Brunchy-Brunch

Saturday I had a nice little brunchy-brunch with my best girl, Tara.

She was having one of those weeks and was in need of a pick-me-up. 

Since I generally don't get out very often or for very long, I thought maybe I could do something here, even with the kids running amuck. 

It's so so easy during deployment to be caught up in what someone can do for me. Yes, it can be hard, yes, it's exhausting, but that doesn't give me a free pass, and I couldn't be more happy to bless my Tboner with a spectacular bistro-style brunch!

I headed to Pinterest to find the right menu. I was sneaky and looked on her boards to find yummy treasures that she'd been pinning lately. I wanted something with figs, something with roasted corn, French toast, and definitely eggs Benedict...all her favorites! Oh and mimosas. Duh.

I used Ree Dummond's recipe for Baked French Toast. 

It was divine. I must confess that I added some heavy cream in place of one cup of the milk {and maybe even drizzled a little more on top, eeek}. It had a streusel topping that gave it a little crunch, and the middle tasted almost like a bread pudding. So yum! You have to let it set overnight in the fridge, but it's so worth it.

The next dish was my favorite. Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad.

Tara has a serious love affair with grilled corn, so this was a no-brainer. I can't even tell you how much I loved it. And I ate three helpings of it. And had it for dinner {what, it was a cheat day}. I could probably use the dressing as a dipping sauce for...everything; that's how amazing it was. I grilled the corn on a cooling rack that I placed on my stove {ghetto but it worked}. Added the avocado at the last minute and doused it in lime so it'd stay green. Next time I'll probably double the amount of dressing and add even more lime. Did I mention I love lime?

Next up were the Fig, Honey, and Gorgonzola Tartines. Figs! I had no idea I was missing out on something so spectacular with these sweet bites of heaven. It was super easy, super quick, and made for a fancy-looking dish. I absolutely love a good stinky cheese, and the figs paired so well. It was a very good sweet/savory combination. I made them the next night for Sunday dinner at TJ's mom's. 

Tara and I both love eggs Benedict. I'll order it any chance I can. I've had it many different ways, but I truly love the regular-old ham & hollandaise. I've only made it one other time {for none other than Tara of course} and I had success that one time. This time...not so much. The English muffin was perfectly toasted and buttered, the ham nice and warm, and the eggs were poaching. And then *sigh* came the hollandaise disaster. It broke. Completely broke. I was a hot mess and I served it anyway. I would've been sent home on Master Chef and Gordon Ramsay would've screamed at me. I told Tara she didn't have to eat it, but she graciously did anyway {aw what a true friend}. And truth be told I ate mine too, but I'm a little more ghetto than y'all realize. For the hollandaise I used this recipe from Tyler Florence.

Lastly I made blondies {blonde brownies}. 

They're basically magical. Like chocolate chip cookies in brownie form. And no, I'm not posting the recipe. It's TJ's mom's recipe and some things are sacred, people {but if you email me or leave a comment then maybe just maybe I'll send it to you}. 

It was such a fun morning/afternoon with Tara. 

We ate, drank, and be'd lazy. She stayed late and we took the kids to Walmart for water balloons {crazy Saturday night}! Not to mention Caleb notified me that he wanted to do number two on the potty...success! It was a great day.

Anyone wanna do dishes?
By hand. Not even a garbage disposal ; )

*love you TJ