Beauty & Brunch Day

Last week a group of men from church were away at a men's retreat. My husband was one of them, and it was the first time we'd been apart overnight since we got married. I missed him a lot and was having a bit of a pity party on Friday night ... but on Saturday morning I had a group of girlfriends over for a manicure/pedicure party and brunch. That cheered me right up!

As I was planning out the menu for brunch I had a little "what the heck am I doing?" moment because breakfast isn't really my thing. Alan and I have pancakes on occasion but usually start our day with quick, simple things like oatmeal and cereal. I searched Pinterest for inspiration and came up with a brunch menu that included scrambled eggs, bacon, cranberry orange scones, lemon tarts, chocolate mousse, veggies, marshmellows dipped in chocolate and cookie crumbs, yogurt parfaits and earl grey cupcakes.

I woke up later than planned that morning and was really pinched for time but, amazingly, everything turned out great. The earl grey cupcakes were my favorite part of the meal. It was my first time baking them and I used this yummy recipe from the New York Family website. These cupcakes are perfect to serve after breakfast or with brunch as the earl grey flavor is subtle and they're aren't overly sweet. They also go perfectly with tea (no surprise there!)

What are some of your favorite breakfast foods?

Crunchy Granola Sweet

Has anyone ever heard the song Crunchy Granola Suite by Neil Diamond? I love that song, but for the longest time I thought he was singing "crunchy granola sweet" ... and that's exactly how I'd describe this yummy toasted oat concoction I made the other day. 

I love sprinkling granola on my oatmeal and yogurt, but granola tends to be pricey in stores so I made my own. If you've never tried it before, making granola is super easy. Start with two cups of oats and an array of nuts and dried fruit. I went with macadamia nuts, walnuts, pecans, dried blueberries and coconut but you can customize the mix however you wish to suit your taste buds. You'll also need brown sugar and either agave nectar or honey. 

In a bowl, mix your oats (2 cups) with 3 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of honey or agave nectar. Sprinkle in some shredded coconut if you want. Mix well. Once well tossed, spread your oats onto a baking tray and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until oats are a golden brown color.

Once cooked, take out of the oven and let cool - stir every few minutes so the oats don't stick to the tray. Once your oats are cool enough to touch, pour them into a bowl and mix in the chopped nuts and dried fruit. Serve with yogurt, oatmeal, cereal or whatever you wish.

Doesn't it look like just as good as the store-bought stuff? Or better? :)

Blueberry Banana Bread

Banana bread is one of my favorite things to bake because you can alter the recipe in a million different ways depending on the season, your mood and the things you've got lying around in your pantry. In the fall, for example, nothing beats pumpkin banana bread with crushed pralines. In the winter, I love a warm cup of tea with chocolate cranberry banana bread. And in the summertime blueberry banana bread is always a big hit. I made one on Sunday evening and we'll enjoy slices for breakfast all week.

I also love baking banana bread because it's so painlessly easy. The recipe I use is a low-fat Betty Crocker recipe (see below) but from what I've seen most banana bread recipes are pretty similar and I've never met a banana bread I didn't like!

Blueberry Banana Bread 

Ingredients

- 2 or 3 large bananas 

- 1/2 cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen)

- 1/4 cups of sugar

- 2 large eggs

- 1/2 cup of buttermilk (I used skim and it turned out just fine)

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla

- 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

- 1 teaspoon of baking powder

- 1 teaspoon of salt

- 1 cup of chopped nuts (I used walnuts) if desired.

Directions

- In a big mixing bowl, stir the sugar and butter until they're well mixed. Stir in the eggs until well mixed. Stir in the bananas, milk and vanilla; beat with a spoon until smooth.
- Stir in the flour, baking soda and salt until just moistened. Stir in blueberries.
- Pour batter into a 8x4 inch baking pan.
- Sprinkle walnuts or coconut on top, if desired.
- Bake the loaf for about an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes in pans on a wire rack

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