Father's Day Breakfast

On Saturday I made breakfast that was delicious; pancakes, fruit and the best bacon ever! On Father's Day Brian requested Egg's Benedict, and I must say it was another fantastic meal. Brian said, "That was a great $30 breakfast, only at home!" The eggs are from my aunt Peggy, she has about 40 chickens and whenever I see her she gifts me the most delicious eggs. And thanks to this video, on how to poach the perfect egg I must say I was able to whip this all out rather quickly. I only took 30 minutes because the home fries take that long, untouched, in the oven! The strawberries are from our CSA, and maybe from our neighborhood foraging (there is a big strawberry patch planted in front of our neighborhood, that I am convinced no one picks but me! I have picked in the last two weeks 12 cups worth! I have even made a small batch of strawberry rhubarb jam in my bread maker from these free berries! That will come later in a post!) And the berries were dressed with honey from my CSA, a new feature this year that is just to die for!

Look at that egg!

When I was a little kid I thought this breakfast was so gross, of course that was only from afar I had never tried it. I would like to think that had I only tried it I would have fallen in love with this dish much sooner, but alas it wasn't until I was an adult that I truly understood that truly great qualities of this dish. Now my daughter on the other hand, doesn't have my hang ups, she dives right in with both hands, literally! Who says three old's are picky eaters!

**See previous posts on roasted potatoes for the recipe.

Summer Vacation is Here! Special Grilled Cheese

As I begin my first full week of summer vacation I am trying to get back into the swing of things and posting a lot more. I still have occasionally been taking photos of things that I have cooked when I think about it, so this first entry is a backlogged entry from the beginning of June, daddy was busy for First Thursday at his shop and Molly and I were on our own. Daddy had this when he came home but I think he didn't fully appreciate how good I personally thought it was. Molly, by the way, ate the entire egg first then dove into the grilled cheese. You never know what she will dive into, to be honest.

I am looking forward to our summer starting, we have camping, swimming, stories and crafts, lots of walks, and sports classes to help keep us busy and doing things. Not mention the up keep of our gardens, yes Molly has her own container garden going (fully of pumpkins and watermelon seeds, plant starts of parsley and cilantro we will see if she doesn't drown them before they start to produce - the girl really loves to water!) More on the gardens to come!

Now for the recipe of the day:
Gruyere Grilled Cheese with Egg, Spinach Salad and Hash browns

Serves 4
10-14 WW pts (depends on what butter you use and how much, as well as your servings of salad and hash browns!)
(4)Thick sliced sourdough bread
8 oz Gruyere Cheese, shredded
2 tbsp Butter
(4) Eggs
*Spinach Salad Kit
*Frozen Hash browns (this is a fast week night meal! you will have a few pans going at once though)
1. Cook hash browns according to packet instructions, slather one side of bread with butter and build with cheese in the pan on medium high heat (use cover to help melt the cheese but don't forget about them, which can lead to burning!). Flip when one side is golden brown.
2. In a nonstick skillet on medium heat with a little pad of butter crack the eggs, and salt and pepper to taste. Once the whites start to solidify toss in a few tablespoons of water and cover with lid. Cook eggs to desired doneness, I like my yolks a little runny! 1-3 minutes. Don't forget your sandwiches!
3. In a salad bowl put together salad kit, serve the sandwiches with the eggs on top and dinner is served!

Thanks to Relish for this dish!