Christmas Season 2013/2014 - Holiday Brunch 4

Dale and I invited Phyllis and Julie & Regina over for our holiday brunch this year. Dale made the egg-bake, I made the pistachio rum cake pudding, Julie and Regina brought cinnamon rolls, and Phyllis brought the makings for mimosas. 

Top left: Athena smelled lots of good smells coming out of the kitchen.

Top right: My martini. I had a mimosa with the meal.

Bottom left: Dale serves up the egg-bake.

Bottom right: Stairs leading to the front door. Yes, our holiday brunch occurred at night time (long story).

Christmas Season 2013/2014 - Holiday Brunch 3

Photos from our holiday brunch hosted just a couple of days ago. 

Left: Dale's egg-bake.

Top right: Veggies for the egg-bake.

Middle right: Cinnamon rolls brought by Julie and Regina.

Bottom right: Pistachio rum cake pudding.

Christmas Season 2013/2014 - Holiday Brunch 2

Pistachio Rum Cake Pudding

Top left: Just out of the oven.
Top right: Glaze poured on bottom.
Bottom left: Pre big reveal.
Bottom left: The big reveal.

Christmas Season 2013/2014 - Holiday Brunch 1

We hosted our holiday brunch today. I made a pistachio rum cake pudding and Dale made an egg-bake. The rum cake is was quite easy and fun to make. The recipe comes from family friend Judy and is as follows:

Pistachio Rum Cake Pudding

1 package pistachio pudding mix

1 package yellow cake mix

1/2 cup light rum

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup oil

4 eggs

Beat all ingredients together at medium speed for 2 minutes. Bake in a Bundt pan at 325 degrees for 55-60 minutes.

Rum Cake Glaze

3/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 stick butter

1/4 cup light rum

1/4 cup water

During last 10 minutes of baking, combine glaze ingredients in a pan. Boil 2-3 minutes [I stirred it the whole time]. Reduce heat [I continued to stir and removed from burner a couple of minutes before removing the cake from the oven]. After removing cake from oven, poke holes in the bottom with a knife to allow for seepage and then pour glaze over it while still in pan. Remove cake in 45 minutes from the pan.

Egg Bake Recipe

The following is the egg bake recipe we used for yesterday's brunch. The recipe comes from allrecipes.com and was submitted by Gloria Rohlfing.

Brunch Egg Bake

"Here's an easy, tasty dish to make for company that still allows you to spend plenty of time with your guests. I grew up in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country, and food was always the center of attention at our family get-togethers. We think brunch is the best meal of the day to gather and enjoy. -Gloria Rohlfing, York, Pennsylvania"

Ingredients:

3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 (4.5 ounce) jar sliced mushrooms, drained

1/3 cup sliced green onions

1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 cups diced fully cooked ham

8 eggs

1 3/4 cups milk

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Combine cheeses; place 3 cups in an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish and set aside. In a medium skillet, saute mushrooms, onions and red pepper in butter until tender; drain. Place over cheese; top with ham. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. In a bowl, beat eggs. Add milk, flour, parsley, basil, salt and pepper; mix well. Slowly pour over the cheese. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minute before cutting.

Dale made the egg bake and I thought it was absolutely delicious. It served seven people comfortably and we still had a couple of large servings left over.

Holiday Brunch 2011/2012 Season

Today was Epiphany Sunday. This past Thursday was the actual day of Ephipany so the Christmas season has pretty wound down. We had meant to have this year's brunch much closer to Christmas but schedule-wise today is what worked best. Our guests included some folks from church. Cyndi and her partner Maggie, Andrew and his partner Muricio, along with Reverend Aron. Dale made an egg bake from a new recipe, hash browns and sausages. I made a maple pecan bundt cake from a Nigella Lawson recipe. We also served fruit (pineapple, mango, strawberries). For appetizers we served brie and fig jelly on crackers. To drink we offered a lot of options but everyone chose mimosas. It was all very delicious and the company was fantastic. I'm finding more and more that I like hosting Sunday brunch. It's such a nice way to wind down the weekend.

Holiday Entertaining

Two couples that we know from the gym came over for dinner last night. Michelle, who teaches a spin class that Dale takes, and her husband Steve, along with Fred, who also takes the spin class, and his wife Linda arrived around 6:30. Appetizers included cheese, tapanade and crackers. Everyone drank wine except Steve and me who had Tanqueray gin martinis [Note to self: Steve loves Hendricks].

Dale made rigatoni and green beans amandine. Fred and Linda brought the most divine chocolate cake from Cafe Latte in St. Paul (see above photo).

It was a lovely group of people and a good time was had by all.