A group of my women friends and I have a Saturday morning ritual. We walk and then go out for breakfast. Sometimes the walk is the one I shared in my last post, sometimes we choose the bike path and return by the seawall, sometimes we head off to a different locale altogether. It’s really just to work up an appetite for breakfast, usually at Jake’s Diner, and the kibitzing we do there. We hate to miss it, and sometimes one of us will be away, have to work or have another obligation, but we try like the dickens to get together as often as we can. So when I was having landscaping work done and had to be home last Saturday I decided to let my friends go for their walk and I would make breakfast. That way we’d still be able to eat and kibitz and we wouldn’t feel rushed by people waiting at the door or waitresses wanting to turn their table.
My spring form pan had been sprung one too many times, and gave up the ghost on Saturday morning, attempting to leak egg all over my countertop. Plan B? Casserole dish. Not as pretty but just as tasty.
I wanted a meal that I could put together quickly so I’d be available to my landscaping crew when they needed direction, and that I could serve all at once without having to act as a short-order cook. It would help if I could do much of it ahead of time.
The Menu
Orange Cinnamon French Toast with Pure Maple Syrup from the Chipman Inn’s maple trees!
Crispy Bacon
Fruit Salad
Mimosas
The quiche-frittata is one of my favorite breakfast/brunch recipes. For anyone who has spent time in Middlebury, Vermont you may recognize it as one of the signature dishes from the Bakery Lane Soup Bowl, and it is in their cookbook. The recipe has stood the test of time.
It has no crust and is usually made in a spring form pan, and makes a lovely presentation when removed from the pan and plated. My spring form pan had been sprung one too many times, and gave up the ghost on Saturday morning, attempting to leak egg all over my countertop. Plan B? Casserole dish. Not as pretty but just as tasty.
Click on image to view full size
The mixture of onions, mushrooms, peppers and garlic could be sautéed the day before, the cheese grated and cubed, and the bread diced then as well. So whisking the eggs and cream and folding in the ingredients was a snap on Saturday morning.
I pre-made my French Toast egg batter the day before as well, along with my fruit salad. And bacon in the oven is a snap, I even laid it on to the foil lined cookie sheets the day before. So on Saturday morning when my landscapers were settled I put the quiche-frittata in the oven, saw my friends off for their walk, put on the coffee and made French Toast while the bacon was in the oven.
Click on image to view full size
One thing we don’t get for breakfast on Saturday mornings is Mimosas. When I poured them Anita quipped, “Just like Jake’s!” As I mentioned, Jake’s is one of our Saturday breakfast spots. Denise added, “We should just come here every Saturday!” and Melissa piped in, “We’ll buy the stuff and you can cook it!” Jinx had just returned from a 10-day Viking European River Cruise where she raved about everything, especially the food. I told the group, “I just didn’t want Jinx to come back to the states and have to go cold turkey on her dining experience.”
Click here for the recipes:
Perhaps they’d be good dishes to thank your favorite veteran for his service on Memorial Day; blessings to all of you who’ve served. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend, whatever you’re doing!
Everything looks delish, Deb! So jealous I am not there to join you on your walks!
xoxo