French Toast Experiment!

We had lots of banana bread and blueberry/zucchini bread this weekend since our Littles are on a baking binge.  Thing #5 has now been informed of the 'secret ingredient' of the blueberry bread.  She is less-than-thrilled but she can't fight her love of the bread enough for it to make a difference.  Thank goodness!

As parents, we spend a lot of time staring into the pantry and the refrigerator/freezer thinking, "What do we have and what can we DO with it?" Especially with picky kids with very different tastes. 

We decided to use up our quick breads and make french toast with them!  We thought we'd share this idea with you.  I'm sure most of us don't need a lesson or a recipe for french toast, so we'll just leave you with a picture of our finished product to inspire you!

Well, maybe a quick reminder to add cinnamon and nutmeg with maaaaaaaaybe a little sugar to your whipped eggs.

Thing #5 insisted on making her own french toast - she chose blueberry zucchini bread only and she had a blast with the spray whipped cream this weekend!  Yes, they make an organic version!

So if you have have an abundance of quick breads piling up in the house - try this out!  You'll be a hero, I promise!

Eggs Benedict Cuban-Style (with recipe)

What to do with all that leftover pulled pork and delicious ingredients for Cuban Sandwiches when you're getting tired of eating Cuban Sandwiches?  Here's an idea for you!

Jen's favorite breakfast food is Eggs Benedict - so we wanted to try giving her favorite dish a Cuban flair - and it worked marvelously!  

Re-heat your pulled pork and ham and get ready to try this one!  This recipe is for two servings - but you'll be cutting up bread enough for 4 so adjust accordingly!

This is also easier done with two people so one can be poaching eggs while the other is whisking (and whisking and whisking) Hollandaise sauce!

Ingredients:

• Pulled Pork
• Ham Slices
• Cuban Hoagies
• 4 Organic Eggs (for poaching)
• 4 Organic Egg Yolks (for Hollandaise)
• 2 Sticks Organic Butter
• 1 Tablespoon White Wine Vinegar
• 1 Teaspoon White Pepper (use whatever you have on hand, this is just what we used)
• 1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt
• Juice of 1/2 Lemon
• 1/4 Cup Cold Water
• 1 Tablespoon (or so) Yellow Mustard
• Dill for garnish (we sprinkled dried dill - you could use fresh as well of course!)

Directions:

• Put pulled pork in oven to re-heat on a low setting while you work on your sauce
• Gather all ingredients for your Hollandaise and get them together by the stove - you'll need to do this quickly.
• Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; slowly bring to a boil, skimming froth from surface. (I used a large spoon and just kept skimming until the layer on top was gone) Carefully pour melted butter into a small bowl, holding back the milky sediment in the bottom of the pan. The clarified butter should be the color of light olive oil; let cool to room temperature.
• Wash saucepan thoroughly and dry - returning to stove for next step.
• While the butter is cooling - slice your Cuban Bread as you would for a sandwich, then cut in 1/2 to make 4 smaller pieces.  Place in toaster so they're ready for toasting.
• In saucepan, mix vinegar together with 1/4 cup cold water and pepper. Place over medium-high heat until liquid is reduced by one-third; remove from heat and let cool completely. (I filled a sink with cold water and placed the bottom of the pan in the water until it was cooled to speed things up)
• Add egg yolks to cooled reduction and whisk to combine.
• Place saucepan on stove over very low heat; whisk, making sure the whisk comes in contact with the bottom of the pan. Gradually increase heat whisking, so the sauce emulsifies progressively and becomes smooth and creamy, 8 to 10 minutes; do not let the temperature of the sauce rise above 150 degrees.
• While you're doing this - have someone start poaching eggs, toasting bread and getting your meat out and ready to plate!
• Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in clarified butter in a slow, steady stream; season with salt. Stir in lemon. Use a fine mesh strainer; strain mixture and discard solids. Whisk in mustard; Use sauce immediately.
• On a plate, place warmed ham on your toasted bread, topped with some pulled pork.  Lay two poached eggs on top of the meat and spoon on your Hollandaise sauce.  Garnish with dill and serve warm!

If you're making this by yourself, you'll have to figure out how to time it well, but it will be worth it!  This has some wonderful Cuban Sandwich flavor but it's clearly breakfast!  And just like the sandwiches, it's VERY filling.  We loved it!!!!!  This one is definitely going down as a success.

I modified the Hollandaise recipe I found here for this adventure.  

Death By Donutz

Our Things always hear about us reviewing restaurants and they really want to be part of this blog!  So they are working on a restaurant review of their own, stay tuned!

While visiting a restaurant they were interested in trying, we came by Death By Donutz in Corvallis and I mentioned that it was one of the places I had been wanting to try with the kiddos.

So when we were done eating our lunch, we headed in to check things out!

The kids were overwhelmed with their choices, so ordering just one doughnut probably wasn't ever going to be realistic.  We got a dozen and everyone set in trying them out.


They do have most of your favorite classic doughnuts, but they also have some signature names that you really must try!

Thing #5 was in love with her Banana Split doughnut, she said it was 'so good!' Be careful - one bite and the whipped cream will smear your nose!  Totally worth it.

Cookie Dough

Banana Split

Brownie and Thing #4 both had Cookie Dough and I chose the Nutella, topped with a wee little Filbert (we live in Oregon - they're Filberts, not Hazelnuts)  Both of those were very good as well.

Nutella

Beaver Tail

That big bar lined with chocolate stripes there?  Orange cream frosting.....Beaver Tail I believe.  Thing #5 was protecting it with her life so no one would eat it.













Now Thing #3 chose to be really adventurous and try the PB&J doughnut.  We were all a bit skeptical.  His review?  'Probably the best doughnut I've ever eaten in my life.'  His advice - order a milk to drink with this because it's rich and that peanut butter will stick to the roof of your mouth.  It's filled with jelly too - but it won't change the fact that you need milk!

Peanut Butter & Jelly

If Brownie and I had to recommend one doughnut to try here, it would have to be the Raspberry Fritter.  You heard us right!  And it's just as amazing as it sounds!

Raspberry Fritter

The novelty of this little place is indeed its attraction, the kids even got logo stickers to take home with them.  But you're guaranteed to find something you love here and fill out your dozen with some classics with which you can't go wrong.

Visit them and let us know what you tried!

Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins (with recipe)

Thing #5 loves to bake!  Seriously.  She asked Santa for her own baking set last Christmas.  He delivered and we all benefit!  She loves watching Food Network and doesn't like cooking so much as baking.  I think this is her brilliant plan to eat more sweets in this organic household. :-)  Good plan.

I found an amazing recipe online posted to one of the blogs we like to follow and decided to print it out for Thing #5 to try.  I made some recipe notes of our own at the bottom.

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold is fine
1/2 cup sugar
Finely grated zest from 1/2 a lemon (previously: 1/2 teaspoon zest) (we left this ingredient out because Thing #5 is only 9 and .... we'll get to lemon zesting later)
3/4 cup plain sour cream
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups blueberries, frozen (we like our berries frozen when we bake - they hold their shape better!)
3 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:

Heat oven to 375°F.

Line a muffin tin with 9 paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray.

Melt butter in the bottom of a large bowl and whisk in sugar, zest (if using), sour cream and egg until smooth.

Whisk in baking powder, baking soda and salt until fully combined, then lightly fold in flour and berries.

Batter will be very thick, like a cookie dough. (truth!)

Divide between prepared muffin cups and sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon brown sugar, if you go over, don't worry, it will be delicious!

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean. (we use toothpicks)

 Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then the rest of the way on a rack.

Our Recipe Notes:

• We used paper liners and the blueberries leaked through - not a big deal, we were eating them at home and just used plates under each one.  But maybe the paper liners...not such a good idea.  It's also possible that Thing #5 put in a bit more blueberries than the recipe called for :-)  Hard to know.
• This recipe makes EXACTLY 9 muffins.  

The family's assessment?  DELICIOUS!  Thing #3 and Thing #4 scarfed them down and Thing #3 went back for more!  These didn't last long in our house :-)

Thing #5 was incredibly proud of herself!  "They're healthy, mom!  All organic!"  Well....sure. :-)

Brick and Mortar Cafe

We live near the town of Albany and the restaurant scene is booming in that little town!  Brownie and I tried out Brick and Mortar Cafe downtown a few months ago to check out their famous Bloody Mary Bar on a weekend when we had no kids.  We are in love!  The Bloody Mary Bar is everything you could ever want in your Bloody Mary and trust me when I tell you that there are endless combinations and possibilities - but be careful!  You can spend a lot VERY quickly building these drinks!  Is it worth it?  Yes, the novelty is unique and the ingredients and options are awesome.  I mean, a pepperoni straw!?  Fahgeddaboutit.  But unless you're feeling wealthy, I would stick to just one and order breakfast :-)

Which brings me to Brownie's favorite item on Brick and Mortar's menu:  Chicken and Waffles.  I myself am not a fan of sweet and savory together, but Ryan simply can't get enough of this dish!  He now wants a Belgian Waffle Maker so we can play with this idea at home.  So look out for that :-)  Even though it isn't my style, it smelled amazing!  The chicken was crispy and perfectly fried and as you can see, the waffle was perfect as well.  He drizzled it all with syrup and devoured it in no time!

I ordered the Eggs Benedict and while it was delicious ... the ham was cut too thick for my taste and it overpowered the flavor of the english muffin and hollandaise, which is my favorite.  It was cooked well and plated nicely, just too much ham for me.  Someone who likes more ham flavor would LOVE the Eggs Benedict here.

We returned recently so Brownie's two boys could try the Chicken and Waffles.  They are now just as in love with it!  This menu choice just never seems to disappoint!  I tried the Salmon Lox Benedict this time and it was DELICIOUS!  A little red onion, the lemon flavor in the hollandaise .. .all went incredibly well together in each bite with the salmon.  I can't say enough good things about it!  YUM!

This time, we also chose to try their espresso over Bloody Marys.  As you can see in the photo, they make the foam lovely.  Brownie ordered a salted caramel latte and he loved it, but was VERY sweet as syrup drinks usually are.  I ordered the honey lavender latte and it was beautiful!  Good, strong coffee flavor and a hint of lavender.  

Albany has been begging for a new spin on breakfast and brunch for years and I must say, Brick and Mortar is a breath of fresh air!  We highly recommend trying it!  Be prepared for a line, this town loves this little restaurant!