breakfast

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Could it be possible Nutella jars look even more beautiful in black and white? Could I possibly have any more work this week? Did you have a good Valentine’s Day?

This week has been absolutely insane with conference calls and new projects. Yay! But, it does get overwhelming to sort of always have to adjust to a new schedule. By the time work and running were done at 7:00 last night, the last thing I wanted to do was to cook. I did want to make something a little sweet and decadent for Valentine’s Day though. Once again I garnered inspiration from my Philadelphia cream cheese cook book (Thanks, Mom!), grabbing a savory recipe and turning it into my own sweet creation.

It involved three ingredients.

1 package refrigerated crescent rolls

4 ounces cream or Neufchatel cheese

As much Nutella as you like

Preheat the oven to 350.

Roll out the crescent roll dough into two rectangles on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Top one of the layers of dough with cubed cream cheese and dollops of Nutella. Honey and cinnamon would also probably be good.

Fold the second layer of dough on top of the first, and push corners down to seal the fillings in.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

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Remove the dough from the oven once it is golden brown on the outside. Set aside to cool, the cut into desired servings. Be sure to heat any leftovers before serving so to achieve the below gooey consistency.

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The dough ended up light, flaky, and buttery, and the sweet Nutella was cut by the creamy, more savory cheese. I love desserts with cream cheese or any sort of cheese. (Check out Emily’s Palmiers. I am making these ASAP!)

The end result is not too sweet and made for a dessert that appeals to lots of palates. It also makes an indulgent breakfast with an espresso. Smile

I don’t know about you, but I am ready for the long weekend already. What’s your best trick for getting through an exhausting week?

Tags: breakfast, dessert, Nutella, recipe

One of the things I miss about living in New Jersey are the diners. You can go to a diner in another state, but I guarantee it will rarely be as good or as cheap as a New Jersey diner. We had our favorite local growing up, the Blue Fountain, or Fontaine Bleu as it is now known, a place where you could get breakfast, lunch, or dinner at 1:00 am, where you would eat pancakes with ice cream after the prom, and where families congregated on Sunday mornings for heaping plates of food for around $5.00.

I miss real diners.

Our friends’ NJ wedding happened to be about 20 minutes from the nursing home where my nana lives (97 years old in November, holla!), and so we opted to miss the wedding brunch to spend some time with her. Along the way, we spied signs for the Jefferson Diner, noting that it had been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives (triple D to you), and since we did need to eat something, we turned sharply off of the freeway to find diner bliss.

Jefferson Diner

The Jefferson Diner is large which is perfect for a diner because the good ones are always buzzing with lines. It was spotlessly clean and shiny inside and out.

We only had a few minutes’ wait, and while we waited I checked out the deserts.

There were cookies the size of my head plus some.

Jefferson Diner

And every type of cake imaginable, including a cheesecake with baklava on top. Diners in NJ, generally owned by Greek families, make serious baklava.

Jefferson Diner

Real diner menus are books. And with some restaurants you would worry, “How on earth could they make this many things and make them good?”

Well, the NJ diner somehow manages to do it. Whether you are getting a Reuben sandwich, a baked fish dish, a steak, or a pile of desserts, everything is always good. Especially the fries and grilled cheese.

Jefferson Diner menu

My breakfast was simple, one delightfully runny egg, hash browns, and buttered wheat toast. The other thing I love about diners? You can have anything you want. Want a scrambled egg and a runny egg with a piece of French toast and a sausage link? You got it. In the mood for one pancake? It’s yours. Diners aim to make their patrons happy and can cook up anything in a jiffy.

diner breakfast

The Jefferson Diner was a great place to stop, and since it is so close to my nana, I will likely be back to try some dessert.

While Massachusetts has diners, I have yet to find one that stacks up to my NJ favorites. And it will probably stay that way.

Do you like diners? What is your favorite diner food?

Tags: breakfast, diner, Food, New Jersey

What are you doing for Mother’s Day? Do you have any special plans? I am not sure yet; since I was home in NJ this past weekend for my nephew’s christening, I won’t be able to spend the day with my own mom. There’s a slight chance the boat that we are getting will be in the water by the weekend; if it is, I will be on it!

If I was making a Mother’s Day brunch, I would definitely include one of my favorite potato dishes, this cheesy and garlicky baked potato casserole. I made this dish on a chilly evening recently, and everything about it, the smells, tastes, and comforting texture, make it a winning dish.

red potato

I started with five large potatoes, skin on. I almost didn’t want to cut up this heart-shaped potato! Smile But I sliced the potatoes into thin rounds and added them to a pot of salted, boiling water. or this dish, you don’t want the potatoes to get mushy, so boil just until fork-tender, then drain and set aside.

While the potatoes boiled, I finely chopped five large cloves of garlic and added the garlic to about a cup each of shredded skim mozzarella and grated Kerrygold Dubliner cheese.

cheese and garlic

To the garlic and cheese, I added about two cups of whole milk, swapped in where cream would be. It’s all about the moderation.

mozzarella and garlic

To the milk/garlic/cheese mix, I added fresh ground black pepper and a bit of grated nutmeg. I have said it before, but I absolutely love the addition of nutmeg to creamy sauces.

Once the sauce was ready and the potatoes drained, I layered slices of potato in a casserole dish, covering each layer with a mix of cheese, milk, and garlic

 

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Once all of my layers were in place, I popped the dish into the oven at 400 for 25 minutes. Every so often, I turned on the oven light to check out the bubbly, browning cheese.

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Caution. . . this dish is not only REALLY hot at first, it is also completely addictive! If I was serving these cheesy potatoes with brunch, I would balance it with an egg white frittata, fruit salad, and mimosas made with various types of juice, orange, mango, pomegranate.

If you are cooking for Mother’s Day, what are you making? If you aren’t cooking, do you have other fun plans?

Tags: breakfast, brunch, cheese, Food, potatoes, recipe, side dish

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