A Tale of Two Brunches

This weekend I had two very different brunches. Yesterday afternoon, the HLS gang went to the Langham Hotel in Boston for their chocolate brunch. We kind of thought that it would be a normal brunch with extra chocolate desserts, but no... it was just chocolate. Imagine a huge room filled with about 10 tables of elaborate chocolate desserts. Chocolate creme brulee, chocolate crepes, chocolate fondue, a billion kinds of chocolate brownies, cookies, cakes, pastries... it was pretty nauseating. There was an astonishing number of people walking around mumbling about how badly they wanted to vomit. We didn't eat for too long before we too were stumbling around clutching our tummies, eyes glazed over, half-comatose. I took a couple of pictures before my brain stopped functioning entirely. First, my own plate; second, Kate's amazing chocolate crepe.


Today we had a much more normal brunch. I invited everybody over for some home-cooked yumminess. I did a lot of prep last night so this morning all I really had to do was stick stuff into the oven. I made a really good casserole that I somehow came up with - I basically cooked up some frozen hashbrowns, chopped-up bell peppers and onions, and crumbled breakfast sausage in a skillet, then poured them into a baking dish. Then I beat 10 eggs, stirred them into the mixture, topped the whole thing with lots of cheddar cheese, and baked it at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes.

I also made my mom's famous pinch-me-cake (recipe follows). My mom makes this stuff every Christmas morning, and I thought it would be fun to share with my friends for brunch. It was the first time I tried to make it myself, and it turned out great!


Big Eth's Famous Pinch-Me-Cake

• Bridgeford (or similar) frozen, unrisen bread dough - rolls or loaf
• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Let the frozen dough thaw out (about 4 hours at room temperature or overnight in the fridge) until the dough is still cold but has not yet begun to rise. Melt the butter and pour into a bowl. In another bowl, mix the sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Pinch off pieces of the bread dough and roll it in the butter and then sugar-cinnamon mixture. Line up the dough pieces in whatever pan you want to bake the cake in (loaf pans, 8x12, etc. - doesn't matter). You can do this the night before or make in the morning, but either way, you have to leave the pans out at room temperature for about an hour to let the dough rise. When they're risen, bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

P.S. just for fun - the pumpkin I carved a few days ago. Can you guess which TV character it is?