you will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out

I love my neighbors.  On one side a family of 5=3 playmates for my kids, on the other side fill in grandparents since ours are in NY and FL, across the street the kindest most thoughtful neighbors/friends a girl could ask for, and, when my at the time 4 and 6 year old were laying down in the middle of my driveway playing dead (I didn't see them) they were nice enough to let me know before my husband pulled in and ran over both of them. 

I stole an idea from my bf to have a neighborhood breakfast.  She calls it her "Come as you are Christmas breakfast," the idea behind it, get the neighborhood women together, share life, good food, come in your pajamas, have a mimosa.  It is one of my favorite events to attend, I don't have to get dressed, I don't have to bring anything, and I can relax, something that does not often happen during the holidays.

I hosted a breakfast at my home last year, I did one in the studio where I teach cooking classes and I'm now writing about it, that is how much I love it.  As I prepare for this year's brunch I am collecting recipes and sharing my favorite article also given to my by my bf about entertainment vs. hospitality. 
My hope for the breakfast is that the women in my neighborhood will come and enjoy it at my house as much as I enjoy it when I go to my friends and that it would be a sweet thing to look forward to as we usher in the Christmas season.

Holiday Breakfast
Overnight blueberry french toast 
(too much sugar in the sauce cut by 1/2)
Best breakfast potatoes ever 
Spinach and artichoke egg casserole 
Apple oatmeal breakfast bake
Ham & Cheese Strata

stir up love

It is a busy Monday morning.  I have microwaved the same cup of coffee 4 times.  I have made the snacks for the week and before I move on to the next thing I wanted to share a few thoughts and recipes.

Last week my best friend from culinary school was here with us.  She was visiting from Charleston SC.  Everything I ate and drank with her tasted so good.  It's funny how food tastes better when you experience it with someone you love in a positive atmosphere.
Even my kids love her culinary influence.  Aunt Em's purse always had plenty of LARA bars.  So after she left I tried to make our own.  Success.  I love the blueberry muffin and the pb&j.  For pb&j I went nut free and used sunflowers instead of cashews, sunflower butter instead of pb, and dried cranberries instead of cherries.  I also threw in some flax seeds, optional.  I used the same instructions and amounts.  The pb&j ones I made were too crumbly for bars so I made them into balls.

On my daughter's 3rd Birthday we had already celebrated because I knew we had a busy day, a morning food talk, taking real estate pictures in the afternoon (another love) and now dinner time.  My pastor's wife gave me lemongrass so I combed the food network until I found the perfect use.  Shrimp in a coconut, ginger, and lemongrass broth.  I promise this was truly perfect.  It got better, the friend I was working for came to pick up the zip disc of pictures I took and joined us for dinner.  My husband's Sous Chef came to drop off something to my husband and he joined us for dinner.  Another friend sent a gift home for Eden so we had this fabulous meal with friends and a birthday celebration all unplanned.  And I will never ever stop raving about this dish.  I also substituted left over pork loin one time and cut it up and another time left over chicken.  I just completely omitted the shrimp part of the recipe and added the meat to the broth at the end and made sure it got to temperature (165 degrees).