Category Archives: Brunch

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Posted in Bread, Breakfast, Brunch, Uncategorized by

As you may have noticed, I love to make breakfast items. This may have to do with the fact that brunch is my favorite meal, but really I just love having delicious smells in the apartment on Sunday mornings. The following is one of my most recent endeavors. And I have to say, it was one of the messier ones.

I tend to find a lot of my recipes on Pinterest. I love this because it helps introduce me to new things that I wouldn’t otherwise think of. But there is a downside – people always manage to show perfect, beautiful pictures of their items, and this is not always easy to recreate. As many of you may have learned, a lot of the work in baking is not pretty, and quite often, your items do not end up quite as pretty as the ones in the picture. But this is ok. You have to learn to just keep going, because quite often, it all works out in the end.

For me, this was one of those situations. The bread was delicious, but I struggled to get it to look as nice as the recipe I adapted. But here’s the good news, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that those you’re sharing it with, enjoy it. So go on, get flour on your hands and apron, and make a mess of your kitchen!


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Raspberry Swirl Rolls with Cream Cheese Frostring

Posted in Breakfast, Brunch, Fruit by

First of all, I have to apologize for my absence. I’d always planned to take a week and a half off while on vacation, but was forced to take even longer! As soon as I got back to DC, I was hit with a horrible case of the flu. And it pretty much took me a full week to get back to normal.

But now that I’m back, I’m baking like crazy. In fact, I spent the entire day in the kitchen today. I have lots of new recipes to share with you! First up are Raspberry Swirl Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting.

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My Favorite Meal of the Week – Holiday Brunch

Posted in Breakfast, Brunch, Entertaining by

With my brother visiting last week, I had a lot of amazing meals. He even made us dinner one night (delicious steak tacos). But my favorite meal of the week was the holiday brunch we hosted for 25 of our friends on Sunday. I made a couple of items previously posted on here (pumpkin donuts, croissants, and cranberry pear salad) and a new one (raspberry muffins). Plus, Dave made a strata with bacon, green onions, and cheese.

So while the brunch ended up turning out well, there were a few moments when I wondered why I had volunteered to squeeze 25 people in our small one bedroom apartment on a Sunday morning. Brunches are hard because everything seems to need to be done at the last minute (which resulted in me being in pajamas when the first guests showed up). But I have to say, I’ve decided it’s my favorite event to host. I love being able to just hang out on a Sunday, without feeling rushed, or tired. Plus cleaning up is much easier to do when its 5pm on a Sunday and not 1am on a Saturday night.

Anyways, I promise to get the strata recipe up soon (it’s been a big hit every time we’ve made it). I’m headed to California for the holidays at the end of the week, and won’t be back to DC (and my computer) until after New Year’s, so there may not be any posts for the next two weeks (we’ll see how relaxed I get on vacation).

But happy holidays everyone! Looking forward to more posts in 2013.

Pumpkin Donuts

Posted in Breakfast, Brunch by

So if you’ve been reading my blog, you know by now that I love pumpkin. Last Sunday, I decided to use it in a new way by making donuts for the first time. And wow, these were delicious.

I’ve never actually fried something at home before, but I’m proud to say I didn’t screw it up too badly.
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Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

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If there is something that I have made most in my baking career, it is definitely banana bread. While yes I do love it, that is not why I end up making it all the time. Really, it comes down to the fact that I hate wasting food. And nine times out of ten, I (or my roommates in the past) do not get through all of the bananas before they go brown. My solution is to freeze them until I have enough to make banana bread (3-4).
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Pumpkin Cranberry Scones with Orange Butter

Posted in Breakfast, Brunch, Fall by

In the fall, I always try to have pumpkin around. I like to throw it in everything- risotto, croissants, and pasta. This weekend I had some extra pumpkin, and I love whipping up random baked goods on Sunday mornings, so I decided to go looking online for something breakfast related with pumpkin.

The result was cranberry pumpkin scones.

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Croissants for Beginners

Posted in Breakfast, Brunch by

So I would guess that most people like croissants. But here’s the thing, I like croissants a little more than your average person. No really, I even wrote my law school admissions essay on croissants.

Anyways, I’ve always enjoyed croissants, but when I was staying in Paris for a few weeks back in early 2011 I really truly fell for them. While there, I took a baking class that involved learning the basics for pastry dough and I’ve been making them ever since I came back to DC.

So I’ll be upfront with you, pastry dough and croissants are not the easiest thing out there to make (don’t get intimidated by the long instructions below). BUT if you are patient, they are totally worth it. The hardest part is you have to have your craving for them about 48 hours in advance. Most of us are used to instant gratification, so this may seem hard, but I’m telling you, it’s WORTH IT.

The reason you need your craving 48 hours in advance is that the dough must be prepped three different times. And after the first two times, it is best if it then is left in the fridge overnight. For example, when I want to serve them for brunch on Sunday, I get started Friday night. I know this sounds tedious, but when you smell that amazing flaking buttery dough coming out of the oven on Sunday morning, you’ll forget about all of the work.
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