Sunday Brunch/Easy Sunday Crepes

A year or so ago, I made pumpkin pancakes for our Sunday breakfast. I had made enough so that there were 3 leftover for my husband's Monday morning breakfast. 

When we had finished our breakfast, I grabbed my cup of tea, and went over to watch a Sunday morning news program. My husband had taken our plates to the sink. All of a sudden I heard him scream, "NOOOO!!!" I looked over to see Berkley standing on the bench with his front legs on the table, eating the pancakes. When my husband screamed, rather than jump down, he began to eat faster! I guess he thought, "I'm in it now, I may as well get it all!" ;) This little dog absolutely LOVES pancakes...of every type.

I have been going through recipes that I've posted in the past, and there are a number that I feel I need to revisit, and have them so that you can easily print them. I originally posted this recipe in 2012...8 years ago :/ Wow! I really wanted to post it now as the holidays are coming, such a wonderful time to do something lovely for your family, and such a wonderful excuse to sit down and really connect.  

Crepes are so easy to make. They are nice and light, so you don't get up from the table feeling as though you need a nap. And, the fillings can be tailored to the likes of everyone who comes to the table. 

The recipe is below.

Once the mix has been made, heat a skillet or crepe pan. If you don't have a crepe pan, you don't need one! A skillet will work just fine. Add a small pat of butter to the pan to season it. Pour 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan. Swirl the pan to distribute the batter as evenly as possible. Cook until the batter is no longer runny, about a minute.

Flip the pancake and cook on the opposite side for no more than another minute.

Place the crepes on a warm plate, and then continue with the rest of the batter. This recipe makes approximately 10-11 crepes.

 

I made a lovely cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. I use ginger, a stick of cinnamon, 1 orange, and the entire orange peel. If you would like the recipe, just let me know, and I'll be happy to post it. Since I had leftovers, I decided to serve the sauce as the filler for the crepes. Soooo delicious!

Just place a little in the center of the crepe, fold over, and then put a little on top, and finish with a dust of powdered sugar. Then, dig in and enjoy!!!

Berkely got a few scraps :)

Easy Sunday Crepes

downloadable recipe

ingredients;

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups Almond Milk(or milk of choice)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 cup flour

directions; 

Place eggs in blender, and blend until smooth. Add milk and vanilla extract. with blender running, add melted butter. Add flour, and blend until smooth.

Heat skillet or crepe pan. Season with a small pat of butter. Pour 1/4 cup of crepe mixture onto hot skillet or crepe pan. Swirl batter to evening distribute around bottom of pan. Cook until batter no longer runs, about a minute. Flip crepe and cook for a minute longer on opposite side. Place on warm plate and repeat with remaining batter. Makes about 10-11 crepes.

Serve with favorite filling and powdered sugar.   

You can see my original post HERE. In that post I made a strawberry/rhubarb sauce. 

As always, if you give the recipe a try, I hope you enjoy it!

Just a quick story to close. A friend of mine visited with me last year along with her 7 year old daughter. While they were with me, her daughter was always by my side, and whatever I was doing, she wanted to participate, including setting the table for our meals. My friend told me that she recently had a day off, and decided to make a lovely meal, set the table, and serve the food in serving bowls. Her daughter came to the table and exclaimed, "it's just like at Rhonda's house! It all looks so pretty." 

Happy Eating :)

Rhonda

Sunday Brunch/Whole Grain Turmeric Corn Cakes

After a lot of just plain ick in my life of late, I had the best news this week. My optometrist told me that unless I notice a change in my sight, I no longer need to see him on a six month, or even a yearly basis. I do need to continue seeing the retinologist so that he can monitor any growth of the moles on my retinas, but other than that, I am in great shape! WooHoo!!!

Since I was diagnosed with moles on my retina, I have become all the more conscious of eating foods that are high in vitamins that are good for the eyes. Believe it or not, turmeric is a spice that is great for so many things, but eye health is near the top of the list.

This morning I decided to try my hand at a pancake recipe that contains turmeric. The pancakes have a delightful orange color. 

Turmeric, on its own can be rather bitter, but paired with ginger, delicious! 

I began with 2 cups of cornmeal, 1 cup of whole grain wheat flour, 3 tablespoons of baking powder, salt, and 3 tablespoons of sugar. 

3 eggs, along with 2 cups of unsweetened coconut milk, and 1 tablespoon of fresh minced ginger were added.

The final ingredient, 3 teaspoons of turmeric powder.

The griddle was greased with oil, and 1/4th cup of batter used for each cake.

Once the bubbles began to pop, the cakes were turned and allowed to brown on the opposite side.
  

I served the cakes with good maple syrup. But fresh cooked applesauce would be great too!

Whole Grain Turmeric Corn Cakes

4 hearty servings

downloadable recipe

ingredients

2 cups corn meal

1 cup wholegrain wheat flour

3 tablespoons baking powder 

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

3 teaspoons ground turmeric powder

2 cups unsweetened coconut milk

directions

Combine all dry ingredients and mix well.

Add eggs, ginger, and coconut milk to dry mixture. Beat well until the batter is smooth.

Heat griddle over medium heat. Use a vegetable oil of choice to grease griddle. 

Place 1/4 cups of batter per cake on hot griddle. Bubbles will appear. When bubbles begin to pop, turn cakes to opposite side and cook for another minute, or until golden brown. Place cooked cakes on plate and repeat with remaining batter.

Serve with warm maple syrup. Fresh, warm applesauce would be another delicious option.  

If you give the recipe a try, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Happy Sunday!

Rhonda  

Sunday Brunch/Decadent French Toast with Maple Caramelized Apples

We said goodbye to our precious Gracie this past week. She has been a part of our family for the past 11 years, and will continue to be a part of my heart forever. Below is one of my favorite pictures as I think it shows her gentle spirit. She was my constant shadow, always near by, but never intrusive. Going back to my studio has been so very difficult as she was my only dog who would come down and hang with me. But then too, I think she loved the cool tile floor :) I'm so very grateful for all she added to my life. 

I haven't cooked all week, but this morning, it felt right.

A number of years ago, we always went out for breakfast after we had been to church. We then began going to an evening mass on Sunday, so I started making breakfast. I am now at a point that I would much rather eat at home as I always enjoy my own food far more than anything I can get in a restaurant. And...truth be told, I also get to stay in my pajamas ;)

This morning I made a kinda sorta new recipe for french toast. My husband loved it and I think you might enjoy it as well :) Decadent French Toast with Maple Caramelized Apples. 

For the french toast, begin with 6 eggs. Beat them well with a fork.

To the egg mixture, add 1 cup of almond milk, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix all until well blended. 

For the apples, peel and slice 3 medium to large apples. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pan over medium heat. Once butter has melted, add the apples and stir well to coat with the butter. Cook until apple slices begin to brown. Add 1/2 cup of maple syrup. Stir well. Reduce heat to low and simmer until apples are tender.

Place bread in egg mixture and allow it to soak up the mixture until the bread is quite moist. Heat another pan, and add a little butter, a teaspoon or so. Place soaked bread in skillet and cook until golden brown, then turn and allow other side to become brown. Continue soaking bread until egg mixture is gone.

Serve the french toast with the caramelized apples. A nice addition to the apple topping would be toasted walnuts. Yum!
   

Decadent French Toast with 
Maple Caramelized Apples
serves 6
downloadable recipe

ingredients;
For apples
3 medium to large apples, peeled and sliced 
2 tablespoons butter, plus more for cooking french toast
1/2 cup maple syrup 
For french toast
6 eggs
1 cup almond milk
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 slices of hearty bread

For apples;
Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Add apples and stir to coat apples with butter. Cook until apples begin to brown. Add maple syrup, stir and reduce heat to low and allow apples to simmer until tender. About 5 minutes.

For french toast;
Beat eggs with a fork until well blended and frothy. Add milk, extract, nutmeg and cinnamon and stir until well blended. soak bread in mixture until bread is well soaked. Heat another skillet over medium heat. Add about 1 teaspoon of butter per 2 slices of bread. Place soaked break in skillet and cook on each side until golden brown. 

Serve french toast with the maple caramelized apples. Sit back and wait for the compliments to come rolling in! :) Be patient as it may take a few minutes before their mouths aren't full!!!

Enjoy!

We have a tendency to live our days as though this life will go on forever. Take a few moments to pause, look at your loved ones, your pets, think about how they have enriched your life. And then, take another moment to say thank you. It only needs to be in your heart. One thing that I have learned is that what is in our hearts comes out in everything we do.
 Rhonda

Sunday Brunch/Baked Apple Pancake

I love to make a special breakfast on Sunday mornings. Just seems like the perfect way to begin the day :)

I gave my husband a few choices for today's brunch/breakfast, and without a skipping a beat he said, "apple pancake!" 

I originally posted the recipe HERE, so this is a repeat. But, things get lost in a blog, so I thought reposting it, especially since I just made one this morning would be a nice reminder of something that's delicious, and easy to make.
   
This is a fabulous recipe when you have a number of mouths to feed. I like to double the recipe. When doubled, it will easily feed 6, and if you include a few other items on your brunch table, it will stretch to 8.

Baked APPLE PANCAKE
serves 4

Ingredients;

3 medium apples peeled and sliced, I used Fugi Apples
1/4 cup of raisins or dried cranberries
1/4 cup of chopped pecans or nut of choice
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 milk (I use unsweetened Almond milk)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Peel and slice apples. Melt butter in a nonstick skillet. Add apples and saute until tender. Add raisins or cranberries. Add nuts of choice and cinnamon. Stir well. 

In a blender, blend eggs until frothy. Add milk and extract and continue to blend. Add flour 1/4 cup at a time and blend well. Pour batter mixture over apples.

Place skillet in preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until pancake begins to crack and is lightly browned.

Place large serving dish over the top of the skillet and invert pancake. Replace any apples that may have stayed behind in the pan.
Slice and serve with powdered sugar.

Be sure to print out the recipe. Once you make it, you'll make it over and over again! And too, you can slice it up and freeze the slices for later!

Happy Sunday!

 Rhonda

Sunday Brunch/Biscuits

One of my most precious memories is making biscuits in the morning with my grandmother. She would make up the dough, roll it out on waxed paper, and then I would get to cut the biscuits with her biscuit cutter. All the little leftover pieces went into my very own tiny little cast iron skillet. Of course, those little bits and pieces of biscuits were the best! In her simple way, my grandmother taught me to love to cook.

Earlier this year, Joanna Gaines of Fixer Upper fame, published a cookbook, Magnolia Table. I was curious, and happy when I found out that our library had a copy.  

There are lots of lovely recipes, but not enough of what I like to eat for me to purchase the book. I was curious about her biscuit recipe, so I decided to give it a try. You can find the recipe HERE.

It begins with 4 cups of self-rising flour, 2 tablespoons of baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 1/2 cups of butter. The butter is cut into the flour as if you were making pie dough.    

2 eggs and 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk are than poured into the flour mixture. 

The eggs and buttermilk are then mixed until a sticky dough is formed. At this point, the dough is to be covered and placed in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, and can be left overnight. It is important that you don't skip the refrigerator time as it does make a difference in the dough.
 

Once the dough has sat, it is then turned out onto a floured surface. No rolling, just mashed down with your hands, and then cut into biscuits. You can see my grandmother's biscuit cutter below :)

Rather than greasing a pan, parchment paper should be used. The biscuits are to touch each other in the pan. They are then brushed with 1 beaten egg, and 1 tablespoon of buttermilk.

Place the biscuits in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. They really are quite lovely when they come out of the oven.

The recipe makes up a LOT of biscuits. But, the nice thing is that they can be frozen and used later. I frozen mine and will be baking them for Christmas. One job completed!!! I placed the biscuits on waxed paper, and then wrapped them in foil for freezing.  

The result is a very flaky biscuit. I poured honey over mine :)

My husband thought the biscuits were great. Maybe I'm just nostalgic, but I think I like my grandmother's biscuits a bit more. I haven't made them in quite a while, but I will this week. If I'm right, look for the recipe next week. 

Enjoy!

Rhonda

Eating For Your Future/Bird's Nest Pie with Kale

A crunchy crust with a creamy center....quite simply, YUM!!! 

Yum is the first thought, and the second is probably, yikes!, not so healthy. The crust is shredded potatoes, and the center is stuffed with kale. I think that's a fairly nice healthy beginning. Now there are eggs and cheese, so if you are vegan, this will not be a recipe for you.

By the way, this is one of my favorite recipes. I don't make it all that often, but I'm so happy when I do :) This is something that I put together for the first time many years ago. The recipe has been tweaked a bit, and I think I finally have something that is just a bout perfect, in my opinion anyway!

I begin by shredding the potatoes, skin and all. The potatoes need to sit in a strainer for at least 20 minutes. During that time, they will begin to express liquid. The potatoes need to be squeezed in order to get rid of as much liquid as possible. This will give you that super crunchy crust that tastes soooo good. To the potatoes, I add 1/4 cup of chopped chives, 1 beaten egg, freshly ground black pepper, and a little freshly ground pink salt.  

Once the mixture is together, I grease a 9" spring form pan and mash the potatoes as evenly as possible around the base and sides.

While the potatoes bake in the oven, I chopped my kale, grate my cheese, and make the custard for the pie. I add my herbs to the custard.

Once the potatoes have cooked and become crunchy, I add a little white cheddar to the base of the pie, place the sauteed kale over the cheese and then top it off with the rest of my cheese.

The custard is then poured over the top. At this point, I push the edges of the potato crust down so that they are even with the center ingredients. This will keep the top edges of the crust from getting too brown.

So if all this looks good to you, here's the recipe;

Bird's Nest Pie with Kale

Crust;
2 cups packed grated potatoes, skin and all
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg beaten
1/4 cup chopped chives
1 tablespoon olive oil

Grate potatoes and mix with salt. Place in a strainer for at least 20 minutes and allow the potatoes to express their liquid. Squeeze dry. Place potatoes in a bowl and add the beaten egg and chopped chives. Grease a 9" spring form pan and pat potato mixture evenly around the bottom and sides of the pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown. About half way through the baking time, brush the crust with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. 

For the filling;
8 cups of chopped kale
1 medium onion
2 cloves of chopped garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil

While potatoes are baking, heat olive oil in pan, add onion and saute until tender. Add garlic, stir and saute for 1 minute longer. Add kale, a little at a time, as the first portion begins to wither, add the next portion. Once all kale has been added and is withered, set aside.

For Custard;
1 cup of shredded white cheddar cheese
2 eggs beaten
1/4 cup of light coconut milk
1 teaspoon of dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and black pepper to taste

Set grated cheese aside.
Combine beaten eggs, coconut milk and spices.

Once the crust is browned, place 1/2 cup of cheese on bottom of crust, top with kale and onion mixture. Top with remaining cheese and pour the custard over the top.
Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until set.
Remove from oven. Loosen sides from pan and remove the outer portion of the pan.
Serve with a salad and your meal will be complete.

Not only is this a wonderful meal for dinner, it makes a delicious addition to a brunch buffet. If you would like to make it the night before, put the entire pie together and then do the final baking the following day. Just remove it from the refrigerator about a half hour before baking so that the pie returns to room temperature before baking.

Happy Eating!!!
Rhonda

Eating For Your Future

Happy Sunday Everyone!!!
For those of you here in America, I hope you had a lovely 4th of July. Mine is always very low key. My poor dogs are terrified by the fireworks, and although it is illegal to have fireworks in Chicago, the park near our home sounds like the Vietnam War. So I shut all the windows, turn on the air conditioner, play soothing music, and then we all snuggle up in the bedroom and finish out the day with a movie. Last night we watched Whiplash. Interesting, dark, and reminded me a bit of an orchestra conductor that I played under while I was in high school.
I made an interesting dish recently and thought I would share it.

Poached Egg Over Spinach Polenta With Crispy Mushrooms and Herbs 

I found the recipe on a site that I have fallen in love with. She has the most interesting recipes. Be sure to check out her most recent post for Green Bean, Quinoa and Tarragon Salad. It has bing cherries, marcona almonds, along with the tarragon and greens beans. I think I am going to give it a try today!
Back to the Spinach Polenta, what I especially enjoyed were the crispy mushrooms. Of course, this is a vegetarian dish, but if you would like to add some meat, fried bacon would make a lovely addition. The mushrooms are initially sauteed over a burner and then put under the broiler so that they become crispy. The dish would be lovely for a Sunday morning brunch. I actually served it for dinner one night. Great on its own accompanied by a small salad. The mix of the crispy mushrooms with the creamy polenta was just so good.
You can find the recipe HERE. If you do take a look at the recipe, by all means take a few minutes to scroll through some of her other recipes. I think she'll have your mouth watering!!!    

Sunday Brunch

We have our first dusting of snow covering the ground here in Chicago. Flurries are flying outside the window and I have a fire going. It's winter :) On days like this, my thoughts turn to dishes that will warm my body and my home. I posted this dish quite some time ago, but I thought I would repost it since so many of you are new to the blog since the last posting. If you love apples and cinnamon, I think you'll love this dish. I had to smile a little at my husband this morning when I told him that I thought I would make an apple pancake for our breakfast. His eyes got wide and he said,"well, that would be great!"

APPLE PANCAKE

Ingredients;

3 medium apples peeled and sliced, I used Fugi Apples
1/4 cup of raisins or dried cranberries
1/4 cup of chopped pecans or nut of choice
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 milk (I use unsweetened Almond milk)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Peel and slice apples. Melt butter in a nonstick skillet. Add apples and saute until tender. Add raisins or cranberries.

 Add nuts of choice and cinnamon.

 Stir well.

In a blender, blend eggs until frothy. Add milk and extract and continue to blend. Add flour 1/4 cup at a time and blend well.
Pour batter mixture over apples.

Place skillet in preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until pancake begins to crack and is lightly browned.

Place large serving dish over the top of the skillet and invert pancake. Replace any apples that may have stayed behind in the pan.
Slice and serve with powdered sugar.

The recipe will serve 4.
Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of the pancake on the serving dish. It makes a lovely breakfast presentation and would be great for any special occasion.
You may have noticed that I did not add sugar to this recipe. If you would like a sweeter dish, add a little brown sugar to the apples just before you pour the pancake batter over the apples.
Enjoy!
Rhonda

Sunday Brunch

So sorry about missing in action the last few days.One of our former exchange students arrived yesterday from Italy. What a joy it is to have him with us for a few days. Needless to say, I had a lot to do to prepare for his visit, like clean my house!!! So something had to give and sadly, it was the blog.
Like any good mom, when you have a returning child, the kitchen is a busy place, preparing foods that you know they will enjoy. I actually made this recipe for the first time on Mother's Day. I found it in the March issue of Country Living magazine.

They had an article devoted to a Mother's Day brunch. Everything looked wonderful, especially this picture of  Almond Cinnamon Buns.

 Even better, the ingredients were easy, like store bought crescent rolls,

 almonds, almond paste, cinnamon, brown sugar, butter, yum!

Here's the recipe;
Almond Cinnamon Buns
1 cup slivered almonds, finely chopped
4 ounces almond paste finely mashed
6 tablespoons light-brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 (8-ounce) packages unbaked crescent rolls
1 stick butter, at room temperature
Cooking spray
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In  a medium bowl, stir almonds, almond paste, brown sugar, and cinnamon to combine. Set aside.
2. Working on a sheet of parchment paper(I used waxed paper), unroll 1 package of crescent roll dough to a rectangle and smooth seams. Evenly spread half the butter over dough and then sprinkle half the almond mixture. Beginning on one long side, tightly roll up dough. Slice into 6 pieces. Repeat with remaining dough, butter and almond mixture.
3. Spray 2, 6-cavity muffin tins with cooking spray. Place buns in each cavity and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
4. Remove pans from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Transfer buns to a wire rack, drizzle with icing, and serve immediately.  

**I made a few changes to the recipe.
1.I did not use anywhere near the amount of butter that the recipe calls for. I just spread enough butter over the dough to cover it.
2. I cut each crescent roll into 12 pieces rather than 6.
3. I did not add the icing and I did not miss it.
4. I did not use the cooking spray. I put a muffin wrappers in each cavity. I'm lazy and would rather not spend a ton of time scrubbing out each cavity!!!

 My buns ;) YUM!!!

I only made up one package of crescent rolls and I froze the remainder of the almond mixture for another time. The buns are obviously great for brunch, but they make a nice afternoon treat and will accompany a summer lunch time salad beautifully as well.
I found the almond paste in the baking aisle of my grocery store. If I remember correctly, it was a little less than $5.00 for the can. The can will make enough for 4 packages of crescent rolls, so less than $2.00 per can of crescent rolls.
If you like the taste of almonds, I think you'll love these buns. I know I do!