breakfast blogger

This is what happened when you play with PlayDoh right after breakfast.

Here we have a fried egg, ham steak, fries and a ketchup on the side. I tried for some baked beans but they just looked like dog kibble.

 I think Im going to institute a 2 hour buffer time between such activities from now on.

…Breakfast in bed on a Sunday morning while watching Coronation Street with my girlfriend. Sorry, no pics, the battery is dead in my camera :-(

The lady and I were recently in Charleston, South Carolina to attend a wedding. Since downtown Charleston is a peninsula, we were surrounded by salt water -so I knew we would probably be eating a lot of seafood. What I didn’t know was that we could eat seafood 3 meals a day, every day!

We were extremely lucky to know, and stay with, an actual Charlestonian, who invited us to stay with him and his wife at his mother’s home in Mount Pleasant, just across the Arthur Ravenel bridge - the longest suspension bridge in the Americas. Not only did we save money by not staying in a hotel, but we were fortunate to be able to enjoy the southern hospitality of our friends mom.

On our first morning in Charleston, when I stumbled out of bed and into the kitchen, I heard voices coming from the back porch. I wandered out in my PJs to discovered that our hosts were already awake, sipping coffee and enjoying the view. This is what we woke up to every morning:

After about an hour of relaxing with a coffee and the New York Times, as well as some serious amateur birdwatching with some binoculars, breakfast was served. Shirley, our lovely hostess, made us a real Charleston breakfast: Shrimp ‘n’ grits.

Some people don’t really like grits, which is basically corn porridge, and very similar to polenta, an Italian specialty. The real difference here was that Shirley didn’t make regular grits, she made a cheese grits casserole, so it was gooey and savory - like what you’d imagine grits to be if they were really good, which these were.

Here’s the recipe, straight from Shirley’s copy of Charleston Receipts:

And, of course, my empty plate.

During my daily parousal of one of my favorite sites, Cute Overload!, I came across one of the cutest breakfast products I’ve ever seen:

 Egg Pants!

And to think, there is 3 dozen poor, unpantsed eggs sitting my my fridge right now! Thanks Cute Overload, for adding a little much needed cute to my breakfast! 

I think I need some of these for Christmas. *hint hint*

 Me and my partner in breakfast had the chance to get out for a bite on Saturday. It was a horribly miserable, gray, rainy ugly day and we thought it a good idea to go walk about downtown Penticton!

 I’m always on the lookout for somewhere new for a nosh and it occurred to me that we have a large fancy resort hotel right on the lake that I have never even been in before, so off we went to Magnums on the Lake!

 It was dead quiet at a little after 8 in the morning, but cozy. The bubbly waitress gave us a little quiet table in back, right beside one of the floor to ceiling windows that looked out on Okanagan Lake.

I took a seat on the comfy bench with the throw pillows and fitted my lap with a real proper cloth napkin. Just outside our window was “Chef Chris’ Herb Garden” so I knew any herb on my breaky would be fresh.

 As miserable as it was, it was still nice to look out across the lake while dining. There was a gap in the rain and a couple rainbows showed themselves for a while too. No I don’t have any pictures, I hate rainbow pictures. I find them tacky for some reason.

 After a quick parouse of the reasonably priced menu, I opted for something a little out of the ordinary; a smoked salmon, goat cheese and chive omlette, pan fried potatoes and multigrain toast.

 My partner opted for something a little more tradtional and had two eggs poached meduim, back bacon, multigrain toast and pan fried potatoes.

 I totally enjoyed the pan fried potatoes and got a little giddy when I broke into my omlette and found a big creamy rich center of melted goat cheese. *drool*

 It was a wonderful break from the everyday eggs and toast I usually have and for just a fleeting moment, I felt just a little spoiled having such a nice breakfast in such a beautiful setting. I will definatly be a repeat customer!

”Bacon Salt is a zero calorie, vegetarian, kosher certified seasoning salt that makes everything taste like real bacon.”

Wait a sec here, do you know what the implications of such a claim are?! Imagine your children gobbling up brussle sprouts and broccoli like Doritos. This is the spice that could save the world… as they said in Dune, the spice must flow!

I found a video on Bacon Salt quite by accident and got pointed to their website, baconsalt.com. They do sell this stuff on-line and deliver to Canada so stay tuned, I’m going to get me some and try it out.

Check out their blog… they’ve got recipes! I should submit a breakfast related recipe once I get a chance to try it out. Bacon flavoured French Toast anyone?

Justin and Dave, the inventors of Bacon Salt consider themselves as Bacontrepreneurs. They should consider calling themselves Baconologists as well.

*edit* I’ve just ordered 3 sampler sets.

It’s been two years since the birth of Breakfast Blogger… here’s to another year of fine breakfasts!

Cheers!

Oh. My. God.

Batter Blaster, pancake batter in a can. I feel like we’re living in the age of the Jetsons. And it’s organic!

After some investigation, it looks like an entire can makes only 8 pancakes, but I could be wrong. I’d love to try it out, but I doubt it’s on sale in Canada. Via boingboing gadgets.

 If ever there was a use for milk that wasn’t going to be drank in time, it’s making a batch of sunday morning crepes.

 For a change, I had my whole little family home for breakfast this morning, so a nice big breakfast was definatly on the menu. I sent my man and the boy child out on a mercy run for coffee, cream cheese and whipped cream while I prepared the crepes.

 Now for those faithful readers out there, you know crepes are my thing. Since I was a young lass, I was always in the kitchen with my father on saturday or sunday making crepes. After so many years, I have gotten a feel for the batter and can’t even remember if there even was a recipe anymore. I will share with you, as best I can, how to make them.

I start with about 2-2.5ish cups of flour, about a tablespoon of baking powder, a goodly pinch of salt and about 3/4 of a handful of sugar. Mix in a big bowl. In another largish bowl beat 4 eggs and about a litre of milk and a splash of vanilla. Add to flour and whisk to get the lumps out. a few little lumps are ok though.  It should be fairly thin, like a cream soup. I like to let it sit for a bit on the counter, or even overnight in the fridge is ok. Be sure to skim the frothy junk from the top before cooking. It’s personal choice if you want to add some melted butter to the batter. Butter never hurt anything!

 Now there is a lot of crepe cooking devices out there, but I’ve always used just a large frying pan. A little cup of melted butter and pastry brush are needed beside the pan too. I keep it on the stove top so the butter stays melted. A quick brush on a hot (med-high) frying pan and you are ready to pour in your batter. Pour in about 3/4 of a ladle full and twist and turn the pan to coat the bottom. There should only be enough batter to make a thin layer in the bottom. You can just pour off the excess. The batter should stick if the pan is hot enough, if it doesn’t, turn up the heat. Let cook for about 30 sec or until it starts to go light golden. Now some of us can flip by just flicking the pan, I strongly suggest using a flipper. Only a few seconds more on the other side and off to the plate in the warming oven. (just turn on your oven as low as it goes). Then repeat, repeat, repeat… This makes a fairly large stack, enough for 4-6 people comfortably, possibly more. I always make a large batch for snacking on.

 Then the fun; filling and topping! There is no limit but your imagination. You can make them sweet with fruit fillings, jams, cottage cheese, my childhood fav of butter and sugar, butter lemon juice and sugar, maple syrup, fried bananas and rum, etc. Or savoury with scrambled eggs, ham, greens peppers and onions, cheese, seasoned meats, etc.

 This morning was homemade strawberry and blueberry compote with cream cheese and whipped cream. The compote was nothing but a couple handfuls each of stawberries and blueberries, a couple tablespoons of sugar and a little splash of fresh OJ, cooked slow and low until it reduces.

 We had a nice assembly line set up on the table. My son perfers his with butter and sugar and a little maple syrup. 4 crepes later, he rolled himself from the table.

Myself, on the other hand, prefers something a little more. I started with some nice soft cream cheese, threw on a dollup of the berry compote and rolled it into a nice tight bundle, then repeated 2 more times.

Topped off with more fruit sauce and whipped cream and served with a glass of sparkling orange juice and a coffee, it was a perfect lazy sunday breakfast.

And just like magic…

*POOF* they’re gone!

*burp*

 Does this super yummy cheddar jalapeno bagel with stringy mozza, ham and a fried egg on top still count as breakfast if I eat it at night? I hope it does, because it was fabulous! The little bit of burn from the jalapeno cheddar bagel was smothered nicley by the miles of melted stringy mozza cheese and the salt from the ham was just enough seasoning that I didn’t need to salt my egg. *drool* MmmMmmmm so good.

The bagles were a bit of a pleasent mistake though. My man and I decided to try a bakery we had walked past a a million times and I was drawn to the cheddar and herb bagels. I have yet to find one that tops the Great Canadian Bagels Cheddar Herb. And,alas, during the great Atkins craze, the Great Canadian Bagel became exstinct along with all but one bagle shop, which has a far inferior cheddar herb bagel. Anywho, there they were, sitting in the little basket marked cheddar herb, and I knew they must come home with me. They were so cheddary and herby and beautiful… *sigh* but when I got home and toasted one up, I realized at first bite that they had a bit more burn to them than there should have been. They were accidently switched up with the jalapeno cheddar ones. They weren’t what I was hoping for, but a pleasent mistake none the less. It just means I will have to go for another stroll downtown and try again.

Thanks to Peach City Bakery for the yumy bagels! I shall return!

*burp*