Colleen's Take: "This was so easy and refreshing, I used champagne (the $4 kind, cause i'm cheap!) but it was a great compliment to the cheesy egg bake, bacon, citrus salad & coffee cake."
ingredients
- ice cubes
- 4 cups mango juice, chilled and well-shaken
- 4 cups sparkling wine or seltzer, chilled
- 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
- 8 paper-thin lime slices
directions
- Just before serving, fill 8 stemmed glasses with ice. Divide the mango juice, sparkling wine and lime juice among the glasses; stir to combine. Garnish with the lime slices.
- recipe here
Colleen's take: "These were good, not great, not worth all of the trouble we went to to make it, regular bacon would have been just as good. This recipe was also prepped the night before."
ingredients
- 1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne
- 2 pounds thick-sliced bacon
directions
- In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, ginger, coriander, cardamom and cayenne. On a large sheet of wax paper, sprinkle both sides of each bacon slice with the sugar 1 mixture, using about 1/2 tsp. per side. Using your fingers, spread the mixture and press onto the bacon. After the bacon is coated, make 4 equal stacks. Place the stacks side by side, and wrap 3 times in plastic wrap to keep the package from leaking. Transfer to a large plate; refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
- Position 1 rack in the top third and 1 rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees . Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with foil. Place a large rack on each baking sheet. Have several layers of paper towels ready for draining the bacon. Unwrap the bacon and place the slices on the racks. Bake for 12 minutes. Using tongs, turn the bacon over. Rotate the pans and bake until the bacon is crisp and glazed, about 12 minutes. Drain briefly on the paper towels. Transfer the bacon to a platter and serve immediately.
Colleen's Take: "The original recipe called for white bread, my Dad almost had a coronary attack when I mentioned this, so we had to use nice italian bread. We prepped it the night before so we only had to pop it in the over Christmas morning, it was delightful! I will be using this one again."
ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 pounds mini sweet peppers or red bell peppers, seeded and cut crosswise 1/4-inch thick
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 6 tablespoons snipped fresh chives
- 10 large eggs
- 4 cups whole milk
- 12 slices (1/2-inch thick) white bread
- 2 1/2 cups coarsely shredded gruyere
directions
- Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. In a large skillet, heat the butter over medium-high heat. Add the peppers and a pinch salt and cook, stirring, until the peppers are softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley and 3 tbsp. chives.
- In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Whisk in the milk.
- In the prepared dish, arrange 6 bread slices in a single layer, cutting to fit if needed. Top with the pepper mixture and 1 cup cheese, then the remaining bread. Pour in the egg mixture and top with the remaining cheese. [Make ahead: Cover with plastic; refrigerate overnight. Uncover before baking.]
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees . Bake until puffed up and browned, about 45 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining 3 tbsp. chives.
Colleen's take: "There are some things I would do different about this salad, it was delicious and great contrast for breakfast, but it was so much work, I sat peeling fruit for an hour, next time I will just buy it all cut up (no sugar added of course) and add it all together. I also couldn't find some of the ingredients so I used grapefruits, cuties, & oranges."
ingredients
- 6 tangelos, such as minneola
- 4 small ruby red grapefruits
- 4 navel oranges
- 2 blood oranges
- 1 tablespoon (packed) light brown sugar
- pinch salt
- 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest plus 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds
directions
- Using a small, sharp knife and following the natural curve of the fruit, peel the tangelos, grapefruits and oranges, removing all of the white pith. Cut the fruit crosswise 1/2 inch thick, then cut each slice in half; discard any seeds. [Make ahead: Transfer the prepared citrus to resealable plastic bags and refrigerate overnight.]
- In a small saucepan, bring 1/3 cup water, the brown sugar and salt to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove the saucepan from the heat, add the lemon zest and fennel seeds, cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Pour the mixture through a fine strainer set over a small bowl, pressing on the solids to extract the liquid; discard the solids. Let the syrup cool to room temperature, then stir in the lemon juice. [Make ahead: Cover and refrigerate overnight.]
- About 30 minutes before serving, pour off the liquid from the fruit (go ahead, have a sipits a treat for the cook!) and transfer the fruit to a large bowl. Gently stir in the sugar syrup and pomegranate seeds.
Colleen's take: "I made this entire recipe from Rachaels ray's december magazine, it consists of coffee cake, bacon, an eggbake, citrus salad, & mango citrus punch. It was all amazing and delicious. Today i am just talking about the brown sugar coffee cake, it was a favorite, very moist and fairly easy to make, even though i don't care much for baking."
ingredients
- 1 cup sliced almonds, toasted
- 2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 8 ounce sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 6 eggs, at room temperature
- Confectioner's sugar, for dusting
directions
- Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees . Grease and flour a 10-inch (10-cup) bundt pan. Using a food processor, finely grind 1 the almonds and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Into a large bowl, sift the flour, salt and baking soda; whisk in the ground almond mixture. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and vanilla.
- Using a standing mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high, add the remaining 1 3/4 cups brown sugar and beat, scraping the bowl occasionally, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. At low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the sour cream mixture in 2 batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until just combined.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan; smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack, remove the pan and let the cake cool completely. [Make ahead: Wrap the cake in foil and store at room temperature overnight.]
- Before serving, transfer the cake to a platter and dust lightly with confectioners sugar.
