Yesterday I explained how I had an extra angel food cake hanging around after I had made one ahead for class and then had the kids make one too.  The question was, “What does one do with an entire extra angel food cake?”  I took to Pinterest for the answer and found out that one makes Angel Food Cake French Toast.  But of course! The recipe came from Better Homes and Gardens.

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Several techniques help keep these pork chops tender and juicy. First, pounding the chops thin helps the acid (vinegar) penetrate the meat right to the center. The vinegar not only acts as a tenderizer but also adds a delectable level of flavor. Next, by dredging in flour, egg, and panko – the juices are sealed in and a crispy delicious crust puts these chops over the top. Lastly, by using an instant-read meat thermometer, you are sure to not overcook.

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These cute little crispy prosciutto cups make for an impressive and compact breakfast presentation.

Underneath the egg, you can place any filling you would like, or none at all. I’ve given you several examples of things you might like to add to your cups; such as roasted veggies, pesto, salsa, purchased or homemade giardiniera, or simple tomato slices.

You’ll need two muffin tins of the exact same size. The reason you need two tins is so that one can sit directly on top of the other once it is lined with the prosciutto. Doing so prevents the prosciutto from curling up and shrinking while it is baking in the oven.

The cup in the photo above was done correctly, the cups in the photo below were not. See the difference?  Since the curled-up prosciutto cups were too small to hold an egg, I piled one scrambled egg into two cups that I had lined with tomato slices.

This recipe makes six, but can easily be doubled if you have a crowd to feed and happen to have two matching 12-cup muffin tins.

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Before I get to today’s brown bag recipe, I would like to apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced with this site yesterday. The bad news is that it was down between about 2:00 and 5:00 pm as people (including me) received an error message stating that there was not enough bandwidth. What is bandwidth, you ask?  I have absolutely no idea. I even looked it up and read THIS, and I still don’t fully understand. So I emailed my super-duper tech guy. He kindly added more bandwidth to my site and I was back in business.

The good news – running out of my allotted amount of monthly bandwidth before the month is up (even if it is on the last day of the month) means my viewership is growing and that excites me very much indeed.  And that is thanks to all of you! I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart! xoxo

Today’s brown bag lunch recipe is a jazzed-up version of an all-time favorite, the BLT.  This is the BELT, and the E is for the egg that is added in. The only problem is when I made this for Dave and myself the other night… yeah… I forgot the lettuce. So the pictures reflect a BET instead of a BELT. No matter, it was delicious even without the lettuce!

Since the sandwich includes hard-cooked eggs, a bagel seemed like a natural choice for the bread. I made one each way, the first with a toasted bagel and the other with toasted multi-grain bread. I preferred the bagel and Dave preferred the bread. You choose for yourself, or just make them both ways and enjoy half of each. Then share the rest with a favorite co-worker. Trust me, that person will be your friend for life after they’ve filled their growling tummy with your tasty generosity!

If you want to make only one sandwich, boil 2 eggs instead of three. Only mash 1/2 of one of the eggs for the spread and slice the remaining 1 1/2 for the sandwich. Cut the amount of all of the remaining ingredients by half.

Lastly, as long as you’re frying up bacon, fry extra. It freezes great and then you won’t have to make a mess the next time you’re craving this sandwich… oh, and you will be craving it!

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The three quiche recipes I worked up for The Arizona Republic food section over six weeks ago are finally in the newspaper today.  Although I am extremely pleased with the article written by the lovely Karen Fernau, the photos leave a lot to be desired. The cover shot’s color is off and the inside photos are an unappetizing black & white.  Luckily, the beautiful color photos that food photographer extraordinaire, Michael McNamara, shot are on the AZCentral website, along with all three recipes.  Find the full article and links to all three recipes, plus the basic crust recipe, HERE.

And this is what you will find there…

Jalapeno Popper Quiche                  Photo credit: Michael McNamara

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Do you work outside the home? Have you in the past? If so, then you already know what happens when a co-worker brings food into the office. People suddenly act as if they are on the verge of starvation and have not eaten in a week. Even if you have never worked in an office, you have still witnessed this phenomenon before… at Costco… or anywhere there is FREE FOOD!

There was a bunch of food leftover from the appetizer portion of our party this past weekend and I sent it all into Dave’s office on Monday morning. I can just imagine the food frenzy that day!  The thing is, I can’t blame the people in my husband’s office. These dear souls deserve a treat.  Dave is a CPA, and at this time of year… coming down the homestretch of another  “tax season”… their days are long and stressful! Enjoy and eat up, people!

Turns out, I didn’t send in everything after all. Yesterday morning I found a bag of extra dippers for the fondue.  One of my favorite items to add to a cheese fondue or crudites platter is new potatoes. The potatoes are left unpeeled and larger ones are cut into halves or quarters and then boiled in salted water until easily pierced with a paring knife. The potatoes are now perfect to cook up for breakfast too.

Dave usually prepares oatmeal and an apple for breakfast, but yesterday I made him an extra special meal, which he richly deserves! Thank you, my sweet husband, for all you do – especially this time of year! xoxo

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Groovy Flowers + Lemons = Stupendous Centerpieces!

My Bestie, Amy, who you already know from Amy’s Famous Taco Soup – is always in charge of making cute name tags for our neighborhood soirées  – love those blinged out peace signs, Amy!

More peace signs along with smiley faces, a flower power table runner, and 70’s album covers were the decor at Rainy and Trent’s ultra cool and “Mod Squad-esque” home.

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Our sweet little cold spell has come to a screeching halt… it’s going to get up into the low 80’s today and up to 85 throughout the weekend. Darn, I was soaking up as much of the cold as I could. Yesterday’s hot soup may have been the last for quite a while. OK, enough lamenting, back to “Kim Week”.

Kim’s friend with the urban farm, Chris, sent over eggs from her chickens and duck. Or maybe it’s ducks, as in more than one. I haven’t visited the garden yet, so I’m not sure. But look at those gorgeous eggs! Kim said that the two white eggs on top were the duck eggs, they look a bit small for duck eggs to me, but maybe they are small ducks! Hopefully, I will learn more soon, after a tour.

Doesn’t that basket look sweet in my fridge? Makes me wish I still had my chickens and a cool chicken coop.  There are so many pretty coops on Pinterest, it has me dreaming of one of my own.  Speaking of Pinterest, I’ve added a “Pin It!” button at the bottom of each post, so if you see something you’d like to share, feel free to pin away!

Even though the basket of pretty brown and colorful Araucana eggs in my fridge makes me feel quite wealthy, I had better use them up. And there is almost no better way to use up eggs than to bake up a quiche or two… or a half-dozen individual quiches.

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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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