pete & jen's backyard birds

Last year I stumbled upon some organic free range eggs in a cute little 6-pack at a nearby farm. This year, I finally remembered to look them up to learn about where they are based. Lucky me, I found their home-base is right in Concord, MA! Pete & Jen's Backyard Birds has their products in many farm's fridges as well as their meat and eggs in restaurants in the Boston area. Learn more about the amazingly humane (and tasty) processes and products here. Once you sign up for their newsletters, you will have access to their speak-easy-like mini-store that is open 24/7.

T & I can vouch for the tasty ground beef and chicken, while Erin & Moose can vouch for the Backyard Buddies dehydrated organic frozen chicken gizzards (to which they are ADDICTED). Their slogan is "tasty tasty meat", so what are you waiting for?

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brunch hash

As you may already know, brunch is my favorite meal: it is saved for the end of the week and can be spread throughout many hours (and it has multiple signature cocktails reserved for this specific meal)...perfection. This recipe for brunch hash is a combination of whatever leftover vegetables you may have in your pantry from earlier in the week. It is a combination of all of your favorite brunch foods put together in tiny bites to ensure a full-taste in one fork-full. 

 

Ingredients (for 1 serving):

2 eggs

1 small potato

1/2 medium red onion

Handful of herbs (I used chives and thyme)

1 pinch of shredded cheese

*Feel free to add bacon, ham, mushrooms, or any other tasty bit you'd like!*

 

Directions:

1. Heat skillet over medium heat. Cube potato into small fork-able bits and dice onion. Add potato and onion to skillet in an even layer on the bottom of the skillet. Salt and pepper.

 2. After about 4 minutes, begin to stir in order to evenly brown. Once browned and crispy, add half of the chopped herbs of choice in order to meld the basic flavors.

3. Once herbs begin to wilt and cling to the potatoes and onions, add the eggs. Cook until no longer runny. Add pinch of cheese and remainder of herbs. I like to break up my egg into little bits, to give all of the components an equal opportunity to be tasted in one forkful!

 

4. Serve and enjoy!

 

 This is a great recipe for a large group, since it can be easily multiplied & customized, and takes under 15 minutes to make!

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restaurant week and easter

Back to the Northeast and back to eating, drinking, and decorating.  Unfortunately I was only able to take advantage of the Boston Winter Restaurant Week for one dinner. Fortunately, it was at one of my favorite places that serve the best range of cocktails that I have found in this city, Marliave.

You can find their extensive cocktail menu here.

I started with the escargot with garlic, shallots, butter, parsley, cognac, parmesan, and toasted bread served in a Staub escargot dish that was gorgeous and super functional:

This was the highlight of the meal (other than the delicious cocktails of course!) but I continued with the chicken and ended with the cheese assortment. The cheese was delicious and the perfect size for an after-meal nibble. The chicken was mediocre, but I am a very harsh chicken-judge after being raised with 1,726 different preparations of chicken for every meal of the week by my mother. Some believe ordering chicken while at a restaurant is a waste, but on the other hand, I believe in order for a chicken dish to make it on the menu at a nice restaurant, there must be a reason...somehow these chefs must have jazzed up the chicken in order for it to make one of the coveted 4-7 entree spots.

On the home-front my newest additions are my meyer lemon, key lime, and olive trees along with my white rose wreath!

 I'm in love with them and am already eye-ing the newly-listed herbs and trees in the new Agrarian section of Williams-Sonoma.

In other news, my mother has always been enthused about every holiday that ever comes around; her favorites include Halloween, Valentine's Day, and Easter. Mostly she loves any holiday that has their own soap or boxer collection.  Every year at summer camp, college, or even after school, I receive an overly-stuffed care-package chock full of goodies and embarrassingly covered in holiday stickers. Yesterday this bad-boy arrived on our porch:

I disposed of the bunny-covered box, and apologize for the poor-quality photograph I was just too excited. The big-hitters include the soap in the chicken container, bunny sour patch kids, bubble gum eggs, socks, a bunny dog-toy for Erin, a bunny cat-nip toy for Moosey, Lindt carrots, chocolate covered Jelly Bellys (which are odd and the verdict is still out on these...), and of course the rabbit stuffed-animal. Happy Easter!

Instructions here

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brunch egg boats

Hopefully one day I will get into the swing of things and remember that blogging should be done more than once every two weeks...Oh well, I guess I'll start now!

One of my favorite meals is weekend brunch--and egg boats are one of my favorite easiest brunch entrees ever!

What you will need: 
(based on a small baguette for 2 people)

1 baguette
4 eggs
Splash of milk
Salt
Pepper
2 pinches of shredded cheese of choice
Handful of fresh chives


What to do:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Begin with the baguette

Cut a long rectangular section out of the center of the baguette

 

Crack 4 eggs

Add a splash of milk, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Whisk together

Grab the handful of chives and chop to your desired size

Add most of the chopped chives to eggs and stir. Save some chives for topping

Sprinkle the bottom of the baguette with a pinch of shredded cheese and a pinch of chives.

Slowly pour the egg mixture into the baguette. Top of remainder of shredded cheese and chopped chives. Place baguette in preheated oven. Bake for 30 minutes.

Egg boat is finished when puffed up and does not jiggle when you move it.

Cut up and enjoy!!!

 Other possible add-ins:

Ham
Mushrooms
Caramelized onions
Peppers
Bacon
Anything else you love in an omelette!

Also feel free to pre-toast the baguette for 5 minutes before adding the egg mixture. This super easy brunch piece goes amazingly well with a bellini, mimosa, or bloody mary!

Happy weekend! 

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