brunch

How to Serve a DIY Bagels and Lox Brunch Bar

Wondering what to serve a crowd at your next party? Make it easy on the hostess with this breakfast and brunch buffet idea: Serve a DIY bagels and lox brunch bar.

Last year when my niece Chandler announced she was engaged, I knew I wanted to host a bridal shower for her. With her wedding date set for early May, coming up with spring shower ideas would be perfect timing.

So this past weekend with 20 to 30 guests arriving for her bridal shower party (why doesn’t anyone RSVP anymore???) something totally unexpected happened, and it pretty much blew my mind.

For probably the first time in my hostessing career, I didn’t freak the freak out while prepping for the party.

Why didn’t I have my usual pre-party hostessing melt down? Because you guys convinced me to make it easy on myself and create a build your own bagel and lox brunch bar as the centerpiece of our day.continue to the recipe… about How to Serve a DIY Bagels and Lox Brunch Bar

Easy Instant Pot Monkey Bread

This easy pull-apart bread starts with frozen dinner rolls that rise overnight and are then baked in the Instant Pot pressure cooker for a sweet and fast cinnamon sugared breakfast or brunch treat.

I’m not sure who made up the name for this sweet, sticky pull-apart bread, but whoever did nailed it on the head. Because just like monkeys who are known to pick, pick, pick at their favorite things, this cinnamon, brown sugar, and pecan-laced monkey bread is the perfect sweet breakfast or brunch finger food.

This overnight monkey bread is made with frozen yeast dinner rolls so be sure to plan ahead and allow time for the rolls to rise overnight.

The unique part of this recipe is that instead of being baked in the oven, this monkey bread is baked in the Instant Pot pressure cooker. Yes! You can bake in the Instant Pot, and successfully do so too.

The other part of this recipe I love so much is the “balls” of the monkey bread are cut in half before baking to make smaller bites, ensuring that every single nugget is lathered in that classic sticky, cinnamon and brown sugar goodness.

Half the size means you can enjoy them all year long, whether it’s Christmas breakfasst, or New Years brunch, or any time you’re craving that sweet treat any monkey would put his hat on and dance for.continue to the recipe… about Easy Instant Pot Monkey Bread

14 Days of Healthy Breakfast Recipe Ideas

What can I cook for breakfast? It’s a question repeated by millions every single day. And I bet you’re one of them.

I talk a lot about my cravings for easy, healthy breakfast recipes, because, hey, it’s the most important meal of the day, right?

Why is breakfast important? Because eating breakfast helps with weight loss, brain function, and keeping you moving all throughout the day. That’s why I am ALWAYS on the lookout for easy breakfast recipe ideas to keep this healthy habit fresh and fun. Because as we all know, breakfast is too easy to skip, and too often breakfast is boring too.

This list of 2 weeks, or 14 days, of seasonal and simple healthy breakfast recipe ideas offer up WAY better than average starts to your day and make eating breakfast a habit you’ll actually enjoy.

These breakfasts focus on all the flavors of fall, with some geared toward on-the-go and others for easy weekend breakfast or brunch. They’re seasonal but simple recipes for eggs, breakfast sandwiches, simple frittatas, oatmeal, avocado toast, and protein pancakes will make breakfast your favorite meal of the day.continue to the recipe… about 14 Days of Healthy Breakfast Recipe Ideas

Asparagus and Mushroom Frittata with Goat Cheese

Frittata egg breakfasts are usually a meal to share, but this two-egg, single-serving recipe packed with fresh asparagus, mushrooms, green onion and a sprinkling of goat cheese is the perfect way to enjoy a quick and healthy breakfast idea for one.

When I used to hear of people making frittatas, it sounded so glamorous, so exotic. It was a recipe you’d save to serve for company at a languid weekend brunch with mimosas and sunshine. Sure, frittatas can be exactly that. But they can also be one of the quickest, easiest breakfasts for one you’ll make all week, and that’s why a version of this ingredient combo hits my breakfast table at least once or twice a week.

When I started making frittatas for breakfast it was entirely by accident and purely because as a distracted multi-tasker who put my standard scrambled egg combo of asparagus, mushroom and green onion to cook on the stove, then started doing the dishes, and promptly forgot all about my eggs.

And so when I turned around I was happily surprised to see there was a sight to behold, a puffy mass of softly souffleéd egg cooking gently away in my pan.

This egg scrambling “mistake” wasn’t the first time I’d made a frittata (this one is SO GOOD!) but it is the one that made me realize this frittata-making situation just might be the easiest, hands-off way to make a fresh and fast, healthy grab-and-go breakfast each and every day of the week.

continue to the recipe… about Asparagus and Mushroom Frittata with Goat Cheese

Easy Chilaquiles with Eggs Recipe

Thanks to Taco Tuesday’s Mexican-fest that left you with an extra bag of tortilla chips, salsa and hopefully avocado, all this recipe needs to add is a super simple homemade tomato and chile enchilada sauce and sunny side up eggs to make chilaquiles at home for one of the quickest breakfast or brunch recipes that you’ll totally be making for dinner too.

The first time I spied chilaquiles on the menu was when I actually was IN Mexico, because until recent years, it wasn’t a very common item at any of the Mexican American restaurants I’d been to.

The thought of mixing chips with enchilada sauce and then topping it all with eggs may not sound as compelling as beef and butternut squash enchiladas or 5-minute chipotle shredded chicken taquitos with my homemade creamy avocado salsa verde but because you can have this entire meal-in-one cooked and on the table in less than 20 minutes, that’s more than compelling to me.

The recipe archives here on FoodieCrush have a well-stocked list of Mexican favorites, but there’s been a hole just waiting to be filled with this skillet breakfast nacho recipe. That’s why when I was leafing through one of my favorite food bloggers new cookbook, The Minimalist Kitchen: 100 Wholesome Recipes, Essential Tools, and Efficient Techniques by Melissa Coleman of The Faux Martha, this recipe was just one that leapt from it’s beautifully, but simply, designed pages.

I’ve known Melissa for years and have first hand seen her work her recipe-making magic in her minimalist farmhouse kitchen and totally enjoyed the labor of her foodie love.

I remember looking at the spices in her kitchen cupboard and thinking to myself, “Really? Is that all she has to flavor everything she cooks with?” And when she asked me to hand her a spatula, I was surprised at the contrast to my own kitchen when I opened the drawer and there in Melissa’s drawer I found just.one.spatula.

But oh the magic Melissa can make when living, and cooking, with less. And not only cooking, but baking the best things, too. She lives what she preaches and does it with ultimate style and loving grace.

What you won’t find in The Minimalist Kitchen are recipes with a laundry list of ingredients or take all day to make. That wouldn’t be very minimalist, now would it? Instead what you’ll find along with 100 recipes for her famous pizzas, easy to succeed at desserts and her make-every-day-of-the-week-hummus, are Melissa’s tricks and tips to making and keeping a minimalist kitchen yourself. This is just one of the ways The Minimalist Kitchen stands out among the rest.

How to Create a Minimalist Kitchen

Here are a few of Melissa’s minimalist tendency takeaways I’m totally working toward myself:continue to the recipe… about Easy Chilaquiles with Eggs Recipe

Puff Pastry Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese Quiche

Thanks to a few staples you can keep in your fridge and freezer, this quick and simple quiche comes together fast thanks to a puff pastry crust filled with custard-ey eggs, smoked salmon, and crème fraîche or goat cheese.

This post has been updated with new photos and a few tweaks to the recipe. Enjoy!

Keeping long-lasting basic ingredients on hand in the fridge, freezer, and panty easily solves the “what’s for dinner” question. And with this super simple, quick quiche recipe, you won’t have to ponder that question for breakfast, brunch or lunch either.

We’ve definitely been on a breakfast kick and quiche has been top of mind. And I don’t mean breakfast for breakfast, but for dinner instead. One of my favorite things growing up is when my dad would break out the big electric frying pan in the evening and sauté mushrooms and bacon for Grandma’s Eggs. What kid doesn’t think breakfast for dinner is some sort of cosmically altered universe? And it’s an easy way for mom and dad to look like we’re ‘breaking the rules’ and going against society.

What rebels we are.
continue to the recipe… about Puff Pastry Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese Quiche

The Best Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Finding the best homemade cinnamon roll recipe has been my mission for more years than I can count on two hands.

Strike that.

Finding the best homemade cinnamon roll recipe and actually making it, now THAT is what has been my mission for that number of years.

I’ve Pinned hundreds of recipes on Pinterest, and liked all of them on Facebook. I’ve torn out every recipe from every magazine that’s shared cinnamon rolls deemed fit to bake. And it seems that just about every week of Friday Faves has one more recipe for the perfect cinnamon roll included in it.

Not that I’ve ever made any of them.continue to the recipe… about The Best Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Bacon Broccoli and Potato Frittata

Invented to be the perfect vehicle for any sort of leftover lounging in the fridge or flavor combination you can’t get out of your head, the essence of this frittata’s baked egg goodness is delivered in each and every bacon, broccoli, and potato-filled bite.

This post is brought to you by Kroger

Frittatas are a meal that leads a double life, possessing the wow factor of the uppity and far more finicky egg soufflé with the utilitarian goodness of a hardy egg omelette. They’re comfortingly adaptable. You can add meats, cheeses, and veggies of any sort. You can serve them hot, or serve them cold. You can eat them on fine china or from a napkin in your hand, in the car, on the way to work.

It’s true. Frittatas may just be the ultimate all-in-one food.

Even better, once you have the method and the proportions down, you can customize these custardy skillet bakes to your food craving’s content, making for a delicious breakfast, brunch, lunch, and even dinner that serves a crowd with minimal fuss.

Minimal fuss. Now, THAT is what I call the ultimate crowd pleaser.
continue to the recipe… about Bacon Broccoli and Potato Frittata

Pull-Apart Cinnamon Pecan Rolls

These super easy but delightfully delicious cinnamon pecan pull-apart rolls with a brown sugar and butter caramel sauce are perfect for any weekend or holiday brunch.

This post is in partnership with McCormick

I am a nut about Christmas traditions.

Even today, I still make sure the garish Christmas ornament I made in third grade from a paper plate wrapped with red and green yarn to look like a wreath and sporting a photo of my Brownie Scout-buck-toothed grin hangs in its place of glory, in the same spot, every year, on my mom’s elegantly decorated Christmas tree.

When it comes to holiday traditions, it’s the little things that count.

For our family, one of the most revered traditions is our Christmas morning breakfast. In fact it’s so special, we only serve it once a year, and this Cinnamon Pecan Roll bundt breakfast treat is a favorite part of it. continue to the recipe… about Pull-Apart Cinnamon Pecan Rolls

Food Bloggers’ Guide of Where to Eat in Salt Lake City, UT

Just minutes from summer’s outdoor adventure and winter’s world-class ski resorts with what is known world over as “The Greatest Snow On Earth”, Salt Lake City hasn’t relied solely on what mother nature has provided to feed the souls of local residents and worldwide visitors.

In this mountain city that just happens to border the desert, the restaurants and diners, bars and brewpubs, coffee shops and bakeries are just as vital to the local climate and lifestyle as skiing and biking and hiking in the towering Wasatch mountains of which the city is best known for.

As the epicenter of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints—aka the Mormons—Salt Lake City may be considered modest by some larger city’s standards.

Far from mundane or chaste, Salt Lake City’s original landscape was ripe with a convivial spirit, even boasting a stretch of what is now downtown’s Main Street as “Whiskey Street”, named by the founder of Salt Lake City himself, Brigham Young, where gentiles (including Mr. Young) were able to quench their thirst and enjoy in the revelry.

Today, that spirit for food and drink is alive and well and totally on point with those bigger locales thanks to award-winning craft breweries, nationally recognized 4-diamond restaurants, plus favorite local haunts that have stood the test of time.

Following are a few Salt Lake City standouts from local food bloggers, who are dining in and dining out, and always taking in the scene.

continue to the recipe… about Food Bloggers’ Guide of Where to Eat in Salt Lake City, UT

The Essential New Year’s Day Brunch Guide

New Year’s Eve gets all the hype, but if you ask me, New Year’s Day is where the real fun is.

Don’t get me wrong, I love dressing to the nines, eating fancy finger food and toasting flutes of champagne (this style is a fave) while counting backwards from 10 as much as the next person. I may even get a tad misty when we get to “1,” and Auld Lang Syne fills the room. (I can’t help but think of the end of When Harry Met Sally — spoiler alert.)

Mostly, there’s so much buildup leading to midnight, that once it’s over I’m flooded with an underwhelmed feeling, and occasionally a throbbing headache. Take heed, sloe gin is never a good idea, no matter how authentic your 1920s-themed party is.

New Year’s Day is full of optimism, resolutions and of course, brunch!

It’s the perfect way to ring in the first day of the new year. You’re allowed to sleep in (which you’ve rightfully earned) and it doesn’t require formal attire. It gives you the opportunity to reflect on the past year and bask in the promising glow of the new one, all while casually sipping mimosas.

So let’s celebrate and embrace the new year. But first, brunch!
continue to the recipe… about The Essential New Year’s Day Brunch Guide

Sweet and Sticky Glazed Lemon Buns

These melt-in-your-mouth buns are baked in the oven and tossed in melted butter and dusted with sugar and lemon zest, and they make an irresistible breakfast treat!

I’ve got some hot buns.

Not THOSE kind of buns, although my husband would kindly say otherwise. He’s been trained that way and after 20+ years of marriage, he knows what side his bread is buttered on.

But these yeasty bites have no need for butter to spread. Because they’ve already been tossed, toiled and drizzled with the melted golden goodness.

Butter. It’s the eau de parfum of springtime buns.continue to the recipe… about Sweet and Sticky Glazed Lemon Buns

Sweet and Savory Crepes

Today, homemade c-r-e-p-e-s spell b-r-u-n-c-h.

While most any other time of the year I lean more toward get togethers via BBQs and dinner parties, sometime between Easter and Mother’s Day my cravings for celebrating with brunch hit an all-time high.

I love my go-to brunch favorites Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole and Banana and Chocolate Chip Baked French Toast because they’re just so dang easy to have done beforehand.

But I think it’s a lot more fun when all hands are on deck, so breakfast and brunch become a little more DIY.

continue to the recipe… about Sweet and Savory Crepes

Bacon Egg and Cheese Biscuit Sandwiches

Do you know what happens mere moments after the Easter Bunny silently scampers away from the scene of the crime? When mom and dad survey the scene of multi-colored egg bombs that litter the yard?

The elephant in the room appears and asks, “How much egg salad are we going to have to eat this year?”

Easter is funny that way. Traditional always, with flavors like ham, carrots and scalloped potatoes. Scalloped potatoes are a flavor in my book. And of course there’s a spring berry something for dessert.

And eggs. Let us not ignore the eggs.

I for one take my egg salad very, very seriously, and very, very happily. But sometimes you just have to throw your hands in the air and let the world know that enough is simply enough with the egg salad.

That’s when it’s time to double down and try something new. Like biscuits and eggs. Still a sandwich, but different enough.

continue to the recipe… about Bacon Egg and Cheese Biscuit Sandwiches

Scrambled Egg and Roasted Asparagus Toasts

Brunch is too often reserved for occasions rather than any regular day of the week. Baby and wedding showers. Once in a while get togethers with friends. Springtime holidays that celebrate eggs and moms in sincere appreciation.

Most often brunches are thought of as a party. A gathering of many rather than just a few. Or even of just two. But this party dish is good any day of the week, and perfect for celebrating with a party of deux.

For the past few celebrations of Easters we’ve been out of town, doing our own version of celebrating in the midst of ringing slot machines, pools and palm trees and a smoragasbord of buffet options that would put any competitive eater’s aspirations at winning a championship to shame.

continue to the recipe… about Scrambled Egg and Roasted Asparagus Toasts

Banana Bread Muffins with Toasted Coconut

I spend a lot of time looking at recipes. I read cookbooks like most read from books from the NY Times bestseller list. My bedside is littered with layers upon layers of food magazines from across the world. And man, of course I look at a lot (a lot!) of food blogs for crazy good inspiration.

But one of the biggest traps I find myself getting into when I’m creating a weeknight dinner or Sunday breakfast, is I end up cooking to create content for this blog, instead of for fun or frivolity.

Yes, cooking is creative and yes, I love it. But sometimes, I don’t want to think about composing photos of ingredients or taking photos of the finished product or swatting hungry hands away from the hot goods before they can dig in.

Sometimes I just want to recreate something delicious I see from a food blogger online. To be inspired by someone else’s recipe. To take it for a spin and give it a go. Just because it looks so. dang. good. rather than having to work for it.

And this, THIS, is a prime example…

continue to the recipe… about Banana Bread Muffins with Toasted Coconut

Coconut Waffles with Pomegranate Syrup…Or Ice Cream

Maybe it was all of that tropical sun beating on my brain while I celebrated Thanksgiving at the equator. Or maybe it’s just my die hard love of coco-nut—Almond Joys have always been my weak in the knees sweet treat.

Either way, these Coconut Waffles with Pomegranate Syrup just hit the top of my koo-koo for coco-nut list. And it’s all a part of Gold Medal Flour‘s Virtual Bake Day.

Breakfast. It’s the meal that can sometimes get overshadowed by the big guns with tons of variety in the lunch and dinner time menus. I say, rise up breakfast! Let your flavor buds show their flair!

And let’s add coconut to waffles.

Like most red-blooded Americans I spent Thanksgiving with my family. Unlike most red-blooded Americans I spent it in the British West Indies sucking down Mango Mambos, fresh from the sea Conch salad and digging my toes in the sand while my girl savored every second of cousin time.

Meal times were just about the only thing that kept us in touch with the time of day. Breakfast > beach > lunch > beach > 4:00 rainbow > cocktail on beach > dinner > bed. Then up to do it all again the next day.

Oh what a glorious groundhog day we were in.

continue to the recipe… about Coconut Waffles with Pomegranate Syrup…Or Ice Cream

Escape with Ghirardelli Intense Dark: Unexpected Rewards

In a world where work is sometimes hard, long and sometimes unappreciated, it’s important to give—and get—unexpected rewards along the way.

My workplace has changed in a big way over the past year. I’ve transitioned from 20 years of working for someone else to finally taking that plunge and working for myself. I don’t have a commute—except from the kitchen where I do most of my foodie creating, to my office where I get the design work done.

I can wear what I want, even though I pretty much did that anyway. When I run out of olive oil or am craving a new white dish for a photo, I can run to HomeGoods in the middle of the day and not feel the least bit guilty about it. Hey, I may even stop at 7 grocery stores on the way home. Yes, I do that too.

Working for myself is something I wouldn’t change for the world. But I do sometimes miss the company camaraderie, the daily interaction with co-workers (read that with a big emphasis on ‘sometimes’) because I really have the best set-up I could ask for. I work from home but I have the support of fresh ideas, willing hands and not yet jaded minds who are eager to learn.

I have interns.

For the past three years—has it been that long already?—I’ve been teaching Advanced Typography and Magazine Design at a local university. One night a week I meet up with senior college students about to embark on the transition of student to worker bee and teach them not only about design, but also about the real world, with real expectations and the hard work that will be expected of them once they get into it. Oh how I remember the days, my whole future was a glorious open field, ripe with opportunity. And it was so scary.

One of the reasons I enjoy working with these emerging careerists is not to teach them, but to teach me. To motivate me to be a better communicator and a wider thinker. To familiarize me with new technology I wouldn’t know was available as I work in my pigeon hole of doing the same thing the same way like I always have. To give me ideas and inspiration in an effort to keep fresh and relevant, and keep me up to date on the slang and fashion forward so I don’t seem like a total old fogie to my daughter and useful to my readers.continue to the recipe… about Escape with Ghirardelli Intense Dark: Unexpected Rewards

Baked Orange French Toast with Almond Crumble

I have a friend who abhors anything citrus. The smell alone puts her into a tailspin and the gag reflexes start. Peeling an orange in the same office with her was always a sensitive affair, but being the ever polite and gracious co-worker she would simply step out and never complain when any one of us would forget about her unfortunate dislike.

I feel sad for her. Citrus is so good! Thank goodness we’ve both moved onto new jobs where inconsiderate co-workers are a thing of the past.

Smudge is obsessed with clementines, and she will argue with me, “Moooom, they’re called “Cuties” not clemmmmentinnnnes.” She doesn’t quite get the branding thing yet. And that’s perfectly fine with me. As long as she’s getting her vitamin C and eating oranges.

So when I was noodling around thinking of recipes where I could add some orange flavor, one of my favorite dishes made its way to the front and center. French toast made easy: baked in the oven.continue to the recipe… about Baked Orange French Toast with Almond Crumble

Salmon and Bagel Egg Benedict for Mother’s Day Brunch

While writing this I can overhear my husband singing along to Pete Townsend.

It’s not the expected rendition of one of the The Who‘s famously loud and uproarious songs. No, its a much sweeter and tender tune sung to a simple ukelele with a message that resonates deeply with me this Mother’s Day.

“I like every minute of the day!
I like every second, so long as you are on my mind,
Every moment has its special charm,
It’s all right when you’re around, rain or shine.”
—Blue, Red and Grey, The Who

It’s too easy these days between work commitments, running kids to and fro—not to mention our daily obsession with Instagram and Pinterest—to forget what is most important in our ever-expanding to-do-list-filled days.

To take a breath. To sit back and to look around and take advantage of the moments we have together as a women, moms and daughters.

Whether it’s an impromptu pinecone dodgeball fight in the park with my darling and quickly maturing daughter or a telephone conversation with my most supportive cheerleading mom, it’s just like Pete says, it’s all right when they’re around.

Smudge and her Mimi at a recent outing at the Zoo via @FoodieCrush Instagram

And that’s why I’m thrilled that I’ll again be spending this Mother’s Day with both of my girls. Yes, it is just a day like any other calendar day, but it’s also a reminder to take advantage of time spent with one another. To respect the teachings of the mom who’s lived a life of learning and to share her life lessons with my absorbent little sponge of a Smudge.

We’ve made this recipe a couple of times for my parents. Although my dad was a wee bit skeptical the first time out of the gate, he’s definitely been won over.continue to the recipe… about Salmon and Bagel Egg Benedict for Mother’s Day Brunch