Posts from — January 2012

I’ve told you about my beloved Aunt Connie before and about what an amazing cook she was and what a huge influence she was on me. This beef roast, braised in beer and ketchup, was- and still is – one of my favorite comfort foods! The gravy is out of this world and the meat is tender as can be, no matter what cheap cut of beef you use. Luckily it became a staple in my mom’s rotation of meals too.

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As promised – here is the recipe for the crunchy banana muffins.  If it looks like a whole lot of flour, sugar, and butter… well, it’s because this recipe makes a boatload of muffins….  30 anyway, and that’s a bunch from one recipe. Enjoy!

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This fourth brunch recipe makes two casserole dishes of sausage and egg goodness. And it’s another overnight casserole… breakfast for dinner two nights in a row… just saying! Once again, I thank the photographer, Laura, for providing the photo of her dish. (down a little farther, not the photo directly below)

Before Laura’s dish, here is a final description of the last recipe not yet included in the “four days of le brunch”.  It’s all about Tram’s Banana Crunch Muffins.  You see, long story short, Tram got crunched for time and her hubby, Steve, couldn’t make it, so she brought her friend (and my friend too!) Matt. Matt is not only our friend, but also the producer of Tram’s afternoon show EVB Live, and the former producer of the old Valley Dish. Matt made the muffins, but since he doesn’t really like full-on banana flavor in his muffins, he made banana-pineapple muffins… yes that’s the short version! Matt’s muffins were a huge hit. But since I don’t have Matt’s recipe to share, I will share my “Crunch” recipe tomorrow.

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The best thing about the four brunch recipes my friends made is that they can all be fully or partially made ahead. Anne’s “overnight” French toast obviously fits the bill. Or if your family enjoys “breakfast for dinner” – throw this together before you head out the door in the morning, take it out when you walk in the door, then pop it in the oven and you’ll have dinner (and dessert all-in-one; it’s pretty dang sweet!) on the table with almost no effort after a long hard day.

So another guest who made a dish that won’t be featured in the four days of brunch recipes is Amy’s Smoked Salmon Platter with Dill Sour Cream. It was one of the “no-cook” recipes and was basically thinly sliced smoked salmon artistically laid out on a platter with minced shallots and capers sprinkled on top and sour cream with fresh chopped dill mixed in – served with bagel chips or sliced baguette on the side.  So easy, SO good, and oh so pretty!

Once again, I didn’t get a photo of Amy’s dish or even of Amy for that matter, but I did get a nice shot of her hilariously humorous husband, Scott (and Bubo – Sloane’s pooch).

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Next up is the recipe that my sweet sister, Sloane, made. It’s one of my favorites!

A few of the other guests brought recipes that have already been featured here on the blog… for instance, Peggy made THIS great salad that I wrote about back in September 2009.  And Peggy’s fabulous sister, Terrie, made a beautiful platter of roasted asparagus that was generously topped with crumbled goat cheese, crispy bacon, and lemon.  Regretfully, I didn’t get a picture of either Terrie’s asparagus or Peggy’s salad, (you can go to the link above to see the salad).  But thankfully I did snap a lovely picture of gorgeous Peggy!

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Here is the first of four brunch dishes that I’d like to share with you from our New Year’s Eve Brunch. Since I wasn’t the one cooking any of these, there will only be one picture… no preparation photos. And in some cases, as with this one, I even forgot to take the picture myself and had to ask the creator of the dish to email me the photo taken from the leftovers they brought back home – thanks for this one, Mary!  Oh, one more thing – This is my 800th Post! Wow 800!

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On Monday afternoon, I was looking through the stack of magazines that had been piling up these past few weeks. In the middle of the stack was the January issue of Bon Appétit. The first thing I spotted, down in the right corner of the cover was this-

“Set Up The Ultimate Bloody Mary Bar”  What the heck? Who knew I was so on-trend?  I had just done that very thing two days before!  So I immediately opened the magazine to page 60 and saw this –

This is the “ultimate” Bloody Mary bar? I don’t think so! They have a few good ideas, some of which I had already used on my Bloody Mary bar – like beef jerky, pepperoncini, garlic stuffed olives, and pickled veggies. But come on, 8 snazzy items do not make an ultimate anything! Heads up Bon Appétit… the next time you want something done ultimately, give me a call.

This is how you set up an ULTIMATE Bloody Mary Bar –

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My barrage of Christmas recipes has come to an end, time to let you know what we did for our New Year’s Eve Brunch.

I decided to host the brunch after my friends, Laura and Mary, and I was reminiscing about a fun annual Christmas cocktail party I used to host. I don’t recall why I stopped, but I’m sure it had something to do with feeling too overwhelmed, and then it fell by the wayside in the following years until it was forgotten. By the time I thought about hosting the cocktail party this year, it was too late, so I switched it to the NYE Brunch.

What made the original party unique, was that I would send out recipes to all the potential guests and they would choose a recipe (first come – first serve), make it, and bring it to the party. The concept is great because, as the host, you still have complete control over what is served and how it is set up. And as a pot-luck guest, you don’t have to “think” of what to bring.  And since you get all the recipes for every dish in advance, you don’t have to rely on someone to send you the recipe for that thing you just loved and want to make in the future. Plus, since everyone contributes, everyone feels completely invested and proud of how the party turns out.

For me, the #1 host benefit is that the RSVP’s come in, fast and furious! I sent out the email invitation with all the recipes attached at 3:00 PM on December 12th and everyone who could make it had responded by 6:00 PM the next day!  Here is what my email looked like –

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This is another of Bruce Aidells’ recipes from the December 2011 issue of Bon Appétit that I used for our Christmas dinners last week.

One important tip when roasting a whole beef tenderloin is to tuck under the tail end. Because the tenderloin narrows at one end, the thin portion must be tucked under itself and secured with a little kitchen twine, so that it will cook at the same rate as the rest of the roast.

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Welcome 2012!

Wishing you and yours a very happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!

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