breakfast blogger

I found these pics and descriptions from diet-blog.com.

Oatmeal - 325 Calories
1 cup oatmeal with raisins
1 cup of fruit
1 cup coffee or tea
1 banana

Scrambled eggs - 360 Calories
2 scrambled eggs
2 strips of turkey bacon
1 piece whole wheat toast
1 pat of low fat butter
1 coffee or tea
8 oz water

Cereal - 300 Calories
2 cups of cereal
8 oz 2% milk
1 banana
1 coffee or tea

Breakfast - 290 Calories
1 whole wheat English muffin
2 pats low fat butter
1 hard boiled egg
1/2 cup of fruit
8 oz fruit juice
8 oz water

The full list here.

I’ve been meaning to try this place for a while now.. the first time I went by they were on holidays and the next time was a Saturday. They aren’t open for breakfast on Saturdays but a couple of weekends ago I managed to get my lazy butt in there for a nice Sunday brunch. They are over at 163 Parkdale not too far away from the Parkway.

I was lucky to find a window seat and ordered myself a Cottage Benedict with a side of toast for mopping up. Once served, I took out my trusty camera and snapped up some pics:

$8.95, coffee extra if I remember right… yum yum.

Here’s a little something that my mother suggested I try:

- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup of milk
- Slices of cheese (my choice at the time was a semi-strong cheddar, but try whatever you like! Smoked Gouda would work nicely I think..)
- 1 apple, thinly sliced (try much thinner than what I did below)
- 4 slices cinnamon raisin bread
- 2 tbsp butter for frying these suckers..

We’re gunna make two French toast sandwiches here folks.. mix the eggs and milk in a shallow bowl. Then make the sandwiches:

Press down on those sandwiches and smoosh ‘em a bit. Then bathe them well in the egg-milk mixture one at a time and bring ‘em to the pan:

Fry those suckers up nice and slow to make sure all the eggy goodness soaked up in the bread is cooked through..

Oh my, it was a party in my mouth ;)

Crepes. One of my all time favorite breakfast goodies. They have always held a soft spot in my heart. From before I can even remember, crepes have been a special weekend breakfast treat. I can recall a time from before I could even see over the counters, where I would stand on a chair beside my father and help him makes crepes. I don’t know that there has ever was a actual recipe written down on paper somewhere, only a strange built in knowledge of how to make the perfect batter no matter what size the batch. Even now I’m teaching my son the fine art of crepe making, and he just passed the 2 year mark.

Like I said, there is no recipe I use and I don’t use any special pans or tools. All I need is my batter, a large hot frying pan and a little melted butter.

I’ve even gotten so skilled over the years as to be able to turn my crepes without a flipper. And on those days where I feel like showing off, I can even flip them left handed. I’m so good it hurts some days.

The other morning I woke up and decided it was a crepe morning. There is just something in the air on those mornings, an almost inaudible voice calling out for them to be made and who am I to ignore the voices in my head.

In our home, serving crepes with just butter and sugar inside was the standard. It still remains my favorite way to eat them. Sometimes with a little maple syrup over them. This particular morning called for something a little different though. Bananas.

After cooking up a big stack of crepes, I cut up a couple of not quite ripe bananas, the kind where they are still a little green on the ends and have no sugar spots, and threw them in a frying pan with some brown sugar and butter. Once things got all bubbly and gooey, I threw in a good jigger of one of my favorite spirits, Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum.

I would have flambed it, but I didn’t have the tools needed and it just seemed like more work than I was willing to put forth. I ended up serving them with the banana rum sauce over top, with a little fresh whipped cream and cinnamon.

For me, crepes are a sweet affair, but for my partner, the savoury side was more his style. He had his with some black forest ham, scrambled eggs and cheese inside.

I had a bite and had to admit that they are just as tasty with something savoury as they are with something sweet.

Burp.

The Ladyfriend and I went to sunny Florida last month to visit my parents, but also to soak in some warm weather before I had shoulder surgery. The surgery went well, but I’ve been couped up and crabby ever since - I can’t wait to use my arm again.

Now that I’ve sorted through my vacation photos, I decided to get off my Breakfast-Blogging ass and write something.

Like most Montreal Jews (and Quebecois Francophones), my family has vacationed in Florida since caveman days. I guess we all just need some time away from the Wasps. (Where do they take their vacations?) Besides the usual spots like the Sage Deli, Rascal House, and the Deli Den, we occasionally had breakfast at Nick’s, which is just a stone’s throw from where both the Quebecois and the Jews stay - on Hallandale Beach boulevard near the ocean.

This is your typical diner. We strolled in around 10am and it was half-full of old guys who all seemed to know each other. They were gabbing away with the waitresses, who were thankfully not young actress wannabees or over-perky university students, but career waitresses who knew how to do their jobs and added a touch of authenticity to this down-home restaurant.

I got two over-easy with bacon and the Lady ordered a sausage omelet with cheese. We both happily ordered rye toast.

I was glad they had rye toast, which is something most restaurants do not have. Usually you get a choice between white or brown, and the difference is negligible. I don’t eat white bread anymore and standard brown bread isn’t actually whole wheat, it’s just white bread with a bit of whole wheat and some brown food coloring thrown in to fool us.

That being said - this wasn’t rye toast. it was kimmel. In my books rye is rye, and kimmel is rye with caraway seeds. Luckily, i like both, but it could have been a disaster.

Also, we usually prefer real cheese to the processed stuff, but this was so gooey we love it!

The money shot.

Nick’s Restaurant
105 East Hallandale Beach Boulevard
Hallandale Beach, Florida

The Breakfast Gods were shining down on me a couple of weekends ago when I tried this little spot on Richmond road near Mountain Equipment Co-op. As soon as we walked in we saw a nice table next to the window and sat down. The menu has the regular breakfast goodies you find at most places but there was one particular item that caught my eye. Something I’ve learned in the past couple of years is that you can “Frenchify” lots of different kinds of bread, as seen in an earlier post where I made a French Toast Danish.

I ordered the Cinnamon Raisin French Toast with bacon and was rather impressed with the presentation. I indulged in taking lots of pictures before digging in.

Oh my.. so very yummy. 385 Richmond Road. My plate was 10.95 and coffee was extra if I remember right..

Gen had the Pan Fried Filet of Sole and said it was super yummy too.. (I was too busy with my breakfast to take pics of hers)

I got a random call early Sunday morning from an old friend from out of town asking me if I was interested in going go out for breakfast.. well, duh! Picture me in bed all groggy until he pops the question. My eyebrows rose and I knew exactly where I wanted to go. After a few more phone calls to arrange a third person for this breakfast adventure I was out of bed and in the car headed over to Ottawa.

I’ve been to the original Bramasole Diner on Bank Street on a previous breakfast adventure only to have my camera’s batteries die out on me before I got my breakfast. I was pretty upset about that but this time I made sure I was good to go..

I *had* to have the Bram-Slam again.. and I happened to have the huge hunger for it: 1 Pancake, 1 French Toast, 2 Eggs, 2 Bacon, 2 Sausage, Homefries, Toast and Juice. Oh my. Let’s take a journey around my breakfast:

mmm pancake and French toast:

OMG super yummy..

T’was 8.99.. and they are at 1465 Merivale, behind the Shoppers Drug Mart..

It was so awesome to have a breakfast reunion with old friends..

Props to my fellow BB adventurers that morning: Allison and Jeremy, you rock!