Sticky Buns

Brooke Anderson was awesome to host for us this week. One of the best perks of hosting is that your family gets a sampler of the different dishes that are brought. Brooke's boys were so excited about these sticky buns, I wouldn't have been surprised to see them sneaking back in to swipe some! I wouldn't blame them! Some of you may remember these. The recipe is pretty similar, but it's the small differences that matter! Brooke, I gotta say, looking back at the picture of the other ones I see what you mean; cook and serve pudding is the way to go!

Pecans(optional)
20 frozen Rhodes rolls
1/2 pkg cook and serve butterscotch pudding powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C butter

Grease bundt pan and sprinkle pecans in bottom. Place rolls in pan. Sprinkle pudding powder, then cinnamon over the rolls. Melt brown sugar and butter together and drizzle over the rolls. Cover with a wet cloth and let rise 8 hours or overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. Turn over onto serving platter and ENJOY!

***TIP*** A 12 cup bundt pan works best. If you have a 10 cup pan, ya might wanna reduce the number of rolls you put in and maybe put a piece of tin foil under the pan in the oven to catch any spillage. I discovered that I had a 10 cup bundt pan when I made sticky buns...

Baked French Toast

This is one of my favorite breakfasts. It was my favorite until I had a few of the things from the exchange. Like Brooke's Egg Bake, or Jayme's Crepes, or Audrey's scones... Way too much good stuff to choose from! This is prepared the night before so it's super nice to wake up, throw it in the oven, and go back to bed for another half hour. Admittedly, the apple topping takes more time than the Baked French Toast itself, but I've never made it without. The topping adds SOOO much more to the goodness. Trust me. Or be lazy and just put syrup on top. I'll never know. ;)

1/2 C butter

1 C brown sugar

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 loaf texas toast (bread sliced 1" thick){I've used regular sized bread in a pinch before and just put 3 layers instead of 2. Still incredible!}

5 eggs

1 1/2 C milk

1 tsp vanilla

Grease a 9x13" pan. Mix together melted butter, brown sugar and maple syrup. Pour into greased pan. Arrange bread slices into 2 layers on top of mixture. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, milk, and vanilla. Pour over bread slices, being careful to not miss any areas. Cover and refrigerate over night. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Prepare apple topping while baking.

Topping:

4-5 green apples

3-4 tbsp butter

3-4 tbsp brown sugar

Core and slice apples. Saute in butter and brown sugar until soft. I like mine really soft, and if I start cutting the same time I put the toast in the oven, it's all done about the same time.

Spoon the apple topping over the baked french toast when it's done cooking. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Serve immediately.

Whole Grain Blueberry Waffles and Buttermilk Syrup

Michelle Kleinman made her debut with grand style! She got the blueberry waffle recipe from eatbetteramerica.com citing it as a healthy AND tasty way to make waffles. Lest you start to wonder if Michelle is a health nut, check out her Buttermilk Syrup! The Buttermilk Syrup is what she had growing up and swears she'll hardly touch maple syrup any more! I'm going to have to introduce my family to this!

Waffles:
3/4 C flour
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1/2 C quick cooking oats
3 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 C skim milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 egg
1 C blueberries, rinsed (if using frozen, thaw and drain)

Lightly spray waffle iron with cooking spray; heat waffle iron. In large bowl, stir together flours, oats, baking powder and sugar. In small bowl, stir together milk, oil and egg. Stir into dry ingredients, stirring just until large lumps disappear. Gently stir in blueberries.
Pour slightly less than 1 cup batter onto center of hot waffle iron, spreading batter to edges. Close lid of waffle iron. Bake 3-5 minutes or until waffle is golden brown. Carefully remove waffle. Serve immediately.

Buttermilk Syrup:
1 stick butter
1 C sugar
1 C buttermilk
1 tbsp Caro Syrup
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Bring the first 4 ingredients to a boil. Let boil 1 minute and remove from heat. Add baking soda and vanilla. Stir and serve!

Crustless Ham and Egg Tarts

These look super elegant- like something you'd pay $40 for and still be hungry after eating. But they are actually pretty simple and quite filling- Not to mention delicious! Jenn Fulton brought these and I've noticed that trend with her food- very sophisticated looking and tasting, but simple enough for real life! These would make a beautiful offering for any brunch buffet or as an hors d'oeuvre for a party.

2 tsp olive oil
12 thin slices ham {Jenn says deli ham rounds are the perfect size}
12 large eggs
12 medium cherry tomatoes
2 tbsp chives, finely chopped
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil all the cups in a 12 cup muffin tin with the olive oil (cooking spray would also work). Line each muffin cup with a slice of ham. Leave the ends of the ham sticking out over the top slightly. Break one egg into each ham slice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with one sliced cherry tomato, a sprinkle of Parmesan and a sprinkle of chives.

Bake 18-20 minutes or until the egg has set. Let cool 5 minutes before removing tarts from the tin. Run a knife around each muffin cup to loosen and remove. Serve.

Note: This recipe can be done with scrambled eggs. Just scramble the eggs before pouring them into the ham.

Grape Party Drink

Jen made this when she hosted our Dessert night and even though it obviously wasn't a dessert dish, it was so good everyone wanted the recipe! It's like a hearty grape cider. Someone was talking about making it for a bridal shower and we all thought it would look awesome in a punch bowl with some frozen grapes or grapes frozen in ice cubes.

1 can concentrated white grape juice
1 bottle white grape juice
1 liter Ginger Ale

Mix and serve!

Lazy Maple Pull- Aparts

First of all, if LAZY is in the title, the recipe is worth exploring! These are like a lazy day Butterscotch Sticky Buns or Sticky Buns- In my opinion, those are both better, but with this one you don't have to plan ahead! If you haven't already decided to keep crescent rolls on hand, I think I've provided enough recipes to justify starting to do so! Just a heads up, the picture makes these look bigger than they are. If you are feeding more than 4 or 5, I'd suggest doubling it.

1/4 C butter or margarine

1/4 C packed brown sugar

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 C chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

1 can refrigerated crescent roll dough

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In ungreased 8 or 9" round pan, place butter, brown sugar and syrup. Place in oven for 2-4 minutes or until butter melts. Mix until well blended; sprinkle with pecans. Remove dough from can. Separate long roll into 2 shorter rolls at the center perforation. With a serrated knife, cut each roll into 6 slices.

In a small bowl mix the sugar and cinnamon. Dip each side of each slice into the sugar mixture and arrange over butter mixture in pan. Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over the top. Bake 17-23 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute. Place heatproof serving plate upside down over pan. Turn plate and pan over; remove pan.

Savory Crescent Chicken Bakes

I have roughly 13,000 different chicken bake recipes, but this is one of my favorites. Comes together easily and is so very tasty. I'll occasionally make it for lunch when Mac & Cheese gets old. The butter crescent roll outer shell covered in crunchy bread crumbs combined with the creamy filling with just the right kick give it such a good flavor and texture.

1 pkg cream cheese, softened
2 C cooked chicken {I used 1 can of chicken, rinsed.}
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives {I did about a tbsp of dehydrated}
1 tbsp chopped pimentos {optional}
1/8 tsp pepper
2 tbsp milk
1 can refrigerated crescent roll dough {I put just a little less filling in each and used almost 2 rolls}
1 tbsp butter or margarine, melted
1/2 C seasoned croutons, crushed {I had some Italian bread crumbs that were delicious}

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl beat cream cheese until smooth. Stir in chicken, chives, pimientos, pepper and milk. Unroll dough and separate into 4 rectangles; firmly press along perforations to thoroughly seal.

Spoon 1/3-1/2 C chicken mixture onto center of each rectangle. Pull 4 corners of dough to center of chicken mixture; twist firmly and pinch edges to seal. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with croutons. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with additional chives, if desired.

I was making this for my family, so I had a couple bakes for the adults made just like the instructions, but then I pulled apart some crescent rolls into their pre-cut triangles and made little ones for the kids.