CINNAMON STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE

I am always looking for a great coffee cake recipe.  I love to serve coffee cake and fresh fruit for a quick breakfast treat for guests and for my family over the week-end.  I already have a great blueberry coffee cake recipe and also a recipe for a great cranberry vanilla coffee cake.  This time around I was looking for a beyond good cinnamon coffee cake.  My main goal was to find a recipe where there was an awesome sweet and crunchy streusel on top.  I found what I was looking for with a Martha Stewart recipe.  Now, I don't want to "knock" Martha, but I usually find Martha's recipes a little too plain at times and her a bit "artsy crafty" for me.  To be honest I have never really been too interested in searching her recipes.  I just happened to put in a photo google search for "Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake" and a ton of pictures popped up.  I don't know about you, but I eat with my eyes!  This picture with a mile high streusel topping just jumped off the computer at me.  It just so happened that this picture belong to a recipe from Martha.  So....long story short...this recipe turned out to be a winner.  I have made it several times in the past few months.  I recently cooked for a family for a big 8th grade graduation party and they chose this coffee cake for me to make for their breakfast the next day.  It is a perfect wrapped package as it looks  beautiful, but it also tastes as good as it looks!

ITALIAN SAUSAGE, BELL PEPPER & PARMESAN CHEESE STRATA

I don't know about you guys, but when I have guests I really don't like to do alot of cooking in front of them.  I feel like when I am cooking and working in front of them I do not get to enjoy their company and then that defeats the purpose of inviting people over to your home.  This recipe, Italian Sausage, Bell Pepper and Parmesan Cheese Strata is awesome AND it can be made the night before OR the morning of.  I always try to have some sort of "bake" for breakfast on Christmas morning and my husband said he believes we have a new "winner" with this recipe...which is a major compliment.  I got the recipe from epicurious.com and it called for fontina cheese.  Fontina cheese is really soft and I did not believe it would taste as good as grated parmesan or romano.  Hey...who am I to argue with the pro's, but that was just my opinion. Also, I do agree with them not to use green bell pepper and to use red, orange or yellow instead.  I feel bad for the poor green pepper, but the other colors have a way better flavor. Anyway, try this recipe...it is easy to make and it tastes great!  The one tip that I learned from this recipe is to cook the peppers on the other side of the sausage in the same pan.  It really flavors the peppers and also carmalizes them from the oils in the sausage.

 

VANILLA BEAN & CRANBERRY COFFEECAKE

Ok everyone Easter is just about a week away!  With holidays come out of town guests. With out of town guests comes lots of cooking.  Let me help you!  I have two great recipes you can serve for breakfast or brunch.  And guess what I actually have found the time to post these recipes.  How?  You may ask.  Well, I was lucky enough to contract a kidney infection!  Yep, 104 temp. with pain so bad in my back, sides and abdominal region I could cry.  My husband and my mom have been great as they have taken over the job of taking care of the baby and the two three year olds.  So I have been laying in bed since Tuesday (with no t.v. in bedroom I may add).  Today I finally have the strength to check e-mails, pay some bills and post recipes on my blog while laying in bed.  So....the two recipes I have for you are: Vanilla Bean & Cranberry Coffeecake, which is in this post, and Italian Sausage, Pepper and Parmesan Cheese Strata ( which will be the next post).  When I say the coffee cake is to die for...it really is to die for...no lie!  Please do not substitute the vanilla bean for vanilla extract.  Recipes that include the seeds from the vanilla bean taste to dramatically different than recipes that use vanilla extract.  The vanilla bean really does make this recipe.  When I shopped at Caputos for ingredients they were out.  I found some at Jewel in the spice section.  If your local grocery store does not have them I am sure that Trader Joes or Whole Foods would carry them.  Also, it is not cranberry season.  Ask your local grocery store to point you in the direction of whole frozen cranberries.  They work just as well, just pat them dry as they tend to have excess water when the thaw.  This recipe is for sure a "make ahead" recipe so you can make it the day before your guests arrive...bonus!

YOGURT PARFAIT TRIFLE

I may not be able to catch you in time if you are having guests stay the night for Thanksgiving...but if you are having sleepover guests anytime this holiday season you have to try out this Yogurt Parfait Trifle.
 I love to make yogurt and berry trifles when I have breakfast or brunch guests.  They are so easy to make, they look pretty and everyone usually loves them.  Recently, I saw in a magazine (I believe it was Martha Stewart) where she made a large yogurt parfait but in a large trifle bowl.  Of course her recipe you made home-made granola and a cherry fruit compote....but who the heck has time to make all that when you are cooking for Thanksgiving of Christmas?  Not me!!!!  So I just bought store bought yogurt, granola, and fresh fruit.  I layered it in a clear glass trifle bowl.  I think I made this in about 5 minutes.  My guests and my family all loved it.  I served it with some cheesey scrambled, slices of canadian bacon and toasted bread.  Simple and easy....yet really good!

SUGAR SPOT BANANA MUFFINS

So you may be wondering why I am so many baked goods using banans.  My answer is simple....I buy a lot of bananas and we don't end up eating them before the sugar brown spots show up.  So I have a habbit of placing the brown bananas in a freezer bag and then throwing them in the fridge.  Frozen brown bananas are super sweet and make the best banana coffee cake, muffins and bread.  Recently I made the best banana muffins.  Since the recipe called for the bananas with the brown spots they called it Sugar Spot Banana Muffins.  They were super quick to make and super simple.

BANANA COFFEE CAKE WITH MACADAMIA NUTS & COCONUT

My sister and some friends of ours were all going to the Tim McGraw concert this past saturday.  I was having everyone over for some cocktails and apps (recipes to come at a later post) and then after the concert everyone was coming back to my house to spend the night....total girls night...yeah!  For the next morning I had planned a great breakfast; fruit, yogurt and granola parfaits along with this amazing Banana Coffee Cake w/ Macadamia Nuts & Coconut.  I actuall kept the macadamia nuts off the top because my girls cannot eat nuts yet and I also kept the coconut off because my sister does not like coconut.  The coffee cake was great without those ingredients, but I am sure it would have been even better when they are added.  The cake is actually pretty sweet.  Our friend Megan said, " I could throw some cream cheese frosting over the top and call it a dessert."  This being said, if you want it less sweet you could add less sugar.  It was really great though.  Super moist and full of banana flavor.  If you have some bananas going brown in your house whip up this coffee cake...you will love it!

Planning Ahead for Easter - Walnut Citrus Twists

I very good friend of mine is hosting an Easter brunch for about 16 people.  She called me a few days ago and asked if I would help come up with a few recipes for her brunch menu.  I love...I absolutely love planning menu's.  I like to think of this as my specialty (so if anyone out there needs help with this...please call me.  I have hundreds if not thousands of books and recipes).  So that being said I hopped right to this task of finding some fun Easter brunch ideas.  I am thinking salads, breads and other baked goods, egg casseroles, yummy spring desserts and fun punches and mimosas! The next few weeks many of my posts will be dedicated to Easter menu ideas. The very first recipe I thought of is one of my very favorite sweet roll recipes:  Walnut Citrus Twists.  These are extremely easy to make since you purchase some frozen Rhodes dough, wrap and twirl it around some walnuts, sugar and cirtus rind and bake it to a puffy yumminess!  Slap a citrus glazed icing on top and you have heaven all wrapped up in a yummy citrus twist!  These Walnut Citrus Twists are a must....I repeat....a must for an Easter breakfast or brunch! 

Blueberry Coffee Cake with Strudel Topping

Whenever we go see my in'laws in Pittsburgh, or when they come to visit us here in the Chicago area, my mother in'law always makes her awesome coffee cake.  It is moist and delicious and as the best crumb topping ever.  We were having one of my husbands buddies as a house guest for the week-end and I wanted to make a coffee cake.  My first thought was that I would ask my mother n'law for her recipe because I know it would be a hit.  But then I thought again....if I have her recipe and make her special coffee cake wheneve we want it, then it would not be as special when she made it for us. So I decided that in order to keep her coffee cake special I would find my own coffee cake recipe to make.  I decided on a Gold Medal Flour recipe that I found for a "Bluebarb" Coffee Cake.  That specific recipe called for 1 cup of blueberries a and a cup of rhubarb.  I omitted the rhubarb and doubled the blueberries.  The Gold Medal recipe called for a 1/4 cup of shortening in their recipe, but I detest anything made with shortening. For some reason I feel that it has a weird taste when placed in baked goods...that I just my opinion.  I choose to use un-salted sweet cream butter instead.  I also added one more egg to make it more "cake-like" and substituted light brown sugar for regular sugar in the strudle topping.  Long story short....my Blueberry Coffee Cake with Strudel Topping turned out great!  Was it as great as my mother n'laws?  No way...not even close.  But for my guests who have not tried hers....mine could possible be the next best thing!

Valentine's Day Breakfast

HEART SHAPED " EGG IN A HOLE" 

When I was growing up I would sleep over at my Grandma & Grandpa's a lot with my brother's and sister.  We just loved everything my Grandma made for us.  For some reason her bologna sandwich's were so much better when she made them and we ate them at her house for lunch.  She turned chicken broth and simple noodles into an italian lunch time soup called "pastina" that I serve my daughters now.  Our most favorite breakfast that she made for us was simple eggs and toast.  She did not however just put a piece of toast and an egg on a plate...nope...not Grandma!  She made things that she called "Eggs & Toast" where she would generously butter a slice of toast, break it up into pieces into a bowl, chop up a "runny" poached egg on top, sprinkle it with salt and pepper....and ta-dah....yummy, yummy!  Our other favorite egg & toast breakfast she made us was called "Egg In A Hole".  She would take a piece of toast and butter each side of it.  She then would tear out a circle from the middle.  The toast would be placed in a fry pan.  An egg would be broken into the cut out hole off the toast and the pan would be covered.  We then would be served an "Egg In A Hole".  It is now coming up upon Valentine's Day and I came across a picture in an In Style magazine.  It was a picture of an "Egg In A Hole", but for Valentine's Day the hole was cut out with a heart shaped cookie cutter.  This just brought back memories of my childhood at my Grandma's.  This year for Valentine's Day I am going to make a "Heart Shaped Egg In A Hole" for my kids and husband.  They will love it and I know it will make them feel special!

Cabin Fever!

My family and I spent our New Year's at our cabin in the northwoods of Wisconsin with some family friends.  We had a great time!  All we wanted to do is have some fun family time in the snow (even though it was well into the negative numbers up there), sit by the fire and relax and try not to do too much work!  I had promised my husband that I would take it easy and not do a lot of cooking....so like a good wife....I listened to him!  I did however make a few things to make the cabin cozy!  Check out the following recipes on this post...they are sure to cure your "cabin fever"!

Christmas Breakfast

Here is a nother tradition my husband and I wanted to start.  We wanted to come up with a breakfast that we only had once a year - on Christmas morning.  I wanted something that I could make the day or night before and just pop it in the oven the next morning.  Basically something that is hassle free so I can enjoy  my family Christmas morning.  Here is the menu that we came up with.  Pictures will  be coming, but I have not made this menu yet this year.

A "Spicy" Birthday Breakfast

Have I ever mentioned that my husband loves spicy food?  Well, if not, I am telling you now, he absolutely loves spicy food.  He puts so much crushed red pepper flakes on his food it makes me cringe!  Sometimes I feel like he will be ruining my great tasting food by adding so much of that spice!  I need to do like they do in Italy, if you ask for hot pepper they say "no, it does not need it.  It is perfect just the way we seasoned it!"  A few months ago I came up with a breakfast that my husband absolutely loved because it included jalapeno peppers.  I call it my Corn Cake Egg Benedicts with Jalapeno Infused Syrup.  Try it for a Sunday breakfast for a little something different!

CORN CAKE EGGS BENEDICT WITH JALAPENO INFUSED SYRUP 

* Makes 6 eggs benedicts

• 1 box Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
• 2 TB. shortening (melted)
• 2 eggs (for corn cakes)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 6 slices canadian bacon or ham on the bone

• 6 eggs  (for poached eggs)
• 1/2 TB. olive oil
• 1/2 jalapeno finely chopped
• 1 cup syrup

1. Mix the corn muffin mix, shortening, eggs and milk in a large bowl with a whisk.
2. Heat griddle on high and spray with cooking spray.  Using a ladle spoon about 1/3 cup corn muffin mix for each pancake onto the griddle.
3. Once you see bubbles forming flip pancake over and cook on next side for one minute.
4. Remove each pancake and place on dish - cover to keep warm.
5. In the meantime hard boil the 6 eggs.
6. Heat the canadian bacon or ham in a skillet.
7. Heat the olive oil in a small sauce pan.  Add the chopped jalapeno and saute for 5 minutes.
8. Add the syrup to the sauce pan.  Mix well.  Cook for an additional 10 minutes on low.

To assemble:

1. Place one corn muffin pancake on a plate. 
2. Place a piece of canadian bacon or ham over the pancake. 
3. Place a hardboiled egg over the bacon/ham
4. Top the egg with a second corn muffin pancake.
5. Ladle a spoonful of syrup over the top
6. Serve immediatly

Your Having A Thanksgiving Sleepover?!?!?!

Phew...you made it through the big turkey day....everyone is fed, dishes are done, time to relax right?  WRONG!  Did you forget that you invited people to sleep over?  No worries....this post is dedicated to the morning after Thanksgiving breakfast/brunch.  I have come up with a few different menus to help your day after run a bit smoother.  Hope this helps!  It has worked for me!

*Photo Courtesy of The Addison on Amelia

Pumpkins Are Not Just For Pumpkin Pie

Let's forget there is a pumpkin shortage! Tis the season for pumpkins!  Sure a good ol' fashioned pumpkin pie is great come this season from Halloween to Chrismas, but pumpkins can be used in a variety of other recipes.   I found a great recipe for Pumpkin Waffles on http://pumpkinwaffles.wordpress.com/ultimate-pumpkin-waffle-recipe/.