Easter Brunch

All went well. Arne and Jill brought Grandma and we sat and talked for hours. Uncle Arne and Jill have been together for two years! I ended up making sticky buns instead of hot cross buns because the recipe I found on the Internet was missing a few instructions. The sticky buns turned out great. Now Dad and Tyler have even more stuff to eat for breakfast this week.

The brunch menu:
Sticky buns
Fresh fruit salad
Yogurt parfaits
Sausage and Bacon (including chicken sausage for Uncle Arne)
Muffin frittatas
Coffee/milk/water

I've included the frittata recipe below from the IncredibleEgg.org - with my modifications - everyone loved it! A typical frittata or quiche normally contains bacon or ham. Uncle Arne does not eat pork so I look for recipes that will have lots of flavor from ingredients other than ham/bacon. There are very few that are simple and flavorful. This recipe fits the bill and is easy to boot.

Muffin Frittatas
6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz.)
3/4 cup chopped zucchini
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 Tbsp. chopped red onion


HEAT oven to 350°F.
BEAT eggs, milk, salt and pepper in medium bowl until blended.
ADD cheese, zucchini, bell pepper and onion; mix well.
SPOON evenly into 12 greased muffin cups, about 1/4 cup each.
BAKE in 350°F oven until just set, 20 to 22 minutes.
COOL on rack 5 minutes.
REMOVE from cups; serve warm.

Muffin frittatas are great as an appetizer as well as for breakfast.
Quick breakfast solution: Bake muffin frittatas the night before and refrigerate. Quickly re-warm in the microwave in the morning.
Lighter Option: Recipe can be made with reduced-fat cheese, if desired.

My modifications:

• Omitted the zucchini and used a whole bell pepper and about about a 1/3 C onion. I chopped the onion fairly small and caramelized it before adding the bell pepper. (I thought it would be a nicer flavor.)
• For this brunch I doubled the recipe (there were six of us) and baked it in a well buttered tart pan. I extended the baking time by an extra 15 minutes or so and cut it into 8 wedges. The end result was a very light and fluffy frittata and only one piece is left over for a breakfast tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a great week! Love you all!

Saturday Breakfasts

Because of frequent requests I am starting a new tradition of Saturday Breakfasts. Some of the baked goods are better appreciated, such as the coffee cake I always make, and some are not such as the various muffins I like to make. I guess I need my little muffin muncher back to help out with the extra muffins. :) I thought I would share the coffee cake recipe with all of you. It is from the Betty Crocker's Cookbook.

Prize Coffee Cake
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C soft shortening
1 egg
1/2 C milk
1 1/2 C flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a square 9x9 pan. Mix sugar, shortening and egg thoroughly. Stir in milk. Measure flour by dip-level-pour method or by sifting. Blend dry ingredients; stir in. Spread batter in pan. Spread only half the batter in the pan. Sprinkle with half the Streusel Mixture. Add the remaining batter and sprinkle remaining Streusel over top. Bake 25 - 35 minutes or until toothpick stuck into center comes out clean. Serve warm. Makes 9 3" squares.

Streusel Mixture
1/2 C brown sugar (packed)
2 Tbsp flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 C chopped nuts

Mix the above ingredients together.

Overtime I've modified the original recipe with the following substitutions:

• Butter instead of shortening in the cake recipe
• Double the cake recipe and bake it in a 9x13 pan (everyone looks forward to the left overs for the next few breakfasts)
• Triple the Streusel Mixture
• Leave out the nuts because Tyler does not like them
• Extremely liberal with the cinnamon measurement

Tonight I am going to make Hot Cross Buns using a brioche bread recipe for Easter Brunch. I will let you know how it turns out.