Star-Spangled Blueberry Banana Bread

July 03, 2018 by Veronica Kablan in At Home

Guys, it's taking all my willpower not to title this post "Star-Spangled BANANNER Bread." Everything I know about SEO is telling me that I really, really shouldn't, but everything I know about puns is telling me that I really, really should. Practicality wins again.

Speaking of practicality, this recipe is oozing with it. Ok, maybe not the banana stars (which are excruciating to cut out, but make for an oh-so-festive touch on the Fourth of July), but everything else about it is exceedingly practical. For one, it's full of healthy ingredients that almost no one could argue with, and for another, you make the batter in your blender. That's right, you just dump all the ingredients in the blender and whizz to combine. And hey, if you're short on time, you can skip the banana stars. As my old pal Ben Franklin used to say, "employ thy time well, if thou meanest to gain leisure." So he'd understand if you skipped the stars. Nobody's calling you un-patriotic.

Star-Spangled Blueberry Banana Bread

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas, plus 2 more sliced or cut into star shapes for garnish (optional)
2 cups rolled oats
2 eggs
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard loaf pan with parchment paper, and lightly coat with cooking spray.

2. Place bananas, oats, eggs, maple syrup, baking soda, vanilla, and salt into the blender, and blend until just combined. Be careful not to over-blend! Fold in blueberries gently with a rubber spatula.

3. Pour batter into the prepared pan, and arrange banana stars or slices on top. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 35-45 minutes.

4. Let cool in loaf pan for 15 minutes, and then using the edges of the parchment, gently lift the loaf out of the pan and place it on a rack to cool. Cool completely before slicing. Serve with butter, jam, or almond butter.

Recipe adapted from Delish

Fancy French Toast with Blueberry Sauce & Whipped Cream Cheese

November 28, 2017 by Veronica Kablan in At Home

December is nearly here - which means, the time for fancy food is upon us. Between the holiday soirées with intricate canapés and cocktails and the marathon family dinners that take days to prepare, people tend to go a little overboard with sensory delights at this time of year - and we love it. Especially when that overboard attitude is applied to brunch, like in this recipe for Fancy French Toast. Can you think of anything more over-the-top delightful than orange-scented French Toast with not just one ooey-gooey delicious sauce, but two? We surely can't. (Unless, of course, you were to pair that French Toast with a fizzy Mimosa.) So naturally, this is our new go-to recipe for a homemade holiday brunch.

To keep our holiday to-do list to a manageable length, we employed one of our favorite shortcuts for this brunch: ordering groceries from Milk & Eggs. Having farmers-market-quality groceries dropped at our doorstep feels a little bit like getting a visit from Santa himself - fortunately, these gifts are available year round.

Whether you make it for a crowd or for yourself, this decadent brunch treat is exactly the right amount of fancy to celebrate the season. Happy Brunching!

Fancy French Toast with Blueberry Sauce and Whipped Cream Cheese

Ingredients

For the French Toast
1 loaf challah or brioche, cut to 1" thick slices
4 eggs
1 1/4 c half & half or milk of choice
1/4 c fresh orange juice
zest of 1 orange
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 c sugar
pinch of ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
butter or neutral oil for pan-frying

For the Blueberry Sauce
2 c fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 c fresh orange juice
zest of 1 orange
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c water
2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved into 1/4 c water

For the Whipped Cream Cheese
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c cream or half & half
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Begin by preparing the whipped cream cheese. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the cream cheese and cream or half & half. Beat on high speed until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes. Add the maple syrup and vanilla and beat until just combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Next, prepare the blueberry sauce. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 1/2 cups blueberries, orange juice and zest, sugar, and 1/4 cup water. Stir gently, and bring to a low boil. Once the mixture has reached a boil, stir in the dissolved cornstarch mixture and simmer for about three minutes, or until the mixture has thickened. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup blueberries and remove from heat. If mixture is too thick, add more water to achieve desired consistency. Cover and set aside until ready to serve.
In wide mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until frothy. Add in the half & half or milk, orange juice and zest, vanilla, sugar, ginger, and salt and whisk until well combined.
Working in batches of two, soak bread slices in egg mixture for 1-2 minutes per side or until soaked through.
Meanwhile, melt one tablespoon of butter or oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is hot and bubbling, place the soaked bread slices in the pan and fry for 3-4 minutes per side, or until golden brown and crisp on the edges.
While the first slices are cooking, heat the oven to 250 degrees F, and begin soaking next two slices of bread. Once first slices are done, remove from pan and place on a baking sheet in the heated oven to keep warm. Repeat frying process with remaining slices of bread, replenishing butter or oil in frying pan as needed.
To serve, top each serving of hot French Toast with a generous drizzle of warm blueberry syrup and a large dollop of whipped cream cheese. If desired, garnish with fresh blueberries, powdered sugar, or orange slices. Enjoy!

Groceries for this post were kindly provided by Milk & Eggs, our favorite grocery delivery service! All opinions are our own.

Eggnog Coffee Cake Muffins

December 24, 2016 by Brunchographers in At Home

Do you remember that feeling you'd get as a kid, waking up on Christmas morning, knowing there was a little bit of magic waiting for you underneath the Christmas tree? It was pretty much the most exciting moment of the year; you'd rush to wake your parents, then run to the living room as fast as your little feet could take you. Then, of course, you'd savagely rip into your gifts, scraps of paper flying through the air like a tornado, while your parents sipped their coffee and silently cursed the clock for the early hour (sorry, Mom and Dad).

As an adult, there's still something a bit magical about Christmas morning. Even if there's not a rush to rip open gifts, it still feels special to laze around in pajamas and enjoy some coffee (or tea) with your family. And having a pre-prepared, simple breakfast to enjoy together always helps.

This year, we found a few great options for delicious, make-ahead breakfasts for Christmas morning. The first was the blueberry cream cheese French toast casserole that we made for our Yuletide brunch. Another is a recipe for eggnog coffee cake muffins that we found on a blog called Two Peas in Their Pod.

These muffins were perfect for enjoying with a cup of coffee on a lazy morning. They're dense, crumbly, and have the perfect balance of sweet and salty. The eggnog flavor is subtle, but adds a little extra something perfect for Christmas morning.

You can also top them off with a bit more eggnog flavor by adding a drizzle of some eggnog glaze. The glaze is super easy to whip up - just whisk a couple tablespoons of eggnog into some powdered sugar to your desired consistency, and voila! Drizzle to your heart's content. They're delicious either way.

Thank you for stopping by, and spending a little bit of your holiday with us! We hope you have a warm and wonderful holiday, full of fun, joy, and love. Happy (holiday) brunching!

Festive holiday table setting for our Yuletide Brunch!

A Yuletide Brunch with Friends: Drinks & Décor

December 17, 2016 by Veronica Kablan in At Home

With just a little over a week away until Christmas, it feels like magic is in the air! Lines at the post office are out the door and around the block. Neighbor's doorsteps are stacked high with Amazon packages. A once drab, familiar street now glows bright with thousands of tiny twinkle lights, and the She & Him holiday album is playing in pretty much every store you go in to.

This year, we learned that holiday decorating doesn't have to be expensive to be pretty. In fact, for our recent Yuletide Brunch, we did most of our decorating using office supplies, found and pre-owned objects, and a few key pieces from the Dollar Store (yeah, you heard me!) - and the end result was just as impactful as if we had spent hundreds at a high end store!

Cocktails and new friends at our Yuletide Brunch

We wanted our decorating scheme to reflect the overall theme of the brunch - simplicity. We chose a few straightforward, handmade tasks to take on, and got crafty with how we used some inexpensive, festive storebought additions. For our color palette, we kept it bright: mostly white in the form of paper snowflakes, twinkle lights, and taper candles, with hints of the most classic holiday colors, green and red.

To begin, we started with a base layer of existing Christmas decorations: a tree decked out in white lights and a mish-mash of ornaments amassed over many years, a faux pine garland and knit stockings above the fireplace, and a set of white-and-silver snowflake pillows and a throw blanket from Target.

Next, we added the most time-intensive of our decorating endeavours: the paper snowflakes. For a few weeks before the party, we kept a stack of printer paper and a pair of scissors nearby so we could craft a snowflake or two whenever a free moment appeared. The first ones looked a lot like the ones you may remember making as a kid - skinny lines of not-quite-round holes intersecting each other with a scalloped edge and a lot of white space. But after some practice, the snowflakes became more and more intricate and interesting. They are actually a lot of fun to make, and can leave you feeling like a Picasso when unfolding each tiny masterpiece.

To attach the snowflakes to the windows, we employed some scotch tape and fishing line, and very simply strung them in rows of four. It would be even lovelier to make double the amount, and create more of a blanket of snowflakes, like this beautiful tutorial we saw. Goals for next time!

Festive table setting for our Yuletide Brunch

Finally, we added some inexpensive finishing touches. For napkins, we repurposed white and red placemats we picked up in the bargain section at Target. As a charming place setting, Johnna created little Christmas wreaths out of rosemary sprigs tied into a loop with twine.

Little wreaths made from rosemary and twine

To add a natural, rustic feel, we picked up some cut greenery and pinecones and laid them down the middle of the table. We had a mix of different types of pine, holly, and greens with red berries for a pop of color. To add a some height and a warm glow, we mix-and-matched candle holders from the dollar store and our local craft store, and arranged them throughout the greenery. The end result was a bright, festive, and welcoming space that was perfect for celebrating the season!

Also helpful for celebrating the season? A nice brunch cocktail. We wanted to go with something lively, fresh, and bright, with a holiday twist - a Cranberry Mimosa was the perfect solution!

Adding the Prosecco to the Cranberry Mimosa

This vibrant, fizzy tipple is layered with orange juice, real cranberry juice (not the sweetened "cocktail" stuff), and prosecco, and is garnished with sliced oranges, pomegranate seeds, and whole cranberries. How festive and beautiful is that? We especially loved how gorgeous it looked before we stirred it to combine - almost like a sunset!

For a little extra "something," we made some pretty snowflake ice cubes using a molded tray, and added pomegranate seeds and a touch of cranberry juice to the water before freezing. This kept our drinks cool and added a bit more visual interest in the wide champagne coupe glasses.

Snowflake Ice Cubes with Pomegranate Seeds

The measurements for this drink are flexible, so you can adjust it to your own taste. We used approximately 1 part orange juice, 1 part cranberry juice, and 2 parts prosecco. Garnish with as much fruit as you like, and stir gently before serving.

We hope these suggestions offer some inspiration for your next holiday event! We learned that even just a little bit of holiday cheer can go a long way, and you don't have to spend big bucks to bring a some holiday magic into your home. And, simple can be beautiful!

Drippy wax on our candlesticks as we savor some delicious brunch!

Happy Holidays, Brunchers! We wish you a wonderful holiday season, full of friends, family, and lots of delicious food!

Baked brie with blackberry compote and spiced pecans

A Yuletide Brunch with Friends: The Food

December 14, 2016 by Veronica Kablan in At Home

That magical time of year is upon us: trees and homes are lit up with tiny twinkling lights, fireplaces are festooned with swags of pine and ribbon, and old friends gather to make merry and share fond memories of Christmases past.

December is a month in which you really don't need an excuse to host a fête. There is so much to celebrate this time of year, you'd be a bit of a Scrooge if you didn't attend a holiday party or two. So, it's really no surprise that the Brunchographers assembled once again to hold a festive brunch for our wonderful gang of thoughtful ladies.

Our theme this time around, you ask? Well, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Our motto was "the simpler, the better." Throwing a party can be a lot of work, especially amidst a season that is exhausting in and of itself - so we thought, why put more stress upon ourselves? Let's keep it simple, keep it yummy, and have some fun.

Perhaps the most effective way we enacted our "the simpler, the better" rule was through pre-preparation. By breaking down our recipes and identifying tasks that could be done in the days leading up to the party, we were able to keep our day-of preparation to a minimum. This gave us plenty of time to focus on the details without feeling rushed or overwhelmed, and the food was just as delicious as some of our more ambitious brunches have been.

Topping off the Overnight French Toast with powdered sugar

We kept the decor bright, simple, and classic (and we'll be posting more on those details later this week), and chose an casual buffet-style setup for the food. This allowed guests to pick and choose which dishes they wanted to sample, and made it easy to come back for seconds if desired.

As a light and sweet treat to start, we set out some cranberry scones with whipped herb butter. Friends could nibble on them while they chatted and waited for everyone to arrive (or, cough, waited for us to stop photographing them). These were just the right amount of sweet, with a light, buttery texture. The herb butter - deceptively simple and rich in flavor - offered a perfect compliment to the sweet pastry dough and the tart cranberries.

Next, a warm and wonderful indulgence: baked brie topped with blackberry compote and toasted pecans. Can you imagine a prettier appetizer than this? The cheese absolutely liquefied into a warm cheesy pile of heaven, and it was perfect atop those incredible rosemary crackers from Trader Joe's (you know the ones). This recipe, which we found on a blog called Foolproof Living, is so simple yet looks very impressive - definitely one to bookmark for your next gathering!

baked brie topped with blackberry compote and toasted pecans and crackers

If you recall, we have a very important brunch rule that we take quite seriously: whenever possible, include some greens with your meal. Winter is the perfect time for greens, as the nutritious, dark leafy varieties are in season. For this salad, we started with a base of roughly chopped kale, layered on slices of roasted acorn squash, sprinkled the top with slivered almonds, pomegranate seeds, and ricotta salata, and finished with a light vinaigrette. The end result was a wonderful combination of vibrant winter flavors that looked just as festive as it tasted - and doesn't it look a bit like a Christmas wreath dusted in snow?

Salad with kale, roasted acorn squash, pomegranate seeds, almonds, and ricotta salata

The first main dish was the epitome of easy - overnight french toast casserole with cream cheese and blueberries. There is nothing more wonderfully lazy than waking up in the morning and popping a casserole in the oven while you sip your coffee and read the paper. And after about 45 minutes, you get this ooey-gooey, custardy, sweet mess of a reward. Yeah, it's not the prettiest thing we've ever made. But it tastes so good, it really doesn't matter. Make this. Preferably for Christmas breakfast. You won't regret it.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Overnight French Toast with a pecan streusel topping

Check out that sweet slice action on the Overnight French Toast with blueberries and cream cheese!

Next up, another make-ahead gem. These beautiful Eggs in Purgatory only look like you were slaving over the stove all morning - by pre-making the sauce, you'll only need a few minutes of hands-on work to put these together for your guests. These are also an ideal egg dish when cooking for a group, as many of them can be prepared at once in single-serving ramekins, rather than having to individually poach or fry eggs on the stove. This sauce is bright and flavorful with a spicy kick, and it's absolutely sinful when combined with runny eggs and soaked up with a thick slice of toast.

Individual Eggs in Purgatory and thick-sliced toast

Gettin' saucy with some Eggs in Purgatory

No good brunch would be complete without some side dishes, and we wanted to offer a few choices for our guests' varying tastes without over-complicating things. So, we (liberally) took some advice from our culinary idol Ina Garten, who taught us "you don't have to make everything from scratch," and headed to our local Whole Foods. There, we were amazed to find a bacon bar, which included the incredible sweet and savory blueberry bacon. We also picked up some of our favorite roasted baby potatoes, and a package of turkey bacon to fry up for guests who prefer something a bit lighter.

Shortcut sides: turkey bacon, blueberry bacon, and roasted baby potatoes

This menu offered a blend of festive flavors while remaining simple and fun to prepare (no stress-inducing over-complication here!), so we could enjoy our friends' company and laugh together over a delicious meal. The moral of today's story is that sometimes, it's OK not to be superhuman. Trust us, those pre-cooked potatoes from Whole Foods will not make or break your party - so go for it, sit back and enjoy yourself a little bit more.

Stop back in on Saturday for details on a delicious winter cocktail we whipped up and our simple-yet-impactful decorating strategy - much of which can be accomplished with things you already have (hint: we are now perennially covered in tiny shards of printer paper)! Until then, happy holiday brunching!

Recipe Index:

Cranberry Scones
The herbed butter was simple to whip up: soften two sticks of butter and mix with some chopped rosemary (about 1 tbsp) and honey (about 3 tbsp) to taste.
Baked Brie with Blackberry Compote and Spiced Pecans
The salad was inspired by this recipe, though we switched up the squash, cheese, and a few other little details.
Blueberry Cream Cheese Overnight French Toast
Eggs in Purgatory, which was adapted to omit pancetta as a vegetarian option