{ island mimosa }

Memorial Day weekend is the [un]official launch of the summer season. What better way to usher in all those glorious months of sunshine and fun than with a morning cocktail worthy of a tropical paradise? As you sip, close your eyes and listen for the steel drums, waves, and seagulls.

It just looks like a sunrise at the beach, doesn't it?

 
Island Mimosa
Ingredients
2 parts champagne or sparkling wine
1 part pineapple juice
1 part Malibu Coconut Rum
dash of Grenadine
frozen pineapple chunks, to garnish and keep drink chilled (optional)

Process
Fill a champagne flute 1/2 way with champagne or sparkling wine. Add pineapple juice and rum. Top with a dash of grenadine. Drop in 2-3 pineapple chunks to keep drink chilled.

Don't worry. Be happy.

{ lemon blueberry bread }

Have you ever started out with simple, good intentions, yet ended up with the opposite results?

A few days ago, I saw a recipe for lemon blueberry bread. It stuck in my mind, and I couldn't get the thought out of my ahead until I made it. And, while at it, why not be the person who makes a few loaves for some deserving folks in my life as well? I mean, if I was going to get the mixer dirty, I might as well go all out, no?

So after a trip to the grocery store for a bag of lemons, four baskets of blueberries, and some plain yogurt (the apparent key ingredient in the recipe) I ended up with three separate, dense, heavy, partly-uncooked loaves of lemon blueberry bread. Total fail.

I don't know what the heck happened. I followed the recipe, step by step. But for some reason, my tester toothpick kept coming out coated with raw batter. I couldn't get those suckers to cook! The recipe called for 50-60 minutes in the oven. At that point, the top was burning, but the center was still raw. Gross. So I covered it with foil and kept cooking. At about the 75 minute mark, I threw in the [dish] towel. And I couldn't make any more ... I'd run out of eggs.

I was pissed. Super pissed. And dangit! I wanted lemon blueberry bread.

The next day, I tried again, using a different recipe. A simpler recipe -- this time, no yogurt necessary (which I have a feeling was the culprit). The result was divine.

Unfortunately, I only made one loaf. But lesson learned. Next time I feel like being the friendly domestic person who randomly impresses others by giving away homemade bread "just because", I'll have the winning recipe.

Lemon Blueberry Bread
(adapted from JoyofBaking.com)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour, divided
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk

Lemon Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• juice from 2 freshly-squeezed lemons

Process
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 5 x 3" loaf pan with a non-stick spray.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Place the blueberries in a separate bowl and toss with the additional 1 tablespoon of flour (this will prevent the berries from sinking to the bottom during baking).

With electric mixture and paddle attachment, beat the butter until softened (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract.

With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture (in three additions) and milk (in two additions) alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Mix only until combined.

Gently fold in the blueberries.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 55-65 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Lemon Glaze: In a small microwavable bowl, stir the powdered sugar with the lemon juice. Heat in the microwave for about 20 seconds, or until sugar has dissolved.

When the bread is done, allow to cool in loaf pan for about 20-30 minutes. Then, gently flip loaf pan over an inverted cake plate or platter, carefully removing the bread from pan. Pierce the top of the loaf several times with a wooden skewer or toothpick and pour lemon glaze over the top, allowing it to run down the sides of the bread.

{ custard toast with creamy bourbon syrup }

Somewhere in the Unwritten Rule Book of Life is a mandate stating that Sundays should begin with a decadent breakfast -- it just makes everything better. And if things are already better, it makes things the best.

Breakfast this past Sunday included bourbon, cream, and vanilla. In the [overused] words of one of my favorite culinary personalities, Ina Garten, "How bad can that be?"

And I think Ina would be totally good with the fact that I continued to eat the remaining spoonfuls of the creamy bourbon syrup left over after breakfast. Gluttony at it's worst (or best?), for sure. But oh, so good.

Next time, I'll use a fancier-schmancier bread. But for an impromptu meal, the everyday sandwich stuff worked just fine.

Custard Toast with Creamy Bourbon Syrup

Ingredients
For toast:
6 slices of bread
6 eggs
1/2 cup of light cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of cinnamon

For sauce:
1/3 cup of real maple syrup
1/2 cup of light (or heavy!) cream
1 tablespoon bourbon (I use Maker's Mark)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Process
In a medium sized bowl, whisk eggs with cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat maple syrup over medium high heat. Slowly add cream and whisk continuously until incorporated with syrup and warmed through. Add bourbon and vanilla. Continue to heat until syrup mixture until just past a simmer. Remove from heat as it begins to gently boil. Syrup will slightly thicken as it cools.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat.

Dip a slice of bread into egg custard mixture, allowing it to sponge up liquid for about 30 seconds. With your fingers, gently flip over bread and sponge up custard on the second side.

Immediately place bread slice into heated pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until toast is golden. Flip with a spatula and cook the second side of the toast.

Remove from pan and spoon bourbon syrup on top of toast.

Repeat with remaining slices of bread.

{ baked apple bourbon french toast }

The perfect breakfast for a cold morning (or a balmy summer afternoon, for that matter!).

Baked Apple Bourbon French Toast
(adapted from tastykitchen.com)

Ingredients

• ½ cup salted butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons bourbon
• 3  large baking apples, cored, peeled, and sliced
• loaf of French bread, cut in about 1/2" thick-slices
• 4  eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1½ tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
• dash of nutmeg

Process

*Note: Ideally, this kish can be made ahead of time and refrigerated overnight. If assembling entire casserole in the morning, dip bread slices in egg mixture before arranging them on apples.

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In a small pan melt butter and sugar together. Whisk to combine and cook until slightly thickened. Add bourbon and whisk again. Continue to cook for about 1 minute.



Pour butter mixture into a 9" x 13" casserole dish. Arrange sliced apples on top of butter. Arrange bread slices on top of apples.
In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour mixture over bread.
Place casserole dish in the oven and bake for 45-minutes to 1 hour, or until apple slices have softened and bread is golden brown.

{ shamefully indulgent breakfast }

This delectable dish was on our Christmas morning breakfast menu a few weeks ago. 

It was so, so very, very good (yes, this statement requires its own paragraph).

And that's really all I have to say about it, as mere words don't seem like a fair fight when describing something so yummy.

Except for the fact that I still think about it ... late at night ... when I have the munchies. Oh, and during the daylight hours too ... so, yeah, pretty much whenever.

Scrumptious, chewy, sweet goodness.


You. Must. Make. This.

Sticky Buns Breakfast Ring
(adapted from All Things Delicious)

2 tubes refrigerator buttermilk biscuits (don't use Grands -- they're too big and mess up the cooking time)

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Coat the inside of a bundt cake pan with non-stick spray. Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon.

Pour about half of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan and sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top.

Arrange the biscuits on a slant/diagonal around the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges to form a ring.

Top biscuit ring with remaining syrup and sugar mixtures.

Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 20 minutes, or until golden brown (mine took about a half hour, so just keep a close eye on it).

Cool for 1 minute in the pan, then invert onto a serving platter.

Make yourself a second mimosa and thank me. :)

cheesy jalapeño breakfast casserole

I stumbled upon this recipe on one of my favorite blogs, the Homesick Texan, and decided to give it a whirl when my mom and sister were visiting last week. I tweaked it some, and can absolutely see it becoming a breakfast-time staple in our house. Everyone loved it!

My only complaint is that I actually wish I'd doubled the recipe -- I could've eaten on it for days and days.

It's a perfect (fast & easy) dish for entertaining out-of-town guests, and would be an absolutely super addition to any brunch.

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese (4 ounces)
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
• 1 Roma/plum tomato, seeded and cubed
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 jalapeños, stems and seeds removed, diced
• sour cream, tomatoes, avocado (topped with lime juice), and fresh cilantro, for serving

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using non-stick cooking spray, lightly grease an 8x8 casserole dish.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in flour, dry mustard, baking powder and salt.
• Add the cottage cheese, Monterrey Jack cheese, cheddar cheese, butter, jalapeños, tomatoes, and cilantro; mix.
• Pour the eggs into the casserole dish, and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the center is firm.
  
• Serve warm topped with a dollop of sour cream, chopped tomatoes, cubed avocado with a squeeze of fresh lime juice, and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro.
  

Yields 4-6 servings

lobster benedict

One of the great things about living in New England is the abundance of lobster available to enjoy -- I never get tired of it, and could eat lobster pretty much any way. Oooh! That actually sounds like a delicious plan! I might have to explore the idea ....

Anyway, I had some leftover lobster meat from dinner the other night, and obviously didn't want to let it go to waste. So I whipped up some eggs Benedict, with the traditional English muffin, poached egg and Hollandaise sauce. But instead of Canadian bacon, I opted for lobster. The result was a perfect breakfast.

I'm betting shrimp would be good too -- a fabulous brunch item, I'd say.

I love those red crustaceans with the big claws.