I’m a simple girl; I enjoy the simple things life has to offer – like Sunday mornings dedicated to watching football with a big cup of coffee in hand & messy top bun.But! I also love food, love cooking and love trying new things! Can you guess where this post is headed?
Growing up, Sunday’s were all about reconnecting with family over dinner, preparing for the week ahead, watching football and relaxing. Nowadays Sunday’s are all about BRUNCH (at least for my generation) and maybe watching some football. Since I don’t live at home, home cooked meals are a rarity – I’m talking about full course meals made for more than 2 & the only people I really reconnect with on Sunday’s are with friends and with Hunter. So brunch is always an option if I want to eat with a handful of people because I can order whatever I’d like, with no excessive leftovers- YOU GET EGGS BENEDICT, HE GETS FRENCH TOAST, THEY GET PORK HASH, YOU ALL WIN and we can all relax, talk while our food is being prepared; but lets be honest, brunching is hard. Brunch can be expensive (hold the side of bacon & pass on the bottomless mimosas), it can be long (restaurants in San Francisco aren’t very fond of reservations), not everywhere is showing the football games and you have to look good – this isn’t a continental breakfast.
These last two weekends though I decided to take a break from brunching. I wanted to be at home where I could be surrounded by good company, be comfortable with my coffee, messy bun, and have as many sides of bacon & bottomless mimosas as I wanted! Oh, and not feel rushed. Easy, right? Almost. If it weren’t Chrissy Teigen and her book Cravings, there may have been an issue, because to be honest I have never cooked for 5+ people on my own before. I did not know what to make that was a mix of breakfast, lunch, game day all day snackages – new word – and wouldn’t take as long as a turkey cooking in the oven.
Weekend 1 – I made Chrissy’s Stretchy Artichoke, Spinach and Buffalo Chicken Dip out of her Party Time chapter. It was a hit; there were no leftovers. I don’t know what it was, maybe it was the chicken marinated in half a bottle of Cholula hot sauce & butter, or the 3 cheeses, or that it was just simple, filling and could be picked at throughout the day. Total cook time was about 3 hours, so in the mean time to hold everyone over Hunter whipped up some scrambled eggs & breakfast potatoes.
Weekend 2 – Hunter & I were actually home home that weekend & that Sunday we were with my mom who is a total football fan (Go Patriots!) (Go Packers too!) and a firm believer in eating breakfast – THE most important meal of the day. So it only seemed fitting to make something from Chrissy’s Breakfast All Day chapter. I made her Dutch Baby Pancake with a twist – apples cooked in butter & cinnamon then placed at the bottom of the skillet & leftovers scattered on top. It was so fluffy & so rich, no syrup needed for this pancake. I also made Spicy Tomato Skillet Eggs with Prosciutto. This was my favorite. I took some sourdough bread, dipped it in the egg yolk, scooped a heaping of tomato & prosciutto and sipped my bloody mary.
Weekend 3 – I’m going for a run. Seriously. It’s time to work off those 3 cheeses & dutch baby. In all honesty I loved the look on everyones of faces after their first bite & I loved the comfort of watching the games from the kitchen, with my coffee in hand & messy top bun. Would I do it again? Absolutely! I’m ready to host the Superbowl – kidding- but I’m definitely going to consider doing Sunday’s like this more often.
BTW I don’t know Chrissy Teigen – but I follow her on quite a few social media platforms & she’s funny & loves food – thats my kind of gal. Her cookbook is filled with so many great flavorful dishes, check it out! If you have a cookbook you like to cook out of, or a recipe your family/friends love, please share!
VivaLaFox 