A Bunch For Brunch

OMG – We had 16 people over for brunch today. The oldest was Honey’s 94-year-old grandmother and the youngest was my brother-in-law’s 4-month-old grandson. Three of our guests are German, four live outside Atlanta. The rest are all local, including three of our four kids. It was a blast.

Anyway, one of the items we served was this breakfast casserole, and it was a mondo hit. I found it here, where it’s called Charleston Breakfast Casserole. I modified it based on my tastes and some of the recommendations in the reviews. Here’s the version I wound up with today. I’ll be making this again and again.

Charleston Breakfast Casserole – Sort Of

12 slices bacon
¼ cup butter, melted
3 cups seasoned croutons
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1 medium onion chopped fine
1 tablespoon ground mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Fry bacon, crumble and set aside.

Melt butter in microwave, spray a 13-by-9-inch pan with cooking spray. Put croutons in bottom of pan, then drizzle melted butter over them. Sprinkle cheese over croutons.

In a large bowl combine eggs, milk, onion, ground mustard and salt and pepper. Pour this mixture over the croutons. Sprinkle bacon over top.

Refrigerate overnight.

Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Another 2-Ingredient Appetizer

A couple of Happy Hour Fridays ago I shared this two-ingredient appetizer (three if you count the crackers to serve with it).

Well, here’s another one. There’s just a touch more prep work with this (not much) and because it involves fruit and meat it will likely involve a quick trip to the market.

Here’s the recipe:

1 cantaloupe cut into slices
Thin ribbons of prosciutto

Wrap the prosciutto around the cantaloupe slices and secure with a toothpick. Once they're on the platter cover them with a little freshly ground black pepper and serve.

Badda-boom, badda-bing, you’ve got yourself an appetizer.

Pimp My Blog

Just look at this fabulous new header.

My good friend and co-worker J.M. made it for me today. Click, click, click and BAM - there it was. She's an absolute virtuoso with all things related to computers and graphic design. And she's always doing nice things for others. Hence the new header.

So thank you, J.M., for making my little space look blogtastic.

Merry Christmas To Me!

So I was cleaning my dresser the other day and what did I find? The Barnes and Noble gift certificate my brother Jim gave me for Christmas!

I ran right out and bought this Candice Olson book. She is fabulous. She hosts “Divine Design” on HGTV. She also has her own line of lighting and furniture. Every room she does just pulls you in.

Here are a few spaces she has designed. Aren’t they cool?

College Bound

Son Four starts college today.

There were so many times when he and the others were little that I thought they’d never grow up, never tie their own shoes, never stop needing something every 15 minutes.

But it happened. And it happened really fast.

To me he still looks like this – all curled up in a bean bag chair playing video games with the dog on his lap.

This is how the rest of the world sees him:

Identity Crisis

Clothes shopping just isn’t fun anymore. When you’re in your 20s you can wear darn near whatever you want (See photo on left). When you’re in your 60s you know you’re looking for anything stretchy with an elastic waistband (See photo on right).

But pity those of us in between.

In addition to weighing whether an article of clothing is the right color, cut, fabric, fit and size, there’s the whole issue of age appropriateness. Too tight or revealing and it prompts comments like, “Who the heck does she think she’s kidding?” Too baggy and conservative and you look like Aunt Bea.

I suppose I shouldn’t be complaining. One day this problem will go away, and when it does I’ll be living in polyester city.

Gimlet, Anyone?

Back in college my roommates and I survived on vodka gimlets. We made them by the pitcher, which doesn’t sound too over the top until you realize there were only three of us.

From what I remember, we loved them.

I thought this refreshing cocktail merited Happy Hour status this week because it’s a fitting last hurrah to our dwindling summer.

Here’s the recipe we used:

Three parts vodka
One part Rose’s Lime Juice

Many people serve gimlets in martini glasses, although some prefer rocks glasses.

We used tumblers.

Awaiting Our Fayte

Fay will be knocking at our door in a matter of hours. News reports from the Florida Keys, which she’s already blown through, indicate that she’s not going to be all that menacing.

Fingers crossed.

Cool Happy Hour Toy

You know what I just noticed? The only blog entries I seem to make time to write lately are the Happy Hour posts. But no, you shouldn't read anything into that. No sirree.

Anyway, this is a really inexpensive but fun Happy Hour novelty. We first encountered it at a Christmas party our neighbor had last year. The next day we ran right out and got one here.

It’s a mold that makes ice shot glasses. Pretty cool, eh? And easy, too. You just pour in the water and pop them in the freezer.

Disclaimer time: We’ve not used ours yet, but it’s ready and waiting when the opportunity arises. We'll break it out next time you're over, OK?

Instant Appetizer

Yippee! It’s Friday Happy Hour again!

First, mea culpa for the lack of posts this week. Things are out of control crazy when it comes to the schedule around here lately. I know that sounds like the adult version of “The dog ate my homework,” but it’s true.

At any rate, in keeping with the theme of the harried schedule I wanted to share an appetizer that can literally be prepared in 30 seconds. I keep the ingredients on hand at all times in the event of last-minute guests.

The photograph below, which I found on the Internet because I honestly don’t have a spare 30 seconds right now, demonstrates its significant drawback – It looks disgusting. However, I promise you that anyone who gets beyond the appearance will love it. Here’s the recipe:

1 brick of cream cheese
½ jar of pepper jelly

Step One: Put brick of cream cheese on a serving plate (preferably one more attractive than the aluminum tin pictured here).

Step Two: Cover with pepper jelly.

Viola!

To dress it up I sprinkle slivered almonds over the top of it, although sadly, that's somewhat akin to putting lipstick on a pig.

This House Is Lonely

I’ve always felt that houses have souls. The people who live inside provide them with sustenance, nourish them, nurture them, make them thrive.

Left vacant they lose their purpose. They deteriorate.

This house is directly across the street from us. I remember the couple that moved in five years or so ago. There was a flurry of painting. Furniture was delivered. Landscaping was planted. They filled it with laughter and activity.

But eventually, like so many houses in so many neighborhoods, there was a foreclosure. It happened about three months ago.

See how sad it already looks? Up close you can see mold creeping up the exterior walls. The shrubbery is a tangled mess. Honey mows the lawn when it gets out of hand – mostly to keep the neighborhood looking decent – but it doesn’t do much to mask what the poor place has been through.

I hope someone buys this house soon so it can feel loved again.

Mexican Layered Dip

What’s happy hour without something to snack on?

This dip is an absolute favorite of Son Two. I like to make it whenever he and his girlfriend come over. It’s a breeze to throw together.

Ingredients:

1 can refried beans
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons cumin
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 envelope taco seasoning
shredded cheese
shredded lettuce
1 tomato chopped fine
1 small can black olive slices

To prepare, mix the refried beans, chili powder and cumin and spread on a platter. In a medium size bowl mix the mayo, the sour cream and the taco seasoning and spread it over the refried beans. Top it off with the lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and olives.

Those of you who are familiar with this recipe know there’s supposed to be a layer of guacamole - just like the one you can see in this photo. Unfortunately, our kids don’t care for it so I reluctantly leave it out.

This can be served with Tostitos or Fritos.