I’m 87% sure there’s nothing you can do to ruin these perfect creations.

Winter citrus is sparkling!

If I could wear these citrus segments as earrings… I would.

Let’s roast these beauties!

I know.  Weird.

Weird… but totally incredible.  Warm and salty sweet citrus bites.

Winter citrus feels like such a paradox to me.  Cool winds and brisk mornings somehow combine with the juciest, brightest fruit.

They match but they mismatch… just like red and hot pink.  Matchy not matchy.

Alright… so what are you going to do with all of this warm, roasted citrus?

I love to serve wedges warm with a waffle or eggs benedict brunch.

They’re also really lovely as a side dish with roasted meat.

You might also consider Winter Citrus Pancakes.  Crash! (bang! boom!)

Was it you who spent last Friday night with a bottle of white wine and a truly GIANT bowl of salty, sweet popcorn.

Did you find yourself 4 hours into a Say Yes to the Dress marathon?  Wait… did you cry a little bit?

Was it you who glanced at the random pair of scissors on your coffee table, then took a quick glance at the sleeping cat sitting to your left?  Was it you who again glanced at the scissors… then back at the unsuspecting cat?  Scissors.  Cat.  Scissors.  Cat.

Wait… was it you who decided to give your poor, helpless cat a summer hair cut?

Was it you who found out that trimming a cat’s hair is actually waaaay harder than it seems?

Was it you left with the kinda silly, lopsided looking cat?

Was that you?  Oh.  Wait.  No.

I guess that was ME.   My bad.  Honest mistake.

I can’t show you a picture of the cat.  It’s downright embarrassing.

Ps.  You should also know that I made some fruity, vegan banana bread.

I’m definitely sure that it was me who made it.  I’m definitely sure it was me who ate just about the entire loaf.

Oh… also.. the cat licked a slice.  He’s a sneaky creature.

Banana bread is a super awesome vegan treat.

It has enough banana, mango, and vegetable fat to keep this bread moist and flavorful, without anything animal-y in it.

I also love the flavor of ground ginger in this bread.  The warm spice is nothing but right!

mmm hmm.  Bake it.

Can I tell you something about me?  This has exactly nothing to do with bananas or butter or bread.  Feel free to roll your eyes and skip ahead, if necessary.

I used to be a worrier.  Like… a professional worrier.  I would worry like it was my job to worry, like I was getting paid mad/crazy/rich person dollars to worry.  I wasn’t.  I was broke.  That fact, in itself, made me worry.

I thought that worry would save me from every possible pain in the world.  I thought worry would prepare me for bad things, disappointing things, and crazy unforeseeable things.  If I worried about it… it either wouldn’t happen or I’d be prepared for it.

Well… let me tell you:  worry is no preparation.  It took me years.. YEARS, people…. years, to figure out that worry is just wasted energy.

Let’s be real.  I still worry about things.  It’s human nature.  We have big brains… I’m pretty sure a small portion of them are built to worry.

I worry about earthquakes in the middle of the night when I’m wearing no bra, my ugliest possible t-shirt, and the most embarrassing pair of panties a girl has ever owned.  What if there’s an earthquake, and my house falls down, and I have to retreat to my neighbors house in this hideous outfit?  Those thoughts usually lead me to find a reasonable pair of pajama pants and I slip on a sports bra.  See?  Worrier.

But I’m changed my expectations.  Instead of worry about the worst, I try to expect the best.

Seriously… what would my day look like if I expected great things instead of disastrous things?  I’ll tell you… it’s looks a heck of a lot better.  It feels better too.  I can drink more coffee without completely spazzing out.  Less worry frees me up to jump around in the world, and be silly, and thankful, and wear mint green nail polish, and write pen pal letters, and tell people I love them.

I still worry about earthquakes.  Those are scary.  But I also expect and welcome not just the good… but the great.

(What?  Wait… I’m not talking about trashy reality television?  No.  I know.  It’s weird.)

Do you remember when the strawberry/banana combo really hit its stride?  I think it was some time in the mid 90′s… in the Snapple era, that the strawberry/banana craze really got going.  I blame smoothies.

But… well, there’s something undeniably good going on here.

Let’s not fight it.

Wait.  Remember the Snapple lady?  That whole thing was always weird, right?

Let’s get down to the real deal.  Bread.

This is banana bread.  This is banana bread made exactly 17.845 times more delicious with the addition of browned butter and finely diced strawberries.

Brown butter adds depth, nuttiness, and downright deliciousness.  The strawberries help this banana bread feel pretty and celebrate the season.  The bread is much more banana flavored than strawberry flavored, but the bits of strawberry add sweet little surprise strawberry flavor bits.  I especially love how the strawberries on top get roasted during baking.  Slice them super thin so they don’t weigh down the rise of the bread or get too watery.

Sweet bread.  It’s comforting, simple, and delicious.  If you wanted to slather a warm slice with butter or cream cheese… we’ll, I’d consider you a friend.

I can’t cook without these shoes.  It’s just a thing I have.

And in completely unrelated news… these sunglasses look uh-mazing on Alison.  Major.

How to make and photograph Browned Butter Cranberry Lime Muffins:

1.  Walk to the coffee shop around the corner for a small cup of coffee.  Drink it.

2.  Plug in your camera battery.

3.  Look for your camera’s memory card.

You can’t find it.   Ok… no problem.  Keep looking.

Still can’t find it.  Ooooookkk.  Look some more.  Maybe it’s in that spot that you’re absolutely positive you left it last.  No?  Can’t find it?

Super impatient?  I understand.  Camera phone will do.  It just will.

4. Find your phone.

5.  Arrange cranberries and lime on that white thing that you like.

6.  Try to get the kitten to move.

The kitten doesn’t want to move.  The kitten wants to play.

7.  Just let the kitten play.  Fine.  But he will have to be locked up in just a minute.

8.  Melt butter until browned and whip up some batter with fresh cranberries.

9.  Top with granulated sugar and bake.

10.  Photograph and eat warm.  Go get more coffee if necessary.

11.  Don’t share with the kitten.  Sorry kitten.

You know that feeling….

When you’re on a brunch date, you arrive at a restaurant, and the hostess tells you that the wait is going to be 20 minutes…

And you think aloud to your date…’ok, great… let’s take a quick stroll around the block’… and you two take a quick stroll around the block.

It’s sunny and it’s Sunday and everything seems lovely…

Until you get back from your 18 minute stroll and check in with the hostess to find out that your wait time has increased in your absence… to like… an hour!!!

And your heart sinks.  And you want coffee.  And you really want some eggs.  And your kinda want to kick the hostess in the knee cap.

But you’re with a date.  You’re with a brunch date…. so you just sit with it.  You just sit with the wait time.  And you don’t complain.  And you try not to think about coffee.  And you try not to glare at the patrons already enjoying their eggs… those jerks.  And you just wait.  And wait.  And wait.

And then your brunch date finds the random rogue hair that sometimes grows out of your chin.  You call it your old lady hair.  And you’re usually really good about plucking your one old lady hair… but you misplaced your tweezers and your old lady hair got out of control… And you’ve waited so long for breakfast that your date has taken to intently staring at your face and has spotted your old lady hair…

And now you have to have a really awkward conversation about your old lady hair and all you want to do is dig a whole in the ground and crawl into it… And you curse that stupid hostess (who probably isn’t that stupid) for making you wait for your eggs so long that your old lady hair has been spotted.

DANGIT!

And you keep your hand on your chin for the rest of the date.

You know that feeling?  Yea… me too.

Let’s avoid that this weekend.  Make brunch for someone.

And keep your rogue old lady chin hair in check.  For your health.  For your dating health.

I can not believe I just told you about my rogue old lady chin hair.

This is totally embarrassing.

Perhaps I can distract you with these Cornmeal Molasses Pancakes.  They were really tasty.

This Crustless Quiche had spinach and blue cheese and walnuts.

How’s that for fancy!?

I want to marry these cinnamon rolls.  I already have the dress.

…. Stop looking at me like that.

There’s cream cheese!  In the cinnamon rolls!

Wait… did that picture of cinnamon rolls make you feel fat?

Me too.

Have a smoothie.  I’m going to.

And while we’re in the kitchen making that smoothie… how about some 30 Minute Croissants?

There go our healthy thoughts… right out the window again.

Hm…

You might consider turning these Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits into egg sandwiches.

That’s a good idea.

It’s up to you.

Get your brunch on… but don’t you dare wait in line for it.

I went ahead and made you breakfast for this weekend.

Except I ate it.  All.  It was delicious.

So actually… if you could just go ahead and make your own breakfast… that would probably be best.

Potatoes.  I strongly suggest you get 4 big russet potatoes.

Peel them clean.  Rinse them off.  Marvel at how lovely they’re going to taste with eggs and fresh herbs.

Your Sunday morning is about to smell divine.

I love to peel potatoes.  I should have joined the Navy to be a potato peeler.  Wait… that position exists, right?  I’m trying to get my Grandfather’s Navy stories straight in my head.  I’m pretty sure a potato peeler is an actual position.   I want in on that.

Thin, hand sliced potatoes.  Worth the effort and near loss of fingers.

Sliced potatoes meets caramelized onions, salt, pepper and my camera lens.

Eggs, cream, fresh chives and fresh parsley.  You dig?

Holy heck!  Would you look at that.  Potatoes and eggs have never looked finer.

This Potato Frittata is essentially a Potato Pie.  The ratio of potatoes to eggs is definitely skewed in the potato lovers favor.  The potatoes are peeled, sliced and roasted with caramelized onions, olive oil, butter and seasoning.  They’re irresistible even before they’re married with the eggs.

The eggs and cream work their way in between the potato slices in this butter laden cast iron skillet and cook up to perfection.  Perfection… and there’s not even any cheese in this dish.  Crazy, I know.  Fresh herbs add a bit of brightness to the dish.  Serve with sour cream.  I dare you not to try to eat half of the pan.  Dare you.

Wait… what’s that!?  You want to add cooked bacon bits to this frittata!?  I like the way you think.  You deserve a promotion.

Slice and serve directly from the skillet, warm or at room temperature.

I love my Mama.  

The older I get… the more I love my mama.  

The farther away I get from being a bratty, insufferable and ungrateful teenager… the more I appreciate my mama.

Phew… I didn’t make it easy on her.  Can I make up for those obnoxious years with brunch?  I’m pretty sure it can’t hurt.

The key to making mama a Mother’s Day brunch is this:  make brunch aaaaaaaand do the dishes.  Sure, mama’s like brunch, but I think what they like even more than the food is seeing us kids clean up the kitchen after ourselves.  It’s key.  It’s shows our dear mama’s that they raised us right… cause they did.

Make brunch.  I totally think you should.

You might start off with this super clever quiche. 

I’ve even got a crustless quiche recipe for you.  Now you really have no excuse not to make breakfast.  

Salad at brunch.  Mom’s like salad… it’s kinda their thing.  Trust me on this one.  

A homemade Caesar Salad?  Kinda mind blowing delicious.  

Let’s keep dessert light and delicious.  I love Blackberry Granita with lightly whipped cream.  It feels dainty and delicate and is still super simple and delicious.  

I think mama’s like it too.

Just don’t forget about the dishes.  It’s important.  Just think about how many bottles and diapers our moms washed for us.  Yea… so no complaining.  

I’ve learned a handful of things the twenty eight years I’ve been in the world.  Really just a handful of things… the rest I’m just making up as I go along.

One of the things I’ve learned:  serving someone a segmented grapefruit for breakfast has got to be one of the most loving things you can do.  It’s right up there with turning down the sheets or drawing someone a bath.  Real life romance.

I know… I know… it’s just a grapefruit, but if you’ve ever segmented a grapefruit for someone other than yourself than you know… it’s love.  No joke.

I don’t want to be chained to my measuring cups and teaspoons every time I step into my kitchen.

Sometime I just want to add some dashes and sprinkles… you know?  This recipe is not so much a recipe as it is suggestion.

Have you ever had a broiled grapefruit?  It’s like grapefruit creme brulee.  The brown sugar melts and browns beautifully and the flesh warms slightly.  Super simple and super delicious.

So… I definitely ate this warm and straight out of the pan.

It’s Friday.  I know you weren’t expecting this, but it’s time for a Pop Quiz.

Don’t worry.  If you’ve done the reading this should be easy… (I hated when teachers would say that to me).

Pop Quiz

1) True or False: The joining of chocolate and coffee is like a cosmic combination of all that is good, just, and rock and roll in the universe.

2) Fill in the Blank: Breakfast is the most _________________ .

3)  Multiple Choice: The best choice for this weekend’s breakfast treat is:

a) stale Cheerios.

b) Gerard Butler and hot fudge sauce.

c) breakfast sandwiches made on Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits.

Now… here are the answers:

1)  True….. duh!  2) Breakfast is the most important meal that ever was.  3) c… if and only if b is unavailable.

Perfect score?  We’re best friends.  Take note.

Breakfast.  Be still my heart.  I love you breakfast.

The combination of cheddar with buttery biscuits is divine.  Add a little kick of black pepper and holy yum!  These biscuits are made with both all-purpose and whole wheat flour.  I like the nuttiness of whole wheat flour.  Now you know.  The combination results in a dense but buttery and delicious biscuit.  They’re the perfect holder of turkey bacon and a fried egg.  Make a sandwich.  Dooooo it!

Eggnog Pancakes with a slight hitch.  Eggnog Pancakes without the Eggnog.
You should know that I’m going to capitalize Eggnog in this here post. If that bothers you…. apologies.

My Grandfather is the first person to pull a carton of grocery store branded Eggnog out of the refrigerator every year about this time.  When I see him reaching for the carton on the refrigerator door, I avoid all eye contact.  There is no offering.  There are no questions.  If Papa decides to pour you a glass… and it will be a GIANT glass… then you have to sit there, and drink every last bit… unless you want to be called a goshdarm vegan hippie.  Sure.. being a hippie might not be all that bad… but…well Eggnog shouldn’t be punishment and hippie shouldn’t be a bad word.  Dang!

So!

To avoid cartons of Eggnog coming from my fridge, I’ve created an Eggnog flavored pancake.  Not a dollop of actual Eggnog in sight.  Nothing to worry about here.

Can I tell you something about these pancakes… you know, because you’re here and all… they are crazy/heck yes/ omg good.  Are you thinking what I’m thinking?  Weekend breakfast?  The answer is… yes!

I’ve broken down Eggnog into a few simple elements and thrown those elements into pancake batter… not all that genuis, but outta this world delicious.  All you need to rally that spot on Eggnog flavor is a bit of brown sugar, freshly grated nutmeg, eggs, milk and whiskey or rum.  If you don’t want to use the alcohol for your pancakes… well that’s totally understandable.  A good dose of pure vanilla extract will treat you just fine.