breakfast blogger

I can think of no better way of spending the last long weekend of summer, than at a buddies cabin on Okanagan Lake.

After a full night of mass beer consumption and sleeping in a 1.5 person tent (they say 2 man tent, but they are dirty dirty liars!), there is a certain need for a big full meal deal kind of breakfast. We aren’t much for roughin’ it, so we had our meals planned out in advance and have all the fixin’s at the ready.

EXTREME BREAKFAST CLOSE-UP!!!

We had scrambled eggs with cheese, some toast (with real butter no less!), turkon (that’s turkey bacon to you unknowing breakfast fans out there) and shredded hashbrowns with yet more cheese. We also were munching on honey roasted mixed nuts and plums from our tree at home while we waited for everything to become that masterpiece we called breakfast. We had brought all the things we needed to cook breakfast in our own little self contained slice of the wild (in the back yard of said cabin) so we didn’t need to add to the pure bedlam in the cabins kitchen that happens come breakfast time.

But boiling water for coffee proved too time consuming for our hungover, starving butts and we headed inside to make use of the camping perk. Thankfully they have an old propane run stove we could take advantage of.

Nothing like coffee that could strip paint to dust off our brains from the heavy night of drunkin’ debauchery around the campfire the night previous. The only thing that could make our breaky even better, was the view.

That and the post breakfast bath in the lake. I never knew I could scream so loud under water. Serves me right for not dipping my toe in to check the temperature before jumping head first in abnormally cold lake water.

I blame the beer for the lapse in judgment.

Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp!

I think one of my favorite things about summertime in the Okanagan is the produce. There is such a wondrous array of designer apples and oddly colored veggies available at any of the zillions of roadside stands that is just boggles the mind. One of the favorites so far this summer has been the purple baby potatoes. There is nothing different in the taste, it’s only the rich purple color that makes it unusual.

I think one of the kindest things you can do for a potato is to eat the leftover taters from dinner the night before, for breakfast. In our home we always go out of the way to make extra just for a quick pan fry in the morning. This particular morning I happened to have some red, yellow and purple baby spuds relaxing in the ol’ ice box from our steak dinner the night before. A quick, rough chop and into a pan with far too much butter and we were well on our way to a tasty breakfast.

I don’t know if purple spuds are common elsewhere, but here they are a once a year deal here and I can’t help but be somewhat silly about having something bright purple on my plate. After they are nice and browned I tossed them with some fresh herbs from my garden and served them up wtih some over medium eggs and a couple slices of squirrelly bread.

Mmmmmm Pretty!

Burp!

Being as obsessed with breakfast as I am, I’m always on the lookout for new breakfast ideas. This morning’s inspiration was sitting on the counter in the form of a loaf of banana bread. French toast is a personal favorite and I’ve tried the cinnamon-bun french toast so “why not make a banana bread french toast?” I asked myself.

I quickly whipped up a typical french toast batter of a couple eggs, a snoosh of milk and a little cinnamon and soaked a couple pieces of my homemade banana bread. I then went about cooking it like the usual french toast.

While my toast and a couple slices of turkey bacon where working their magic in the frying pan, I thought about what to top it with. Somehow the usual butter and maple syrup didn’t seem right so I whipped up a little something different.

I happened to have some beautiful local picked Okananga cherries…

…and some plain goat-milk cheese in the fridge still and decided to make something light and fluffy to top it with. I threw the cherries, cheese, a tablespoon of powdered sugar and a little cinnamon in the food processor and sent it for a whirl.

The mixture tasted alright, but because of the dryish crumbly nature of the goat cheese, it wasn’t the consistency I was looking for. I happened to have some cherry yogurt onhand and after a good dolup of that, it was beautiful and smooth.

By the time my topping was done, so was my banana bread french toast so I went to the plate. Topped with a couple of the most perfect cherries I could find and a fresh sprig of mint from my own chocolate mint plant outside, it was done!

I’ll admit that the banana bread was pretty dense and heavy for a summer brekkie, but the light and bright tasting cherry shmoo on top helped to balance the whole thing out. I think it just might become a favorite breakfast in my house.

And for those with a hankering for some divine banana bread:

• 1 Cup butter
• 2 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 6 mashed bananas
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 3 Cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter and flour 2 loaf pans and set aside.
3. Mash bananas and set aside.
4. Cream butter and sugar together and add eggs and vanilla.
5. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
6. Alternate adding mashed bananas and flour mixture to the butter and sugar mix until combined.
7. Pour batter into loaf pans and bake for 50-60 min or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
8. Allow the bread to sit for a few minutes before removing from pans to cool.

Note: Recipe freezes quite well but is so delicious that it probably won’t last long enough to freeze.

Enjoy!

The bacon pancakes seemed to be a sizzle and it got the bacon section of my brain craving more bacony goodness. In my search to satiate my bacon needs I came across some of the more bazaar influences of bacon.

New car smell is soooo out! Welcome the wave of the future! Bacon air freshener. Nothing like opening your car door after a long day at the office and getting a whiff of the welcoming smell of fresh cooked bacon! I can feel myself starting to drool just thinking about it!

Ow! MOM! I skinned my knee! Better get the bacon strips! Yep, bacon bandages. For those die hard bacon lovers who like to patch their owies with adhesive bacon. It even comes with a free toy!

And for those who like a little variety in their breakfast booboo covers, they come in bacon and fried egg packs as well.

Perhaps I’m a little late with this one, but at least all the young men out there will have a whole year to save up and put an order in for their very own bacon print scented tuxedo! Thats right, you can not only go to prom looking like bacon, but you will have the girl drooling over your crisp bacon smell!

Last but certainly not least is my personal favorite. There is nothing quite like waking up to the smell of cooking bacon and now you can have that smell every morning at your bedside table! No more screaming alarm clock, just the gentle sounds of sizzling bacon and the aroma wafting from your clock to rouse you from sleep. That’s right. Some die hard bacon fan has created the Wake’n'Bacon. The wooden construction worries me a bit, but I’m sold!

My hat goes off to all those amazing bacon inventors! HAZAH!

[ed: Don’t forget The Bacon Show: ONE BACON RECIPE PER DAY, EVERY DAY, FOREVER! …Since November 12, 2005]

Are you a self destructive kind of person? Willing to take health risks for the sake of something tasty? Looking for new and inventive ways to use up old bacon fat? Got a vendetta against your heart and want to make it PAY? Well I have a breakfast goodie for you. Behold the wonder that is bacon pancakes.

Fry yourself up some of your favorite bacon, the more the merrier. When your bacon is nice and golden crisp, remove the bacon, but leave the fat in the pan.

Next, whip yourself up some of your favorite pancake batter, homemade or any of your fav insta-mixes ( I prefer Krusteze myself) will do. Be sure to make it a little runny so it can be drizzled.

Spread the fat evenly all over your pan then drizzle your pancake batter all over. Watch in amazement as the hot bacon fat magically disappears and your batter becomes bubbly and golden. Flip. I have no advice as to how to flip this crunchy mess, just take your time. Tongs help.

When done, remove from pan and sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon mix. Add bacon to the side and voila! A meal fit for a coronary.

Burp!

I’m going to get me one of these. Then I can have perfect pats of butter on my pancakes and toast. No more smearing globs of butter for this Breakfast Blogger, just add a stick of butter and *click* it’s perfectly square pats from here on out baby!

Nothing screams BREAKFAST TOUR like a long weekend without the kiddo in tow. After a quick brainstorm and some spin and point to carefully plot our course, my partner in crime and myself got the heck out of dodge on a northernly heading. We weren’t really sure where we would end up, just that we were going north. We didn’t get a move on till Friday evening and made it as far as Kamloops before calling it a night. We got our drink on with some of my family and woke with the need for greasy breakfast to cure what ailed us. We grabbed the usual Starbucks and a couple of bananas then decided to hit the dusty and get a few miles behind us. The Bucks and ‘nanas would tide us over for a little while. Not long mind you… we made it as far as the grand city of Little Fort. Noe me with my beer head still hanging on, forgot to take a picture of the little cafe we stopped at (which was also the ONLY cafe in town) Mc Dodds was its name, but I did take a picture of the place next to it with the sweet turret addition going on. I guess in rural BC, you never know when you might be under siege.

You could almost hear the crickets singing when we walked in. There was not a soul to be seen. The place was a small, quaint little diner that had been lightly renovated since the early 50’s I’m guessing. The perfect little greasy spoon to fill our northern bound bellies.

The part that really excited me was the full humming bird feeders right outside the windows. Being the closet bird watching person I am, I was excited to no end and actually found myself giggling at the little birds flashy antics.

It didn’t take long to paruse the menu and get our orders going. I ordered a pretty standard fair, not that there was much choice in a sleepy little town diner, and my partner got some glorious schmoo covered dish with tomatoes, green peppers, hash browns and cheese with 2 eggs on top and toast on the side.

While we waited in sweet anticipation, we attempted to plot our course and vaguely decided to take the HWY 24 west then continue our adventure north. The 24 is a beautiful highway also called the fisherman’s highway for the 100+ lakes within 10km of it.

We also came to the conclusion that our trip was going to take us to Barkerville, the largest gold-rush town in Canada. I consulted our accommodation guide in all it’s hotel listed goodness and chose a place called the Well’s Hotel in Wells BC, just a dash from Barkerville. Once that was decided, our breakfast was presented to us.

Mine isn’t all that exciting. Poached eggs, bacon, home style hash browns and toast. It may not be too interesting, but it was just the perfect breakfast. Everything was cooked to perfection.

My partner’s on the other hand was nothing short of glorious to behold. I sat across the table in envy and watched the cheese string from his fork as he shoveled.

It was beautiful. We devoured or brekkies, wandered over to the old antiques shop across the road and continued on our merry way.

2 more breakfasts to follow. Stay tuned!

ahem…*sings*

“When your pancakes are dry, give something greasy a try.. Sausage Pancakes! (OOOooooo sausage pancakes)

When your griddle is hot and your batter is not.. Sausage Pancakes! (Oooo sausage pancakes)

With a flip, and a little dip, it’ll be a hit, you’ll never wanna quit….Sausage Pancakes!”

If I could think of how to end that darn tune I would, but Mommy brain has struck again in all it’s maternal glory. Of course this is a blatant rip off of Peaboy’s Bacon Pancakes, the man is a breakfast genius, how can one as humble as me compete.

I simply cut up some cooked turkey sausage, poured my batter on the hot pan, arranged the sausage bit in a nice even manner, flip and voila! *sings* Sausage Pancakes!

burp

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.

There has been a tradition developing over the last few weeks in my home; Saturday morning breaky in bed.

There is nothing more satisfying than waking up late Saturday morning, lovingly nudging the sweet generous man in my life out of bed and sending him on a pastry and coffee run. While he is out, I usually slip into the kitchen, fetch the bed tray and get out the standard pastry accompaniments: cheeses, raspberry jam, apple butter (lovingly sent to me by my bestest best breakfast blogger buddy, Peabody. I LOVE YOU MAN! *sniff*), ham, fresh fruit of some kind (this time a tangelo) and this weeks guilty little pleasure, a locally made chocolate-fruit spread stuff. Its made here in the Okanagan and is frighteningly simple and wicked delish! All it has in it is cocoa, sugar, mango, pineapple and papaya. SINFUL!

After getting our breakfast tray all organized, I thought it would be fun to really put on the dog, so off I skipped to the china cabinet and fetched a couple champagne flutes. We just happened to have a bottle of sparkling wine chilling in the fridge and everyone knows that breaky isn’t breaky without the champagne and O.J.

Before long, my pastry knight had returned to me with a large mess of freshly baked croissants and my other guilty Saturday morning pleasure, my carmal machiatto from the Bucks. We piled our warm flaky goodies high on our tray and joyously headed back to bed for a lazy morning of noshing and watching football. And by football I mean the English version of it, more commonly know as soccer ’round these parts.

CITY TILL I DIE!!!

Well without further adieu, my Saturday morning breakfast in all it’s glory.

It’s beautiful isn’t it? Even the kitty couldn’t stay away from the breakfasty glory. It’s like a black hole, drawing in all who is near into its buttery flaky vortex of doom.

After crawling back between the fluffy fleece sheets comes the hard part. Deciding what to stuff my flaky little friends with first. My personal fave, a flavour instilled upon me one beautiful day picnicking in a park in Ottawa with none other than Peabody: mozzarella and apple butter. Oh the rapture!! Then off to raspberry jam and cheese.

After that, some standard but ever so delicious ham and brie cheese then ending on a sweet note with some croissant smothered in a generous layer of chocolate fruit spread. It didn’t take long for the plate to be decimated.

*shiver* After a feed like that and the bubbly O.J. I was ready for a mid morning nap. Can you really blame me? All I really have to say to all you breakfast fans out there is: Take some time out of your busy weeks and spoil yourself once and a while. Lounge in bed till late, eat the things you aren’t supposed to in surplus and just enjoy everything breakfast has to offer. Life is too short to deny yourself some guilty pleasures once in a while. Indulge indulge indulge!

*burp*