
Read MoreBreakfast week! Sweet Potato Hash-cakes with Bacon and Chives
I don't know if this is a true "hash" or not. From years of watching Chopped, people always seems to be criticized for calling something a hash when it isn't. The best I can find from a dictionary search is simply something cut up into small bits. I like this from the OED: "A mixture of mangled and incongruous fragments." Mmmm, yes, serve me some of that!
Read MoreBreakfast week! Buttermilk Potato Cinnamon Rolls
About a year ago, Maria sent Sophie and me a recipe she developed for buttermilk potato cinnamon rolls with the caption: "I created this recipe and I think they were bomb diggity!"
They are.
Read MoreBreakfast week! Bagels
I grew up with New York bagels as my standard. Whenever my grandparents visited from Long Island, they would stop on their way out and pick up a couple dozen bagels to bring to us. Unfortunately, store bagels and even most bagel chains don't measure up. What to do except make my own?
This recipe is incredibly straight forward and yields some pretty delicious, chewy, soft bagels with very little work in the morning and only a little the evening before. I've tried a bunch of different bagel recipes and this one wins all around in my family.
Read MoreMake yogurt at home!
Did you know you can make yogurt at home? And that it's really easy? You basically need a pot and milk and you're set. I started making my own yogurt when we were on a very tight grocery budget - when, yes, the $2 per week that it saved was significant. And even though we're not strapped for those few bucks anymore, I've kept it up. OK, to be completely honest, I still try to save here and there if I can - it adds up, after all! But really, I just find it satisfying to produce some of the things I enjoy in my daily life. I remember the first couple of times I made it, it was almost like magic. I still find it kind of marvelous, kind of like every time I take a loaf of bread out of the oven I'm amazed all over at the process.
Read MoreVintage recipes: Blitz Kuchen
Once, a long, long time ago, I embarked on a project called Vintage Recipes. Remember? You probably don't, and that's OK because it sure looks like I didn't either. But I'm finally getting a start! I'm looking forward to finding some unexpected winners.
What's my idea for this project? First step, to interpret and flesh out the recipes. Some of them are very bare bones with obscure ingredients and directions. I figure I'll follow the recipe with only minimal, if any, adjustments; then, if it seems to hold promise, I'll gradually fine tune it into a recipe I'll save forever.
Up first: Blitz Kuchen. Lightning cake. Sounds like my kind of thing. From just a glance at the ingredients I knew not to expect anything wild and crazy, but simple and basic often produce classic, winning results (like my favorite scone and sugar cookie recipes).
Read MoreYogurt Cake with Citrus Glaze and Yogurt Drizzle
This recipe is YUM.
I'm trying to think of another more intelligent way to explain it.
Let me put it this way: I made two loaves one afternoon. They were gone by the morning. Let me try again: I brought a loaf to a girls night. The four of us easily ate 3/4 of it in two hours. I may or may not have finished it off when I got home. Here's another scenario: I pulled a fresh loaf out of the oven, a friend stopped by, chat chat chat, 30 minutes later she says good-bye, and half a loaf is gone.
Read MoreDewberry buckle, or the hard won reward of berry gathering
In Texas there is a prickly little bush found along paths, in parks, and in fields that yields a tart little berry called a dewberry. The dewberry is a lot like a blackberry in look and taste, and they grow here and there in careless abundance. There's something pretty addicting about wild berry picking. Not only is it satisfying to work for your food - and not having to pay for it like at pick your own farms - but you're constantly spotting "just one more little patch" with a goldmine of plump, juicy berries. Dewberries don't come entirely free, though - they come at the cost of a couple dozen pricker scratches up and down the hands and arm. You could theoretically avoid getting scratched if you are very careful but if you just haaaaaaave to get those fat ones nestled deep in the bush, your arm is going to pay.
A few days ago a friend of mine invited us over to her farm to berry pick. My kids were total champs and we came out with about three pints of berries after just an hour. And that's not counting all the berries consumed along the way. I told you, it's addicting. Fresh berries! Free! So what to do with an abundance of berries? I went back an forth for a while but decided I wanted a cake that was just loaded with berries - like, buckling under their weight. :)
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