The "Eggs Beni"fit to your husband working from home on a snow day!

Today we are all home for a big blizzard.  We considered taking off and going to NH to enjoy the fresh powder and skiing but real life got in the way.  Dance and work and the fact that the snow might make it impossible to see while skiing....

I woke up at 9:48 today and only because the dogs started pacing.  Nola had been up in the middle of the night pacing so I didn't sleep through the night.   It felt so indulgent to wake up that late.   Rod was already downstairs working and the smell of coffee was wafting up the stairs.  Haley came to deliver it with her new phone holder she had crafted.  She does a lot before the rest of rise.   The early bird gets the worm!  And Haley certainly is an early bird.  She loves the quiet of the house in the morning and often gets up and watches a few shows before making crepes or a craft project.   Today it was this.  "The flip cam" for her iPhone.   She brought it up to my room to show me when she delivered my cup of coffee to me in bed.  This is the life!  I am so thankful for my early risers and I love having my first cup of coffee in bed.  Watching the snow fall outside the windows and slowly waking up.

Soon the smell of bacon and the sounds of pots and pans made it's way upstairs and Rod called us down to breakfast.  Rod not only cooks a lot but he really enjoys cooking.  Definitely more than me.  I sometimes have the feeling of

He has a few favorite meals and breakfast is definitely his "thing".  Pancakes, crepes, homemade waffles, scones.   Today it was eggs benedict from scratch.  The "beni" of your husband working from home on a snow day.  I'll let him explain how he makes it.

Bacon

• Preheat oven for Bacon.  I like to use the oven and put the bacon on parchment paper on a cookie sheet with sides.  Makes for an easy cleanup.  15-20 minutes at 425 will do the trick.

Blender Hollandaise Sauce (Joy of Cooking)
• On stovetop melt one stick of salted butter on the lowest possible heat.
• Add three egg yolks to blender
• Dash of hot sauce
• Dash of pepper
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
Just before serving blend yokes, hot sauce, pepper and lemon juice for 30 seconds. Slowly pour in clarified butter.

Eggs  buy a lot of eggs for this one!
• Fresh eggs at room temp work best
• Fill large low pan with about 2 inches of water and bring to just below a boil. Add 1 Tablespoon of vinegar (helps eggs hold their shape)
• Fill a small pot with 2 inches of water and bring to a full boil
• Pre-heat each egg in boiling water for 10 second.  Thanks to my father-in-law Art for recommending this technique.   It makes the eggs stay together rather than disperse in the pan.  Then crack and slowly put into the low pan.  Cook about 6 minutes or until the yolk is how you like it.  I usually put them onto a plate with paper towels and then reheat them in the water just prior to serving.

  

Serve on english muffins grilled in a pan with a little butter or on a bed of greens.  I prefer mine with Canadian bacon.  Kari prefers hers gluten free and served with a smile!  Serve it up and call your family down for breakfast!  Happy snow day to those of you in the North East!  

Christmas treats...

This Christmas we have made an assortment of treats to give out to friends, teachers and family and of course to munch on ourselves.   We have tried to adapt some of our favorites to make gluten free versions.  Of course not everything can be adapted.  The girls love all these treats and have a hand in baking all of them.

Holiday Pretzel Treats are a quick and easy treat to make.  They combine salty and sweet and are a family favorite.  You have to be careful though because even though Hershey kisses are gluten free, Hershey hugs are not.  So despite getting gluten free pretzels and making sure M&M's were gluten free we couldn't give them out to our friend with celiac disease.  After taking the pretzel treats from the oven you add an m&m to the top of the melty goodness.

We altered our kiss cookie recipe with gluten free flour and they were a hit!  Easy peasy too because they have very few ingredients. We cover the cookies with confectioners sugar by putting them all in a bag with the sugar and gently tossing them about.  These are a crowd pleaser and the hershey kiss inside is a nice surprise!   We have found making everything dairy free as well as gluten free is a little harder.  I do "cheat" a bit with dairy but haven't cheated with gluten at all.

This is obviously a well loved recipe.   This is Rod's Christmas tradition every year to make this in memory of his mom.  Wish it was in Ruth-Ann's writing.

Rod's mom's toffee is delicious!  Homemade heath bar and a favorite with everyone.  The girls can't help with this one and you need a candy thermometer and some time and patience to make this.  Even a few degrees one way or the other can alter the recipe.  The girls love giving this to teachers and friends!

We also make peppermint bark by crushing up candy canes and adding it to melted white chocolate melts.  Spread it on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  Let chill, break and bag up.  Easy and delicious and most of the white chocolate wafers we have found are gluten free.  

Gluten free Peppermint Meringues

We have had a few mishaps like mixing the gluten free cookies with the gluten full cookies, using hugs on the pretzel treats and mixing them all together, running out of gluten free flour and trying to wing it with not quite enough..but most have worked and all have been delicious!  It's nice to be able to eat a few holiday favorites!