Bacon Bird Nests, Tarts and Peeps, Oh My!

Brunch is definitely my favorite meal. So what's better than a holiday that's all about brunch? That's why Easter is my most favorite holiday! This year, I celebrated with mimosas and a feast.
Here's what was on the menu.

• Peeps on a Stick!
• Fruit Tarts
• Marbled Easter Eggs
• Bacon Bird Nests!

Peeps on a Stick!!!

This was just fun to do. Reminds me of the Peeps Diorama contest my roommies and I entered back in DC.
All you do is melt some chocolate chips in a double boiler. I added a bit of milk to make the chocolate a bit more runny. Then dip the Peeps in and toss on some sprinkles.

I laid them on parchment paper while I finished dipping all the Peeps. Wanted to finish that before the chocolate hardened. Then I made a hole in the middle of the Peep with a BBQ skewer, then dipped the end of the skewer in the chocolate and back into the Peep. I thought the chocolate might help like glue. Then put them in the freezer to make the chocolate harden faster. Filled a vase with fake grass and arranged them for the center of the table. I got the idea from somewhere on the internet but I can't remember where.

Cheating Tarts

These are cheating tarts because they are just so easy (and I use store-bought crust). In this recipe, I used my favorite secret weapon when cooking for a crowd, Pepperidge Farms Pastry Sheets. I rolled out some of this dough and covered my little tart tins. I wished I had my pie weights... When baking blind (without a filling), the crust can rise  and doesn't leave any room for the cream. Instead of using pie weights, I pricked the dough several times with a fork and then again half way through the baking time. I baked them at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, pricked the bases down, then baked for another 5-10 minutes. Since the bacon nests were also baked at 400 degrees, I could alternate getting the tarts ready while baking bacon, and visa versa.

The next day, I made some chantilly cream (just a fancy way of saying whipped cream) and topped them with fruit. Easy- Peasy! My tarts from Easter a couple years ago were a bit better, though a bit more complicated.

Marbled Easter Eggs

Another crafty food project was decorating Easter eggs. Actually, the boiled eggs went well with the next dish too :) I stole this idea from Martha Stewart but went the easy route and bought the egg decorating kit from the supermarket. I made all the colors with the dye and vinegar in plastic cups. Then after I'd done one base coat of color, I added vegetable oil (Martha Stewart says to use olive oil but vegetable oil worked just fine, no use wasting olive oil in egg dye) to the cups and dunked the eggs again. The oil made it so the second dunk didn't completely coat the egg. I think they turned out real purdy.

Bacon Bird Nests

Ok all you baconphiles, this is the post you've all been waiting for! I got this idea from notmartha.org. I took three strips of bacon and laid them side by side. Then I took another strip of bacon and wove it between the others. Then cut off the excess and used it for more weaving. When it was about three pieces by three pieces, I wrapped it around an upside-down muffin tin. I highly recommend wrapping the tin with lots of aluminum foil.

Also recommend having another baking sheet underneath the muffin tin (also with aluminum foil) to catch the grease and not leave a mess in your oven. I cooked them at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. I let them cool and stored them in the fridge over night. The next day I put them in the toaster oven on the toast setting for about 5 minutes. I had varying degrees of success in keeping the cup shape. The toaster oven did crisp up the bacon but it didn't hold it's shape well. Then I tried reheating on the muffin tin in the oven. That held it's shape more and I recommend that for future reheats. The bacon also shrinks a lot so the cups tend to be pretty shallow.









In a separate bowl, I tossed some arugula with a balsamic vinaigrette and added two cherry tomatoes as "eggs". Wha-la! You've got Bacon Bird Nests!

Rainy Sunday

On this rainy fall day it seemed like a good idea to get some baking in. This soup recipe was passed on to me from another Angela in my knit group. I changed it a bit.

Sweet Potato Apple Soup

• 3 small sweet potatoes
• 1 1/2 apples
• 3/4 large onion
• 1/2 can lite coconut milk
• 1 tsp curry
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• salt and pepper to taste

Roast veggies in the oven at 350 degrees until soft. Simmer the veggies in the vegetable broth with the coconut milk and spices until cooked all the way through. Then blend.

The soup is good but a bit sweet for my taste. Next time I'm going to try it like this.

• 4 small sweet potatoes
• 1 large yukon potato
• 1 apple
• 3/4 large onion
• 1/2 can lite coconut milk
• 1 tsp curry
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 cups vegetable broth 

 

Spicy Cauliflower

• 1/2 head of cauliflower
• 3 garlic cloves
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• ~1 tsp of chilli powder
• ~1 tsp cumin
• ~1/4 cup of bread crumbs
• pinch of olive oil

Cut cauliflower and garlic cloves and put in a bowl and toss with some olive oil. Sprinkle the spices over the cauliflower. Toss a bit more olive oil and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees until fully cooked.

This recipe is a mix of a couple different recipes I found online like this and this. It is pretty spicy! I might leave out the cayenne pepper next time.

GRANOLA!

look at those grains!

 I've made this several times. You can check out my original post here.  I made some small changes but the most important update is the temperature and time in the oven. I have a bad habit of over cooking it so turned the heat down and the time in the over.

• 6 cups rolled oats
• 1 3/4 cup oat bran
• 1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 flax seeds
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes, stir, then bake for another 15 minutes.

It's Easter Dammit!

I love Easter Brunch. I've been having hosting some sort of Easter brunch for 14 years now! This year when it was the day before Easter, I was so sick I had to have a friend drive me to the grocery store. She said, "Uh, maybe you ought to cancel brunch." But I didn't want to! In the end, I postponed it and had it this past Sunday. I called it, "It's Easter Dammit!" I'm so glad I waited cause I was able to enjoy myself. Good friends, good food, good times. Look at that spread!

pancakes, bacon, fruit, cinnamon rolls, baked brie, croque monsieurs, mimosas, oh my!

My contribution to brunch was oatmeal pancakes, grapefruit ginger curd and mixed berry syrup. The grapefruit ginger curd turned out really good. One of my friends was actually eating it by the spoonful by the end of the brunch. I'll take that as success.

I took the recipe from one of my favorite blogs, 101 Cookbooks. I modified the recipe slightly below. I doubled the recipe but now I realize, I didn't double the eggs! (below is exactly what I did) Perhaps that's why it wasn't that thick. I also couldn't figure out how to make the ginger juice. I tried to grate the ginger to make the juice but hardly made any juice. So I added some of the grated ginger. I think I could have used a lot more.

 

Grapefruit Ginger Curd

1 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp / soft
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks, preferably room temp
2 large eggs , preferably room temp
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon grated ginger


The directions say to simmer the grapefruit juice in a small saucepan, reducing to 1/2 cup. But I didn't have time, so I just left it as is. (which was the appropriate amount for doubling the recipe)

step 1 - fresh squeezed grapefruit juice

Cream the butter in a medium stainless steel bowl. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy and light. Add the yolks, and then the eggs one at a time, beating well. Stir in the salt, and then gradually add the grapefruit juice, lemon juice, and ginger juice.

Make a double boiler out of saucepan and the stainless steal bowl. (Fill the saucepan 1/3 full and bring to a simmer) Stir constantly, and heat the curd slowly enough that the sugar has time to dissolve. This takes at least 10 minutes, maybe it took me longer because I didn't use enough eggs. Pull the curd from the heat when it is just thick enough to coat your spoon. Your curd will thicken as it cools.

irish cream in my coffee, don't mind if I do

101 Cookbooks says it keeps refrigerated for a week, or up to a month in the freezer. But it didn't last that long at brunch! Check out her recipe for more tips.


Notes for next time: I thought it tasted a bit too sweet. Even though she mentions in her blog that she left hers tart, I think I'd start with 1/2 cup of sugar. I might try it without the lemon juice next time. I'd like to add more ginger. I thought the grated ginger would be more potent so I didn't add much maybe not even a 1/4 teaspoon. I need to figure out how to actually make ginger juice.


Now this pancake recipe is from my mom. I don't know where she got it. I also doubled the recipe for brunch. They were a good hearty base for some sweet-treat toppers. I'd say that they are ok but not amazing.

 

Oatmeal Pancakes

1/2 cup flour (add more as needed)
2 cups quick oats
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups buttermilk (I always make my own)
4 tablespoons of melted butter
2 large eggs

Combine the dry ingredients. In another bowl combine the wet ingredients. Then combine together. Use cooking spray to line the pan and cook them up!

Mixed-Berry Syrup

frozen mixed berries
real maple syrup

This is easy. Heat the berries slowly in a saucepan.  They will create their own juice. Add some maple syrup to sweeten. Pour over your pancakes. It was a good compliment to the curd too.

There you go - a good start to a brunch. Don't forget the mimosas!

The Sweater Challenge - I did it!

Sorry to keep you all in suspense but I did it! Yup, I finished my Dad's sweater in time to give it to him just before we went to Costa Rica for his 70th birthday. Too bad, it's not cold anymore for him to get some real use out of it this winter (sigh).

Homebrew Floats

A last weekend, I had my Housewarming and Beer Reveal Party where I released my first batch of homebrew ever! I got interested in brewing beer in DC when I helped a friend of mine, brew and bottle his beer. My beer turned out great! It was really rich with hints of chocolate and coffee, my two favorite things. The taste of my two favorite things in my favorite kind of beer, how could it get any better? But wait, then we made homemade ice cream and made homebrew floats! They were pretty fantastic.

Homebrew Stout Float Cheers!

I blogged about making ice cream last year (memorable day, there was an earthquake in DC). In that blog, I recommended my ice cream maker, the Mega Ice Cream Ball. But now I'm taking that back. We used the Mega Ball to make this ice cream and it is fun thing to do in a group cause everyone takes a turn and shaking the ball the make it. But this time, I couldn't get the top off to empty the ice. I used the tool to open it and by accident screwed it on instead of off and now there's no way to open it. I just had to throw it in the trash :( Now I'm in the market to buy an old fashioned crank ice cream maker. Keep your eyes peeled at garage sales for me!

The Sweater Challenge - The Countdown Continues

Well, I have 5 days left and I it's looking like I could make it. However, the next two days are going to be a wash because it's St. Patrick's Day weekend. Tomorrow the fun begins at 10am! So that really leaves 3 weeknights. Yikes!

I'm almost done with the left arm. I need to cast on the collar and figure out how to do the i-cord trim and button holes. Wish me luck!

almost done with the left sleeve

The Sweater Challenge!

Holy crap, I've had this blog for over a year now and I haven't yet blogged about sweaters. It's half the blog's namesake! You can tell how big my sweet tooth is :) Well now I've issued myself a 10-day sweater challenge. I started knitting this sweater the day after I moved into my new place in Chicago (Thanksgiving day weekend). I need to finish it by March 21st, cause it's for my dad. It was supposed to be a Christmas present. I wrapped it up for Christmas, when he opened it up the torso was finished up to the armpits. But since then, I haven't been as diligent as I should have been to finish it. Next week my Dad is coming down to Chicago for his birthday.

This is the final countdown. Can I do it? Ok enough blogging, back to knitting!

right arm almost finished, left arm not even started....