A busy Mother's Day...

I cooked my bootie off for a Mother's Day Brunch!

Menu
♥ Baked Ham (Mario & Karen)
♥ Potato Crust Quiche (missing from photo - darn!) w/Sour Cream & Chives
♥ French Toast Casserole
♥ Craisin-Orange Cream Scones w/Cream Cheese & Orange Marmalade
♥ Chocolate-Hazelnut & Vanilla-Coconut-Craisin Biscotti
♥ Cheese filled Crepes w/Strawberry Compote
♥ Banana Bread
♥ Fresh Fruit Plate w/Yogurt Strawberry Dip
♥ Chocolate Covered Strawberries (Claudia)
♥ Mimosa's & Fruit Juices

I'm not gonna lie... I was exhausted - but I was happy to see that I got it all done and in time too! ... and, I think all the moms enjoyed themselves.

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I barely had time to rest before we were off to see David Copperfield at the DCPA. I had a chance to see him perform live when I was in high school and he is just amazing. A little stranger than I remembered, but amazing.

It was awesome to see Darren's reaction. He said excitedly "I don't know what I'm going to do if he does this one!! I just don't know if I can handle it!" Of course, it was the same expression with each trick. We had great aisle seats and at several times, David Copperfield came up right by us. For the one where he made himself disappear right off stage and appear in the audience - he appeared three seats behind us. And for the last trick, where he brought audience members up on stage to make them disappear, Mondo was chosen as a "witness" and got to go on stage too. I loved it and would do it again in a second. But it was just over an hour - I wish it would have been a bit longer :)

French Toast Bake

I am still practicing recipes for our Mother's Day Brunch. So last night I put a make-ahead-casserole together for the French Toast Bake.

I've made one of these before, and I knew I would have done a couple of things different with it if I ever made it again. The recipe I used this time had me cut up the pieces of bread into 1 inch cubes - which is definitely something I liked. It made for more uniform cooking to the dish. I also added a pecan topping that was out of this world - not sure why I opted out on that last time. I must have been out of my mind!

Word to the wise... the recipe notes that you should place the dish on a rimmed baking sheet. Do it. I forgot to do this, and true to the note - the casserole puffed like magic and spilled out over the sides a bit, all gooey in the oven. Oops!

I got the recipe from my fave Cook's Illustrated magazine, the Make-Ahead Recipes Edition and I will be happy to share with you - just let me know if you'd like a copy and I will type it out.

So I am happy with my menu and my recipes. Now I am just worried about the oven. Wish I had two. Awe well, I will make do.

More biscotti

Macadamia Coconut Biscotti tonight...

Not as good as the Chocolate Hazelnut ones from Sunday, at least in my opinion. These ones were softer. More crumbly. Not dunkable.

I may compare recipes and adjust. Still wanting to make at least two kinds for Mother's Day brunch.

Gotta love a lazy day...

I'm a planner. Seems like I always have something going on - even if it's just hanging out with the family.

Today, I was supposed to go to the Rockies game. My plans changed and I ended up not going. There were probably plenty of things that I could have done, but I didn't. I woke up, goofed around. And then took a nap! (Boy it's been a long time since I've taken one). I can't say it was a great nap... I kept tossing and turning, probably because I was feeling guilty that I wasn't doing anything. When I got up, I got comfy on the couch and watched several episodes of Food Network Last Cake Standing.

I had been telling my dad to go to the grocery store for me - not thinking for one second he would - and was surprised when he asked for a shopping list. He went and picked up some items I needed to make Biscotti and Scones.... some recipes I want to test out for Mother's Day Brunch. I'm glad he went, because since he picked up the stuff I needed, I was obligated to do something with them. I tried two new recipes and now I don't feel like the day was totally wasted, but I also feel like I got a good rest too!

And, I was happy with both recipes, which I will post below. Let me know if you try them out and what you think!


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Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

Ingredients

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1 cup blanched hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
* 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
* 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and butter and flour a large baking sheet.
• In a bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat until combined well. Stir in flour mixture to form a stiff dough. Stir in hazelnuts and chocolate chips.
• On prepared baking sheet with floured hands from dough into two slightly flattened logs, each 12 inches long and 2 inches wide, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Bake logs 35 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch. Cool biscotti on baking sheet 5 minutes.
• On a cutting board cut biscotti diagonally into 3/4-inch slices. Arrange biscotti, cut sides down, on baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Cool biscotti on a rack Biscotti keep in airtight containers 1 week and , frozen, 1 month.

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Cranberry-Orange Cream Glazed Scones

Ingredients

* 2 Cups Unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1 Tbs Baking Powder
* 3 Tbs Sugar
* ½ tsp Salt
* 4 Tbs Cold Unsalted Butter, cut into ¼ inch cubes
* 1 tsp Grated Orange Zest
* ¾ Cup Dried Cranberries
* ¾ Cup Heavy Cream
* 1 Egg, lightly beaten

Directions

• Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Place the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in the workbowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Whisk together or process with six 1-second pulses.
• Remove the cover and distribute the butter and orange zest evenly over the dry ingredients. Cover and process with twelve 1-second pulses. Add the cranberries and quickly mix in or pulse one more time. Transfer the dough to a large bowl.
• Stir in the egg along with the heavy cream with a rubber spatula or fork until the dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.
• Transfer the dough and all dry flour bits to a countertop and knead the dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, slightly sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Following the directions below, cut the scones into 8 wedges. Place the wedges on an ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake until the scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Glazed Scone Variation
Follow the recipe for Cream Scones, brushing the tops of the scones with 1 tablespoon heavy cream and then sprinkling them with 1 tablespoon sugar just before baking them.

Shaping Cream Scones
1. Press the dough into an 8-inch cake pan, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.
2. With a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut the dough into 8 wedges.

What's for breakfast?

When Mondo asked "What's for breakfast?" this morning, I said "How 'bout a quiche?" Food Network had a recipe for a Hash Brown Quiche that looked tasty and it's one of the recipes I wanted to test for a brunch I'm thinking of hosting soon.

I pretty much went by the recipe with a couple of modifications... I used fresh potatoes and bacon instead of ham (big chunky meaty pieces). I added sautéed mushrooms and instead of half and half, I just used a little bit of milk. I also used more eggs - since I didn't measure the ingredients, I need more filler. To cut down on cooking time - I lightly scrambled the egg mixture for a few minutes before filling the hash brown crusts. Since they were partially cooked, it only took 10 minutes instead of 30 minutes to set.

Sooooo goooood.....