This year I decided to throw my group of friends a galentine’s day brunch. For those of you who are not aware, Galentine’s Day is February 13th and is a day for ladies celebrating ladies. Brunch was potluck style with everyone bringing a dish to share.
The party space was decked out with festive valentine’s day decorations that were all purchased from Dollar Tree. This was a challenge I made for myself and I must say it was a success! I was able to find everything from giant hanging hearts to themed drinking glasses (and as my friends know, I love a good theme). I made the table runner using kraft paper and a silver sharpie. Then just picked up some mini roses from the grocery store.
The menu included:
Raspberry Champagne French Toast
Scrambled Eggs Benedict
Raspberry Scones
Cheesy Potatoes
Hot Ham & Cheese Rolls
Cheese Rolls (for those that do not eat meat)
Strawberry Shortcake Cookie Cups
Pasta Salad
Cocktail
Mimosa
A playlist was put together of music just for such an occasion. As we all sat down at the table, plates full of delicious food, my sister gave the very short but sweet toast – “uteruses before duderuses!” And I must say this group of ladies are the best!
Now not everything always goes according to plan in the kitchen and unfortunately I had a couple whoops. First, the eggs Benedict, by the time they made it to everyone’s plates were cold. Second, to serve along with the scones I had clotted cream and raspberry rhubarb jam. When the ladies started to move on to the desserts (scones and strawberry shortcake cookie cups), someone opened the clotted cream and when I tell you it smelled, that is an understatement! It was so bad that I had to open windows to air out the room. There are no words that are remotely appetizing to describe this smell, so I will keep them to myself as this is a food blog. The scones themselves were delicious though.
Now onto sharing of recipes:
Raspberry Champagne French Toast:
Ingredients:
1 loaf French bread
6 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup pink champagne
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups raspberries
Directions:
Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray (I just buttered the pan). Slice the french bread into 1 1/2 in slices and arrange in the pan, overlapping each slice half way.
Beat together the eggs, heavy cream, milk, champagne, vanilla and cinnamon in a large bowl. Pour the egg mixture over the bread. Pulling the slices back a bit to ensure even coverage. You can use a basting brush to brush the egg mixture on the top and bottom sides of the French bread. You may also dunk each slice in the egg mixture and then arrange in the pan, then pour the remaining mixture over the bread.
Tuck the raspberries in and around the bread.
Cover with aluminum foil and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.
When ready to bake, [reheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Placed the covered pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 15 – 20 minutes until all the egg mixture has cooked and fluffed up and the French toast is golden brown.
Serve with butter, confectioner’s sugar and maple syrup.
Recipe courtesy of Sugar & Soul blog
Scrambled Eggs Benedict:
Ingredients:
English Muffins, toasted
Eggs, scrambled and cooked
Canadian Bacon, pan fried
Dill or Parsley, for garnish
Hollandaise Sauce:
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
5 egg yolks
2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
pinch of cayenne pepper
Directions:
Take your toasted English muffins, top with the Canadian bacon (I used regular bacon for those that eat meat and veggie sausage for non-meat eaters), then top with the scrambled eggs. To keep warm I would place in a preheated oven (250 – 300 degrees Fahrenheit), knowing what I know now.
To make the sauce, put 1″ to 2″ of water in a small saucepan on medium high heat.
Combine the yolks and lemon juice in a medium heat safe bowl with a whisk. Set on top of the pan with the heated water. Make sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl.
Whisk for about 1-2 minutes or until doubled in volume.
Remove the bowl from the heat and drizzle in the melted butter while whisking (make sure the butter is not hot).
Put the bowl back on top of the pan with the heated water and finish whisking for another few minutes. The sauce will begin to thicken. If it gets to thick, put a few drops of lemon juice in it.
Pour over the eggs and garnish with a sprig of dill or chopped parsley.
Hollandaise recipe courtesy of Simply Gloria blog
