Image credit: lepiaf.geo

2. A wake-up kiss. An alarm can help them get out from under the sheets, but a morning kiss from Mom will be an even more effective alarm clock. What’s a more soothing way to start the day?

3. Write notes on the bathroom mirror. “You’ll do great today! I love you! — Mom” Before they brush their teeth or wash their face, a little note on the mirror can make their mornings even brighter. Write it on a sticky note or on a misty mirror after a warm shower.

4. Roll up the comics part of the newspaper and place it by your child’s plate. The morning funnies could help set a happy mood for the day. Why not crack a joke or two for him too?

5. Cook breakfast together — just the two of you. Choose one weekday to make breakfast together. Share conversations and laughter as you whip the eggs for your omelets and cook the bacon. It would be great to choose one day for each child, making it even more special for each one of them.

How else could you show your love so early in the morning?

Post from: Blisstree

5 Morning I-Love-You’s

Image credit: Toni Tiu

1. Bake it. Cook in an oven instead of the stove top.
2. Add other ingredients to the egg-milk mixture like vanilla, cinnamon, nuts (almonds are good!), honey, brown sugar, orange juice, nutmeg. Not all at the same time. But hey, why not? Give it a whirl!
3. Soak the bread in the mixture overnight, then bake the next day.
4. Use half-and-half instead of milk.
5. Stir mashed fruits into the egg-milk mixture. Bananas are good! Berries too.
6. Deep-fry instead of toasting in a pan.
7. Create shapes with your bread slices before dipping them into the egg-milk mix. Try hearts, stars, circles. Use cookie cutters for patterns.
8. Cook French Toast sticks. Simply slice bread lengthwise and dip the sticks into egg-milk mix.
9. Smear peanut butter, Nutella or jelly on one slice of bread. Top with another slice of bread. Then dip into the egg-milk mix.
10. For thick slices of bread (ex. baguettes), cut a slit to form a pocket and stuff with cheese or fruits before dipping into the egg-milk mix.

How else can you make French Toast your own?

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How do you make French Toast your own?

September is also the bearer of several food holidays! I couldn’t figure out where most of these originate, and chances are good that even though they say “national” holidays they’re usually not. That doesn’t make them any less worthy of being recognized and celebrated, though! September is:

National Biscuit Month:

~ Biscuit Recipes.net
~ Alton’s Southern Biscuits
~ Simple Baking Powder Biscuits
~ Parmesan Biscuits
~ Caramel Biscuit Bites

Better Breakfast Month:

~ Breakfast Recipes
~ Vegan Breakfast Recipes
~ Breakfast and Brunch Recipes
~ Slow Cooker Breakfast Recipes
~ Healthy Breakfast Ideas

National Chicken Month:

~ Eat Chicken
~ We Love Chicken
~ Boneless Chicken Recipes
~ Barbecue Chicken Recipes
~ Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes

National Honey Month:

~ Honey.com
~ Honey Recipes
~ Honey Dijon Chicken Salad
~ Honey Whole Wheat Bread
~ Honey Cake
~ Honey Gelato

National Mushroom Month:

~ Mushroom Council
~ Mushroom Recipes
~ Wild Mushroom Recipes
~ Gourmet Mushroom Recipes
~ Vegetarian Mushroom Recipes

National Potato Month:

~ Potato Patch Recipes
~ Dad’s Potato Salad
~ Simple Mashed Potatoes
~ Vegetarian Potato Recipes
~ Slow Cooker Potato Recipes

National Rice Month:

~ Rice Gourmet
~ Rice Recipes
~ Simple Rice Pudding
~ Mexican Rice Recipes
~ Vegetarian Rice Dishes
~ Slow Cooker Rice Recipes

[image: flickr]

Post from: Blisstree

September Is…

Anyone could make this delicious breakfast spread just by looking at the picture above but just in case I’ll share the directions. Check them out after the fold.

INGREDIENTS: SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH TOMATOES
5-6 eggs
1/8 cup of milk
1 tsp garlic powder
sprinkle of salt and pepper
1 large tomato, sliced
butter for cooking
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

Beat the eggs with milk, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Melt butter in a pan. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 2 minutes. Pour the egg mixture. Let it sit for a few seconds then stir. Let it cook for a bit. Sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese and stir until for a minute or so.

INGREDIENTS: RED POTATOES WITH HERBS
5-6 medium red potatoes, cubed
1 tsp garlic powder
sprinkle of salt and pepper
sprinkle of dried Italian seasoning
butter for cooking

Melt butter in a non-stick pan. Add the cubed potatoes. Season with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir as often as you can. Just cook until the potatoes are fork-tender.

Serve with coffee or orange juice. You can add bacon on the side too if you prefer.

(Images : Dexie J Wharton)

Post from: Blisstree

Weekend Brunch: Potatoes and Scrambled Eggs

Two years ago, Clara’s grandson decided to videotape Clara preparing meals that she and her family ate when Clara was a young woman during the Great Depression, and so far we’ve seen Dandelion Salad, Pasta with Peas, Egg Drop Soup, and Peppers and Eggs.

In this video she prepares a typical Sunday breakfast that she and her family would have enjoyed. She starts out making a sugar cookie, made using 3/4 cup of sugar, 3 beaten eggs, 1-1/2 cup flour, a pinch of salt, and then mixes to combine. She then forms the dough into a tube, incorporating another 1-1/2 cups or so of flour to make them more manageable. She then cuts the dough into little shapes and places them on an ungreased cookie sheet and bakes at 350 degrees until they’re golden brown. Then they sit to cool for a bit.

I love her story about how for a typical breakfast they’d have just bread and coffee, but that these cookies were a special treat on Sunday mornings, along with wafer cookies that she and her brother would split up.

She also shows us some old pictures while she makes the pot of coffee using an “old Depression pot” and freshly ground coffee. She says her and her siblings’ coffees were mostly milk with just a drop of coffee, and that they used evaporated milk (though later on she says it’s condensed milk).

Post from: Blisstree

Cooking with Clara: Depression Breakfast

I served the breakfast sandwiches with another easy redo recipe – Caramel Coffee. I used regular coffee, didn’t even pull my espresso machine out, and a Caramel sauce that is meant for ice cream sundaes. The syrups meant for coffee were $3 more and an additional “topping” type sauce was even more money. This was a cheap “cheat” and it’s very tasty.

Egg Muffin Sandwiches

Ingredients for a single sandwich:

*1 egg, beaten with a dash garlic powder, salt and pepper
*2 slices Canadian Bacon
*1 slice reduced fat American Cheese
*1 English Muffin

Spray pan with cooking spray and heat to medium. Toast or warm English Muffin. Place two slices of Canadian Bacon in pan and brown lightly on each side. Remove and set to the side. Pour eggs into pan and scramble.

Take a one half of a warmed muffin and place cheese on one side, then eggs, then Canadian Bacon, and top with the other muffin half. Place the entire sandwich into the microwave and heat for 30 seconds to melt cheese.

*If you like, you can butter each side of the muffin before layering ingredients.

Caramel Coffee

Ingredients for one cup of coffee:

*1 Cup of coffee
*Half and Half, I use a ratio of 1-4 with the coffee
*1 Tablespoon of Caramel Sauce
*Whipped Cream to top
*Drizzle of Caramel Sauce

Pour coffee, then add Caramel Sauce. Mix, then add Half and Half and mix again.

Top with Whipped Cream, then drizzle with additional Caramel Sauce.

Image credit: Michelle Smith

Post from: Blisstree

Quick, Cheap, and Easy Breakfast Sandwiches

Croissant Egg Sandwich (Image © Dexie Wharton)

INGREDIENTS:
croissants, cut in halves
eggs, 1 egg per croissant sandwich
cheese slices, 1 slice per sandwich
salt and pepper
butter for cooking the eggs

Buy the croissants from your local bakeries or grovery stores with bakery. I buy mine at Wal-Mart.

Cut the croissants in half, right in the middle.

Melt butter in a non-stick round pan. Slightly beat 1 egg in a bowl, season with sale and pepper. Do this for every egg.

Cook the egg in the pan, kinda like an omelet without folding the eggs. It should be round.

Place it on top of the bottom slice of croissant, layer the slice of cheese, then top with the top croissant.

Fast and easy breakfast for the whole family.

Post from: Blisstree

Croissant Egg Sandwich

Spoon, a catering company in New York City, has their Lemon Curd available online here. I had the opportunity to try it on my own scone recipe.

Tasty. It has a good sweet-tart balance, lots of lemony flavor and went perfectly with the scones. This was my first “curd” experience. It’s not a very appetizing name – curd. I think that’s why I avoided it up until this point. Silly word-fearing me.

Here’s my scone recipe. Scones are good with the curd. They are bisquit-like, but more substanial.

My friend’s son, who was visiting and also a Lemon Curd with Scone tester, he called the scones, “cones.”  As in, “Mom, do you think you can make some of those ‘cones‘ that we had at Michelle’s house?” Such a cutie.

Michelle’s Scones

2 cups flour, I use unbleached
1/2 unsalted butter, 1 stick allow to soften, then cut into pieces
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg white
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 baking soda
1/4 salt, I use kosher
2 TB raw sugar

Preheat oven to 400. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in butter until mixture turns into coarse crumbs. Push the crumbs to the sides of the bowl, pour the buttermilk into the center, then blend it into the crumbs until it becomes a dough, but do not overwork the dough. (This is a light touch, like when you are mixing muffins).

Prepare a clean, flat, floured surface. Move the dough to the floured surface. Knead a few times, then form into a ball. Roll the ball out into a circle, about 1-1/2 inches thick. Cut the circle into pie-like wedges. Place wedges onto a cooking sheet that is covered with parchment paper* to prevent sticking. Brush the wedges with egg white, then sprinkle with raw sugar.

Place in oven and bake for 16-20 minutes – you are looking for a lightly browned scone. Remove and cool. Serve topped with Lemon curd.

*I use parchment paper for all sorts of baking or roasting dishes. It keeps the food from sticking and it makes cleanup a breeze.

Image credit: Spoon NYC

Post from: Blisstree

Spoon Lemon Curd and Scones

Apple-Cinnamon Pancakes (© Dexie Wharton)

INGREDIENTS : (pancakes)

* 2 cups flour
* 2 tbsp sugar
* 4 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsp salt
* 2 eggs
* 1 1/2 cups milk
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
* butter for cooking
* syrup

Apple Cinnamon :

* 2 medium apples (Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and cubed
* 1 tbsp brown sugar
* a pinch of nutmeg
* 1 tbsp of cinnamon powder
* 3 tsp butter

Apple-Cinnamon Pancakes (© Dexie Wharton)

Chop the peeled and cored apples in small cubes. Put them in a small pot, add butter, cinnamon powder, nutmeg and brown sugar. Cook until the apple cubes are slightly soft.

Apple-Cinnamon Pancakes

I’m using my basic pancake batter recipe here as well.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set it aside. In another bowl, lightly beat the eggs, add milk and oil. Whisk everything together. Gradually pour the liquid mixture onto the dry mixture while whisking continuously. Do this until the the mixture is smooth with small lumps. Gently fold in the apple-cinnamon mixture into the pancake batter.

Grease a griddle or a non stick pan with butter. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto the griddle. Cook until bubble form on the surface. About 2-3 minutes, then flip to cook the other side. Repeat the process for all the pancakes.

This is definitely different from chocolate and orange marmalade pancakes that I’ve made before. The texture from the apples when you bite into was such a welcome surprise.

Post from: Blisstree

Apple-Cinnamon Pancakes

Since they’ve learned to serve themselves with cereal or whatever breakfast items we have during the week, I figured I would reward them with delicious breakfast meal on the weekends that I made myself or from a restaurant that we frequent for breakfast once in a while.

Kellogg's Fruit Harvest Cereal (© Dexie Wharton)

However, when I am in health kick days, I do try to eat a bowl of cereal in the morning. It has been said a million times that it is better to eat something in the morning for breakfast instead of skipping it and then chowing down a huge amount of food for lunch or what we call brunch. This habit is the worse thing you could do when you’re trying to lose weight or staying healthy for that matter. When I’m in this “fix”, I force myself to eat a bowl of cereal every morning. But it has to be something I really like.

One of my favorite cereals is Kellogg’s Fruit Harvest. The combo I’m enjoying right now is Strawberry and Blueberries. I get flakes of rice and whole wheat plus generous amount of strawberries and blueberies. Another combo I love is the peaches and strawberry. A 3/4 cup serving has 110 calories, 0g Fat, 140mg sodium, 10g sugar and 500iu Vitamin A. Honestly though, wile those information sounds good, I care more about the fact that it tastes good. The health factor is a bonus .

What’s your favorite cereal?

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My Favorite Cereal For Breakfast