Waffle Bar

I was looking for an easy but delicious brunch 

to feed a crowd for my youngest grandson's 

baby blessing.  We were expecting around 50, 

right after church.  My daughter suggested waffles, 

so we ended up with a fun waffle bar. 

You will notice I am using the gorgeous gold and 

whitewashed board my middle son made me.  It 

makes the spread more elegant.

I decided a white and greenery theme would be perfect, 

so I gathered silver, mercury glass, and crystal and filled 

everything with greenery, baby's breath and white roses, 

all from Trader Joe's, so it was very reasonable.  

Any container can make a pretty arrangement,

 even a gravy boat, 

or a sugar bowl, 

both set on pedestals to add height.

I made sure the serving board looked good from 

both sides.  This is the sink side.  

The candlesticks were a project done at our craft group.  

I happened to be gone that night and I was gifted these 

three at our Christmas party.  I was just thrilled.  They 

are made by stacking and gluing candle holders and 

salt and pepper shakers and such from thrift stores.  

I found this wonderful product to help tapers 

stay upright on Amazon.  Click here to find 

Stickum.  Just use a pea size ball on the bottom of 

the candle.  It is amazing.  When I think of all the 

ways and means I have tried - I am so happy to 

find this.  

We used four waffle makers that each make 4 squares, 

so we could have fresh waffles for everyone.  It also 

works well to make them ahead and pop them back in 

the waffle maker to reheat them.

The board was filled with berries, sugars, crushed Oreos, 

mini chocolate chips and crushed Heath bars. 

 I just loved this fun bottle of Maple Syrup from 

Trader Joe's.  We hadn't had this before. 

We had three kinds of syrups, including homemade 

Buttermilk Syrup, which is everyone's favorite.  The 

baking soda in it interacts with the acids in the 

fruits to give a fun little tingle on your tongue.

My son in law's mother made the mini quiches 

to go along with the brunch and we did sugared 

bacon and plain bacon in the oven, which works 

really well for a crowd.  

We also served Nutella, peanut butter, lemon curd 

and Biscoff Spread on chocolate and plain waffles. 

It was a lovely event, and everyone was served easily.  

I love finding something easy and filling, yet beautiful 

to serve a crowd.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Let me know if you try a waffle bar. 

Raspberry Creme Brulee French Toast

Raspberries have to be one of my favorite

fruits.  They are not only delicious, but they

are so beautiful.

If you are looking for something wonderful 

to make for Valentine's Day breakfast, this

overnight French toast might just be the thing.

I was looking for a breakfast item that would feed a 

crowd easily for a Sunday morning meeting my

husband was having, and I had pinned this from

Chef in Training some time ago.  

It sounded wonderful with the crunchy top and 

the lovely raspberries.  The funniest thing, as I

looked at the recipe, I realized it was just like my

Raspberry Bread Pudding.

Well, not exactly the same, but very similar!  I

had to laugh and tell hubby that all I had to

do to have dessert for breakfast was to call

it French Toast!

Let me say the creme brulee touch takes it to

a whole new level and all 18 people who had it

were swooning over it.

Raspberry Creme Brulee French Toast

2 loaves French bread, cut 1 inch thick on a diagonal

1/2 C. melted butter

1 C. brown sugar, packed

2 T. light corn syrup

5 eggs

1 1/2 C. half and half

1/3 C. brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 C. frozen raspberries, broken into pieces

Pint of fresh raspberries for a garnish

Buttermilk Syrup

Spray a large bun pan with oil.  I used a 13x18 inch

pan, but you could use two 9x13 pans.  

Mix the melted butter, brown sugar and corn syrup

and spread on the bottom of pan or pans.

Lay the bread on top.

In a medium sized bowl whisk the eggs lightly,

then whisk in the half and half, brown sugar, salt, 

and vanilla.  Gently stir in the broken raspberries.

Spoon the raspberry mixture over each slice of

bread.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove covering.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, 

uncovered.  Because I was cooking for a crowd,

I made 1 1/2 recipes.  I found that 25 minutes was

great for a dark surface pan, but for a shiny pan, 

I needed 30 minutes.

Serve immediately, as the creme brulee

will harden quickly.  Turn over to expose

the crunchy crust and top with fresh raspberries. 

We served it with Buttermilk Syrup and whipped cream.

Wow, dessert for breakfast is amazing!

Thanks for coming to visit!

Crazy for Breakfast Sandwiches

At Purple Chocolat Home

we have been

"Crazy for Breakfast Sandwiches"

for years ever since my

oldest son was in football

training and hubby would create

breakfast sandwiches for him

so when I was approached

by Ulysses Press to

review their new cookbook

Crazy for Breakfast Sandwiches

by Jessica Harlan,

I was excited.

The first one I tried was

over-the-top

AMAZING!

Pecan and brown sugar glazed bacon

with an egg are sandwiched

between French toast!

To quote the book,

"We're taking breakfast sandwiches

to a whole new level of awesomeness....

From classic and healthy to creative

and gourmet, these recipes utilize the

wildly popular sandwich makers

to make the most tasty sandwiches

for any meal of the day."

So of course I had to start with

a breakfast sandwich.

Normally I need a picture to motivate

me to try a recipe,

but with a name like

FRENCH TOAST SANDWICH WITH

PRALINE BACON

I was hooked!

First I had to hunt down an

individual sandwich maker.

I remembered a couple of family

members getting these for Christmas

this past year.  They are clever little

gadgets but these yummy recipes

could easily be adapted to more

conventional cooking.

The star of this sandwich is

the Praline Bacon!  Just drool

over that one!!!!

Bacon sprinkled with brown

sugar and pecans and baked in the oven.

Jessica calls these 

Bacon Lattice Patties

and they are so clever.

You start with 2 pieces of bacon

that you cut in half and weave

together in a lattice.  You could

easily do a whole pan of these

at one time.

While those are baking, cut

your bread into rounds that fit the

individual sandwich maker and

make French toast with them.

The whole sandwich gets put together

in the individual sandwich maker

where a fresh egg is baked.

Rather clever!  

I added a little praline on top for

extra crunch and that yummy

breakfast sandwich disappeared!

French Toast Sandwich with

Praline Bacon

(Makes 1 sandwich)

2 slices bacon

1 tsp dark brown sugar

2 tsp chopped pecans

2 slices stale white bread

2 eggs, divided

1 T. heavy cream

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 T. butter (I used less)

Preheat the oven to 400.  Line a

baking sheet with aluminum foil

or parchment.  Cut the bacon pieces

in half and weave together.  Sprinkle

with the brown sugar and pecans.  

bake about 20 minutes or until

the bacon is crispy.  Remove and

drain on paper towel.

Meanwhile cut the bread into 

rounds to fit the sandwich maker.  

In a small, shallow bowl, whisk 

together 1 egg, the cream and the

cinnamon.  Heat the butter in a nonstick

skillet over medium-high heat until

melted and foamy. Dip the bread pieces

into the egg mixture, then place in the hot

skillet.  Cook for 2 minutes until browned

and then flip over to cook the other side,

1 to 2 minutes more. (I would cook this

side a little less as it will brown up in

the sandwich maker.)  Remove from

pan and set aside.

Preheat the sandwich maker.  Break

the remaining egg into a small bowl and

pierce the yolk with a fork.

Place the second French toast piece

in the bottom compartment of the heated

sandwich maker.  Top with the cooked

bacon patty and lower the middle plate.

Pour the egg into the top compartment

and let it cook for a minute then place

the second piece of French toast over it.

Close the sandwich maker.

Cook for about 4 minutes or until

the egg is set.  Slide open

the middle plate to assemble the

sandwich and remove it from the

sandwich maker.

Praline Topping Garnish

In a frying pan melt 1 tsp.

butter with 1 tsp. brown sugar

and 1 tsp. chopped pecans.

Cook over medium heat until

the three mix well and let cool.

Top the sandwich with the

garnish if desired and finish

with Maple Syrup.

But you can also make open-faced

goodies like these

Mini Margheritas!

A crisp pizza crust with fresh

tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and

fresh basil, drizzled with olive

oil and topped with sea salt and

freshly ground pepper.

I drizzled mine with Trader Joe's

Lemon Olive Oil.  That one is

great on anything.

Yum, the breakfast sandwich maker crisps

the bottom of the pizza and the top

of it melts the cheese.  You can

use pre-made pizza crusts or I had

some leftover pre-baked crusts in

the freezer from making pizzas in

the pizza oven.

Of course we had to try a dessert

sandwich.

How about this 

S'Mores Toast?  

No bites left for a picture -

hate it when that happens, but

it means it was super yum!

(I substituted white bread for

the raisin bread on this one and 

just buttered it and sprinkled it

with a little white sugar as I

am not a big raisin bread fan, and

then I garnished the dessert

with a little crumbled

graham cracker.)

Super yum three times in a row.

With recipes titled:

Portobello, Polenta and Manchego Stack

Biscuits and Gravy Sandwich

Chicken and Waffles

Lemony Artichoke-Emmentaler Flatbread

Apple Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich

Green Eggs and Ham

Bacon Waffle Stack

Ham and Brie Croissant-wich

Monte Cristo with Raspberry Sauce

and many, many more

....

there are going to be a lot more

creative sandwiches 

coming out of 

Purple Chocolat Home's 

kitchen!

Thank you

Ulysses Press for

choosing me to

review this book.  

I LOVE IT!

You can find it on 

Amazon!

(I plan to make the 

French Toast Sandwich 

with Praline Bacon for a

crowd and I will just use an

electric griddle.  I think all

of these wonderful recipes

can be adapted to a griddle

or fry pan when cooking for

a crowd so don't overlook the

cookbook if you don't have

an individual sandwich maker 

or you have more than two in

your family.)

Jessica has 101 different delicious

recipes!  Give this cookbook a try!

Classic Belgian Waffles

Classic Belgian waffles are crisp on the outside

and soft and moist on the inside.  

They make a special breakfast food.

We were in California last summer and

they had a restaurant that all their sandwiches

including hamburgers were placed inside a

waffle.  

Today we are serving it with fruit and cream

but these would be good with a savory filling

and served folded up like a sandwich too.

Hubby got this new Waring Pro

Double Waffle Maker and

we took it up to the cabin at Sundance

for a ski weekend.  

Everyone gets up and going so early that

we made them for lunch instead of breakfast.

These use yeast and also beaten egg whites.  

I followed the recipe in their enclosed booklet

Classic Belgian Waffles

1 1/2 C. warm water, divided

2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (one packet)

3 C. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

3 large eggs, separated and 1 egg white

1/3 C. sugar

1 1/2 C. milk

8 T. butter, melted and cooled

2 tsp. vegetable oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract.

Measure 1 C. warm water and dissolve the yeast

in it with a pinch of the sugar from the recipe.  Mix and

let stand for 5 minutes or until bubbly.

Place the flour and salt in a large bowl.  

Mix and set aside.  In another 

bowl mix the egg yolks, one of the

egg whites, remaining sugar 

and the yeast mix.  Add

the additional 1/2 C. water, 

milk, melted butter, oil and

vanilla.  Stir together then stir

 into the flour mixture and

beat until smooth.

In a clean bowl beat the remaining

 egg whites until stiff peaks form.  

Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the

batter to lighten the batter, then fold the remaining egg whites in.  

Let the batter stand for 1 hour, 

stirring every 15 minutes.

Preheat your Belgian waffle maker.  

Pour the batter into the waffle maker and spread

out to the edges.  Close the waffle maker and

wait until the light indicates they are done.

Remove and serve while warm as desired.

This is to make 10 waffles.

We had leftover batter and made

more the next morning.  They were crisp on

the outside and light and moist in the center.

Hubby has been craving them again!

We love waffles and are always trying

new recipes.  When our oldest son was

in high school we would make his football

buddies crepes and we couldn't keep up

with their appetites.  We finally hit on

waffles as even the biggest, toughest guys

could usually just eat two.  Waffles have

been a hit ever since at

Purple Chocolat Home!!

I can't wait to try some savory ones.

Thanks so much for visiting

and spending time with me.

A couple of times I have been

out and about and someone has

come up and recognized me and

told me that they read my blog and

make my recipes.  That just makes

my day!