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So far I think most of my entries have been brunch related. Brunch is easily my favorite meal, and if it were acceptable to eat it for every meal, I would. It is also the meal I'm the most comfortable making. As I've said, I look forward to the weekend to make brunch and take a break from mornings of quick breakfasts of oatmeal, frozen waffles and granola.
This morning I made cranberry/blueberry pancakes. I have pancake mix that you just add water to. I know it's not the best, but it's the easiest and I've gotten it down so I make exactly 2 pancakes. I don't think I'd ever make pancakes if it resulted in leftover batter. I also have a pancake pan that my aunt gave me for xmas a few years back. Both my mom and my aunt bestow wonderful kitchen gadgets on me, perhaps because they've both been homemakers and know the benefit of cutting some corners. I 
think I could probably make pancakes the old fashion way, but the pancake pan makes it so easy. It's pancake size and folds down over the pancake, so you just turn over the whole pan to flip the pancake. It is a bitch to clean tho, but that's more the fault of the fruit I add to the pancakes that kinda burns and carmelizes than the pan's fault. This morning's pancakes came out great. I like the tartness of the cranberry and the sweetness of the blueberry. I also do banana pancakes if I have bananas that are a bit overripe.
As a side note, cranberries are one of my favorite foods. I love them. I love the tartness. I love the juice, them dried, in salads, in oatmeal, etc. It's weird my favorite flavor profiles are fall flavors and fall is not my favorite season... I may like it more than winter, but only cuz of October. The rain and progressive coldness really grates on me. It's also weird cuz I'm not a Thanksgiving fan, yet some of my favorite flavors/foods are pumpkin, cranberry and fall/winter squash, especially butternut. Each year I buy a bag of cranberries and put them in the freezer so I can enjoy them all year round. I guess I really am a Massachusetts girl...
Back in December, I was in NYC visiting a friend who has a strong passion for food: cooking it, eating it, writing abt it, etc and she made me a brunch I had never even dreamed of, baked eggs. Honestly, it kinda blew my mind. I'd never even heard of baked eggs. She sauteed up mushrooms, which I'm not even a big fan of, in truffle oil and, simply put, they were divine. See her food blog here-- South Bronx Foodie
So after getting some awesome ramekins from my aunt for Christmas, all I could think was BAKED EGGS. This weekend, I finally took them on. I sauteed up leeks, frozen spinach and tomatoes in olive oil w/ s&p. I added this to the bottom of my ramekins, topped w/ a slice of cheese and then cracked an egg on top. Then put in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes, then I rotated the pan for another 10 minutes. Katherine served them w/ toast, while I opted to make homefries while they were in the oven. I used the same pan and honestly these were the best homefries ever. Not sure how I managed that...
Ultimately, my yolks came out hard, but I made these again this am w/ broccoli instead of spinach and rotated after 8 minutes and everything was runny... edible for sure, but I'm still a little skeeved out by runny whites. Maybe 9 minutes is the happy medium...
All week, I look forward to the weekend, when I can make myself a delicious brunch. Most days this means making an omelet or fritatta. Sometimes, I make french toast, pancakes or another egg dish, but most times I just love a good fritatta.
What I put in depends on what's in the crisper. Generally it is comprised of onion, either red or white, cheese and some other veggies, such as broccoli, spinach, tomato, bell pepper, etc. Lately, I've been doing more fritattas then omelets cuz I've never really mastered the fold over that an omelet requires. Plus, w/ a fritatta the potatoes are right in there w/ the egg, and while it's delicious that way, it is also one less pan to clean!
I start by putting a pierced potato in the microwave for abt 2 minutes. I then cut it up, add it to a frying pan w/ heated vegetable oil. As the potato fries up, I dice my veggies small and grate the cheese. Then I whisk two eggs w/ milk and pour it over the potatoes.
As the egg sets, I add s&p and then sprinkle the veggies in. Finally 
I top w/ cheese and cover w/ a lid to firm the top and melt the cheese. 
Ideally, I'd throw it in the oven to brown, but I don't think my pan is oven safe and I don't think my oven is big enough. C'est la vie...Then I settle down on the couch in front of the tv w/ my fritatta and a big cup of coffee to catch up on my dvr, some trashy reality tv or the soup w/ joel mchale. Ahhh, weekends!
This morning I made cranberry/blueberry pancakes. I have pancake mix that you just add water to. I know it's not the best, but it's the easiest and I've gotten it down so I make exactly 2 pancakes. I don't think I'd ever make pancakes if it resulted in leftover batter. I also have a pancake pan that my aunt gave me for xmas a few years back. Both my mom and my aunt bestow wonderful kitchen gadgets on me, perhaps because they've both been homemakers and know the benefit of cutting some corners. I 
think I could probably make pancakes the old fashion way, but the pancake pan makes it so easy. It's pancake size and folds down over the pancake, so you just turn over the whole pan to flip the pancake. It is a bitch to clean tho, but that's more the fault of the fruit I add to the pancakes that kinda burns and carmelizes than the pan's fault. This morning's pancakes came out great. I like the tartness of the cranberry and the sweetness of the blueberry. I also do banana pancakes if I have bananas that are a bit overripe.
