Brunch Braid

I am posting this recipe because it is SO good (even though I cannot take credit for finding it!) I first tasted this recipe at the Graduation Brunch my cousin Jodee threw for Ashley and I. Since then we have made it a few times, both the original way and also with a variation my mom thought of. My mom made one of each for dinner one night and served them with fruit kabobs. I am also posting a picture of the sort of French table setting she did because I thought it was so cute!

Ham and Cheddar Brunch Braid

Ingredients:

1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

2 green onions, sliced
4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup milk

8 eggs

1/4 tsp. salt

dash ground black pepper

1 tsp. butter or margarine

2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls (we found that the largest size work best)

1/4 lb. thinly sliced deli ham

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F. Chop bell pepper and green onions. Place cream cheese and milk in bowl. Microwave on high 1 minute; whisk until smooth. Separate 1 egg and reserve egg white for later use. Whisk egg yolk and the remaining 7 eggs, salt, and pepper into cream cheese mixture until well blended. Add bell pepper and onions to egg mixture and mix well.

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-low heat. Add egg mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, until eggs are set but still moist. Remove pan from heat.

Unroll crescent dough; do not separate. Arrange dough on rectangular baking stone (or metal baking sheet will work fine) with longest sides of rectangles across width of baking stone. Using a rolling pin or just your hands, roll dough to seal seams. Starting on the longest sides of the baking stone, cut sides of dough into strips, about 1 inch wide and 3 inches long. Arrange ham evenly over center of dough. Scoop egg mixture over ham. Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese over egg mixture.

Starting at one end, lift one strip of dough. Twist one turn and lay across top of filling. Repeat, alternating strips of dough to form a braid. Fold bottom edges up at ends of braid. Lightly beat reserved egg white. Brush over dough using a pastry brush. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until deep golden brown. Slice into pieces.

Turkey and Provolone Brunch Braid

Ingredients:

1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 small shallot, chopped finely

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup milk

8 eggs

1/4 tsp. salt

dash ground black pepper

1 tsp. butter or margarine

2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls (the biggest size work best)

1/4 lb. thinly sliced deli turkey (we used herb-roasted deli turkey)

1/2 cup provolone cheese (we just took the pre-sliced sandwich provolone and cut it up)

2 cups fresh spinach, sliced

Directions:

Follow the same directions as I described above. Just sprinkle the fresh spinach on at the same time you add the meat and cheese.

Stuffed French Toast

This is a recipe that Tyler saw on a TV show and was dying to make. He made it for brunch for all of us last sunday. It was SO good! I usually am not a big fan of breakfast food but I loved this. Tyler did a really good job making it and all the different flavors worked so well together. He doubled the recipe to make 8 servings but it ended up making a lot of the egg mixture. Also, we didn't use thick bread like the recipe calls for, so we ended up needing less of the egg mixture. So if you double the recipe, you probably don't need to double the egg mixture unless you use really thick bread slices.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups milk

2 eggs, beaten

1/8 t ground nutmeg

1/4 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t vanilla extract

3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

8 (2-inch thick) slices of bread (**we just used regular, thin white bread)

2 bananas, very thinly sliced

1 cup strawberries, very thinly sliced

4 T butter

1/4 cups powdered sugar

maple syrup

Directions:

Combine milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla in a shallow bowl. Set aside.

For assembly, spread a thin layer of the cream cheese onto 1 side ofthe bread slices. Top half the slices with the fruit. Place another piece of bread on top, cream cheese side down, creating a sandwich.

Preheat a griddle to 350 degrees. Lightly brush with the butter.

Give the milk mixture a quick stir, and dip the sandwiches into the batter, coating all sides.

Place on the griddle. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side, then turn on the edges and cook to brown evenly.

To serve, slice sandwiches in half on the diagonal and transfer to a serving platter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with maple syrup.

Last Day of Summer Brunch

Since today is the last day of summer and we all start school tomorrow, Callie and I decided to do a brunch for everyone to celebrate. We made scrambled eggs with vegetables, brown sugar glazed bacon, and Tyler made some apple cinnamon muffins. (Good job Tyler. They were so good. He loves cooking too and is turning into quite the chef :) For the scrambled eggs we just cooked some eggs and added chopped onions, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, and a little cream cheese. For the bacon, we got the recipe off of the Martha Stewart website:

Ingredients:
1 1/4 pounds thickly sliced bacon
1/2 cup dark-brown sugar

Directions:
Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Lay bacon on the paper, and sprinkle the brown sugar liberally over bacon. Transfer bacon to the oven, and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer bacon immediately to a wire rack, and let sit until cool enough to eat.