Blueberries, Peaches, and Cream

One of the freshest breakfast dishes I can think of for a hot summer morning.

Ingredients:

1/2 pint blueberries

1/2 ripe peach, sliced

1/4 c. half and half, or heavy cream for a richer taste

1 tbsp. white, granulated sugar 

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Heart-Shaped Apples on Pancakes: A Way to Make a Delicious Breakfast Even More Special

I've learned many things about myself over the past several years. One lesson: I'm no morning person. There is so much to tackle each day, it is sometimes difficult to get up and make time for an involved breakfast before it all begins; however, one other thing I've learned is that, when I do something like this for myself, the rest of the day goes a little smoother. (Somewhere, Michael Jordan is grinning #Breakfastofchampions) Trust me when I say that the taste of these pancakes are worth the extra 30 minutes.

Original recipe can be found here.


Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 apple, sliced and cut into heart shapes
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• cooking spray

Directions

1. Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Place a slice of heart-shaped apple on top of the bubbles.
4. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

Eat your heart out.

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Maple, Vanilla Breakfast Bread Pudding

Baking bread pudding takes me back to age seven, when I first learned of the then-seemingly strange dish--"Soggy bread...baked in the oven? Do I dare?" I'm in the dining room, listening to my mom, aunts, uncles exchanging stories of what once was. My Uncle Todd, one of the many artists of the family, prepared this dish like one of his works of art. When it came out of the oven, I almost didn't want to eat it, it was so beautiful. I'm glad I did. Turns out, this soggy oven-baked bread is one of the most perfect comfort foods--one that will always remind me of home.


I have tried a number of different bread pudding recipes, but I've never tried one I like more than this one. Here is the original recipe (as usual, I tweaked it at least a little). Trust me, you'll want to start your day off with this mouth-watering dish.

T.C. rates: 5 beards

Ingredients:
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. maple syrup
6 slices bread (I used French bread), torn or cut into bite size pieces
4 eggs
1 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla paste, or vanilla bean or vanilla extract (I used extract)
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:


Place the brown sugar, maple syrup, and butter into the bottom of an 8x8 pan. Heat in the microwave for approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until the sugar has dissolved and the butter is melted. Stir the ingredients together, until the mixture has become combined and smooth.


(Once the bread pudding is done baking, the bottom of the bread will have soaked up this combo and caramelized ever so slightly. Because of this, a maple syrup topping is optional, as the dish is so moist and sweet already. Is your mouth watering yet?)

Evenly place the torn or cubed bread on top of the sugar, maple syrup, butter mixture in the baking dish.

In a medium bowl (large enough to fit the eggs, cream, milk, vanilla, and salt), beat the eggs until smooth.

Whisk in the milk, cream, vanilla, and salt to the beaten eggs.

Once the whisking is finished, pour the the egg mixture over the bread; do not stir!

Press the bread pieces down, so that they all absorb as much of the egg mixture as possible. Cover the dish with foil and set it in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake, covered, for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and there isn't any runny egg mixture.

The bottom of the bread pudding is nice and sweet, but you can add a tablespoon or two of maple syrup if your tooth is feeling extra sweet.

Eat your heart out.

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Chocolate Chip, Banana Pancakes with Whipped Cream: A Birthday Breakfast

Okay. Almost everyone knows how to make pancakes, right? Of course. What I'm offering is a tip or two on how to make banana pancakes turn out (almost) perfect. Tip #1: After they were done, I wish I had added maybe 1/4 - 1/2 c. buttermilk to make 'em a little more moist.

T.C. rates 4/5 beards

Ingredients:

2 c. Bisquick

1 c. milk

2 eggs
1/2 c. chocolate chips
2 bananas
whipped cream

Make sure you have all of the ingredients together, as this process can be pretty time sensitive. First, add the Bisquick mix to your mixing bowl.

Add all of your milk, eggs, and chocolate chips to the Bisquick. This is where I'd probably add some buttermilk to the mix. I find it best to use a whisk. Tip #2: Don't add the bananas just yet.

Make sure your pan is evenly hot (on medium temp). Use a non-stick cooking spray. Ladle 1/2 scoops into the pan. You want small to medium pancakes, so everything cooks through well enough, and the pancakes will be easier to flip (more on that in a bit).

While the pan is warming, cut the bananas about 1/4 inch thick--the thinner, the easier to cook.

Tip #3: Push the bananas into the raw pancake. Now, if the bananas are mixed into the batter, there's a greater chance that the pancakes might have some raw batter in the center. Get your banans to look like this (below), and you'll have a bananas foster-esque sort o' taste. Yum, right?

Tip #4: Put a lid on it. I don't know about you, but I've never really been able to get that perfect pancake flip. That is, until I learned (trial & error) that placing a lid on the pan allows the pancake to cook through enough to keep the pancake solid while flipping. Of course. Only took me 27 years.

Your pancakes are ready to be flipped when they look a little somethin' like this:

Eat your heart out.

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