Breakfast & Brunch Parties

I've seen several posts on breakfast parties in the recent/not so recent past. Whether it be an actual brunch, breakfast or just a party involving morning food, I'm all about it. I'm more of a morning person anyway so its no surprise that I love a good breakfast/brunch!

I also love having people over for these kinds of things. While doing this brings with it unwanted issues at times, which we won't get into here, its still something I really enjoy doing. Catching up with friends with good food has to be one of my ultimate favorite things to do.

Some lovely pictures of stuff I would love to do (for me or for someone else of course!) from Hostess with the Mostess and Eat Drink Pretty blogs.

coffee & donut tasting table


champagne bar

bubbly brunch

farmhouse brunch

Accidental Date Night - The Common Table

Mike and I hardly ever go out on dates during the week because of our work schedules and locations. However, he had to be in the Design District one Tuesday afternoon so we met for dinner at The Common Table.

Dinner was so yummy! We each got a great drink, I had 'The Splendid Splinter' (which had
raspberries, mint, crown black, cranberry juice, simple syrup - awesome) and Mike had some sort of fancy beer that I can't remember the name of. We then devoured pulled pork spring rolls, baby back ribs and mac & cheese.

Turkey-Ricotta Meatballs

I love the Cooking Light Way to Cook cookbook. Its got great everyday recipes and also gives the nutritional information (like the fact that these have 63 calories a piece). Its really visual with lots of pictures and explanations of different cooking techniques, what the benefits are of different meats, grains, vegetables, best tools to use in the kitchen and lots of other tips.

I make turkey meatballs for spaghetti on a regular basis and this is one of the recipes I use:

turkey-ricotta meatballs (adapted from cooking light)

ingredients
1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp salt & 1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb lean ground turkey

directions
Combine all ingredients, do not over mix. Shape mixture into 18 meatballs (I got closer to 2 dozen). Bake in a 375 degree oven (I use a Pam coated pyrex) until golden brown and cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes depending on meatball size.

These can also be frozen and stored in the freezer for another day! Just thaw in the refrigerator, bake at 375 for 20 minutes of until heated.

Note: the amount of breadcumbs/ricotta/egg may need to be adjusted depending on the moisture in your turkey.