Birthday Brunch Bake! - Part Two (the food)...

Well it was a great weekend here...... all of the kids were together to celebrate Rob's birthday (my youngest)

Rather than do our usual birthday dinners, we had a special brunch that was actually really fun and a much easier way to entertain!  Why did it take me so many years to figure that out??  Good grief....

In the midst of getting breakfast/brunch on the table, I totally missed the photo of this awesome breakfast treat.  It's one of those that you have to take the photo quickly because it deflates pretty quickly. By the time we sat down to eat it looked more like topography map of a valley surrounded by mountains! (that is the extent of my geographic terms!)  But........ once we all overcame the visual, the actual taste was FABULOUS!  Oh my gosh........ it was like eating dessert for breakfast - but the eggs and bread made it "legal"  - right??  The best description I can come up with is..... it tasted like a cremé brulee topped bread pudding.  Is that decadent enough?  If not...... well, will have to work on that one!  Just trust me - it was delicious!

Bacon and a fresh fruit salad rounded out the meal and it was just fun to have the three kids and two and 1/3 grandkids with everyone laughing and talking at the same time.  I don't know what is more fun than an animated family gathering! :)  I loved every minute as the times we are all together are few and far between and I cherish every one of them!

French Toast Bake

adapted from Butter with a Side of Bread

Base:
1 loaf of Hawaiian bread, cut in 3/4" strips
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla bean crush (KAF)*
1 tsp. butter vanilla bakery emulsion (LorAnn)*
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
===============
Topping:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 1/3 c. brown sugar
1 c. flour

Place the strips of bread in the bottom of a buttered 13x9" baking dish.  In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, cream, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.Pour over bread slices.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, preheat the oven to 350.  Then combine the butter, brown sugar and flour in a medium sized microwave safe bowl.and heat in the microwave for intervals of  30-45 seconds  for several minutes, or until the mixture is completely melted.  Pour over (it can be thick so you may need to spread it quickly) the bread and place it in the oven for 45-60 minutes.  It will come out beautifully tall and deflate as it cools.

The directions say to cool for 5 minutes...... I would say at least 15 or warn your guests as the brown sugar mixture is HOT!!!  But........it is oh.....so.......good!!

* Or use 2 tsp. vanilla extract in place of the extract and emulsion

Early prep....

Hot buttery brown sugar mixture as it goes into the oven...

Fresh out of the oven...one hour later....

The sunken wonder!! LOL  You can't tell, but the candle was sitting in a glass star holder and it sunk into the middle of the bread!! Rob had to blow that flame out FAST!!

So..... just to be sure you are paying attention - did you catch my reference to the "odd number" used in reference to my grandchildren??  Yes there is news.........

Scott and Megan are expecting their first child the middle of February. 

We are all quite excited - thrilled - elated - and more!! Pin It Now!

Amazingly EASY Peach Cobbler

I love it when I find something that is so incredibly easy AND good.  I really like to try to bake as much as I can from scratch. But there are times when there just isn't the time or the energy to take those extra steps.  So when I ran across this recipe I was more than willing to give it a try, and it was unbelievably easy and surprisingly good.

I will admit to having my fair share of cake mixes stored away in the pantry that I have picked up on sale. There is always a need for something quick and easy, and I have all of the Cake Mix Doctor cookbooks that put this supply to good use.  It is always comforting to have a back up plan , right?

So this recipe was not only easy, but delicious, and I imagine you could easily substitute apples or any combination of berries.

Oops - forgot the blueberries in the picture!

SUPER EASY PEACH COBBLER

adapted from Butter with a Side of Bread

There is actually very little that I changed with this recipe because when there are only FOUR ingredients, there isn't much leeway!

1 box cake mix (I used Butter Golden)

1 (12-oz can) diet Seven-Up

4-5  cups fresh peaches, chunked
1 cup fresh blueberries

2 TBSP cinnamon-sugar

Peel and slice fresh peaches into chunks. Place into a 13x9 inch pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Scatter the blueberries over the top of the peaches.

Step 1 - add the fruit!

Sprinkle the dry cake mix directly on top of peaches. Use a spoon or rubber spatula to gently press the cake mix down into the fruit.

Pour the can of soda on top of the cake mix,, making sure to cover the cake mix completely. It will bubble up and look rather inedible!

The Seven-Up is foaming!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Do not preheat earlier because you want to give the cobbler time to sit and bubble and just be!

Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar on top of the soda. It will pop some of the bubbles, but it will still be very runny on top.

Adorned with cinnamon-sugar.

Bake cobber for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped topping! 

The smell of this right out of the oven is heavenly!

Yum!!  You can leave the whipped cream off

and eat it for breakfast too!

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Strawberry Banana Orange bread

I bought the most beautiful strawberries the other day at Trader Joe's.  As I have previously mentioned, I have a soft spot for berries of any kind and am totally content to just pop them in my mouth, sprinkle them over cereal, yogurt, throw them in a smoothie - you name it!! I love them in ALL forms.

And I love trying new things, so was delighted when one of the many blogs I follow, shared a recipe for Strawberry Banana Bread with Lemon Glaze

I made a few alterations, adding 1 tsp of orange zest, chopped the strawberries, and made an orange glaze instead.  Next time I will try adding some orange extract to the bread recipe to see if that orange flavor will pop a bit more!

In her instructions, she made three loaves. But I opted for two large loaves and was really happy with how they turned out.  The banana was the predominant flavor, but the strawberries surprised the taste buds with almost every bite. It was a great combination!


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