The Tale of Ninja Ham. Or When I Made Too Much Brunch

It's that time of year again, Choir Brunch! I can't believe this is the 3rd year I've recapped the brunch and something like the 10th year we've done it. 

Check out the 2015 recap

and the 2014 recap too

As usual, it went off without a hitch, everything was great but I made too damn much brunch and I had errant ham, but I'll talk about that in a minute.

I expected 25-30 people, that's how many RSVPd, and about 18-20 showed up. On top of that. I made too much of a few things. 

I have a lot of food left. Like, a LOT. Good news is, I have a team made up mostly of 20ish year old guys and they'll eat all the things. 

So, what did I make?

Aunt Neet's Cheesey Potatoes

I made this the last 2 years and it went insanely fast. Of all the things I have left over, there is NONE of this. It is pretty flipping amazing, even though I had 0 tastes. I had 0 tastes of all the things and ate my Jenny Craig like a good weight loss blogger. Yes, it's all about balance and all that shit, but you know what? I want to wear my pants again. I can make batches of any of this food after I'm closer to my goal. Bud I digress.

While I was prepping the potatoes the day before, I had a conundrum that I was unable to solve. 

THERE WAS HAM IN THERE.

Potatoes and ham and cheese all go together EXCEPT I don't know where the heck the ham came from. Seriously, I searched everything and there's  NO REASON for errant ham.

I used frozen TJs potatoes, sour cream, onions, cheese, cream of chicken soup (really) and butter. NONE of those things have ham hiding in them. I looked at all the bags/containers and NONE had ham. My pan was clean too, that's not leftover Easter ham bits. it's real fricking ninja ham. 

I left it in there, because the dish is already not vegetarian and yum, ham.

Parmesan Cheese dip with Crab. I had a pack of a Tastefully Simple dip in the pantry and a can of crab meat, and some chips and easy yummy dip.

I put it in the broiler until it was golden brown

Raspberry Jam Bars

Mini Pecan Pie Muffins - Does anyone remember Homemade Gourmet from back in the day? It was a direct sale company that sold delicious mixes. They got bought buy Tastefully Simple a few years ago and since then the former founder has put out a line of cookbooks with the old recipes. The Mini Pecan Pie Muffins were one of the best sellers and they're sooooo good. The recipe is totally on point and tastes just like they used to.

Blueberry Muffin Bread - Kev wants this every year and this is one of the things I made too much of. The folks at work killed an entire tray in less than 25 minutes.

Fruit -  Watermelon, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls - For Christmas I tried my hand at real cinnamon rolls. Like I used yeast and didn't kill it, and it rose overnight and in the morning I had beautiful Cinnamon Rolls. Well, I made 2 batches, and instead of 12 teach batch made 16, and then I had 32 Cinnamon Rolls which was far too many. (They destroyed a pan of these at work Monday too.)

And I cut them in half... 64.

Apple Upside down French Toast - This is Kev's favorite and I make it every year.

Veggie Egg Bake - EVERY year this is the first to go. This time, I have 3/4 of the pan left. My brother has plenty of egg bake to eat. There were 21 eggs in here, spinach, mixed blend cheese, peppers, onions and broccoli.

Sausage Egg Bake - Again, 21 Eggs, cooked sausage, green peppers, onions and cheddar cheese. There was only 1 serving of this left and Kev ate it for breakfast the next day.

Bacon! Need I say more?

Kev went to the Whole Foods Breakfast bar that morning and filled up a box of cooked bacon from the bar. You have to be kinda stealthy about it, because they don't really want you to fill a box with bacon, but you totally can.

We kept it in the warming drawer. Kev wants to have the warming drawer full of bacon all the time. It's not a terrible idea... And yea, that was all eaten.

That's all for me! Have a great Tuesday!

Scenes from the Weekend - Choir Brunch Edition

This Sunday was our annual choir brunch. Every year Kev's choir sings their last service of the year until the fall and afterwards they all descend on our house for brunchy goodness. As usual, I was running late this year and didn't plan the menu until Weds last week. Really though, this is the 6th or 7th year I've done this, I've got it down to a science.

Always use the baking spray with flour when the recipe tells you to. If not, you have to run to Target at 7pm and buy some. 

I remembered blogging about the brunch last year, it was one of my first few posts. You can check it out here. Then I thought, shit. I missed my one year blog-a-versary. It was 5/25. Just one short year ago I was bored at work, knowing I was interviewing for a new job and instead of submitting resumes on-line I decided to start another blog. (No really, I swear I worked up until the very last minute I was there.) I have a give away in the works, I'm just gathering the last few items, I should have it up by next Monday.

Alright, on to the weekend. Friday I said goodbye to 2 of my former advisees and wished them well as they went off into the real world. 

The super awesome cr2f designed this print that I gave to my former advisee turned intern on her last day in the office. I thought it was perfect. If I were a betting woman, (which I totally am) I'd expect to see one of her fantastic prints as part of the give away.

Friday after work, I met up with my other former advisee for drinks and dinner, I promised her 3 years ago that I'd take her for drinks when she graduated. She's moving to NYC in a week and I needed to make good on my promise. We went to Jose and Sons where I had 1.5 margaritas that were quite delicious.

Really though, I'm so proud of both of them. It's a little bittersweet to watch them grow up and go off into the real world but I know they'll be crazy successful and have amazing lives. Sniff, Sniff.

I woke up Saturday morning firmly on the struggle bus. It was like I was hung over but I only had a drink and a half. It was a rough morning and I did jack squat until I left for my hair appointment at 1:30. Well, I did watch a few episodes of the X-Files. More on that later.

My roots were out of control.

Then I came home and started prepping for the party, at 4pm. I've never started this late before, never. I was a little nervous. Fine, a lot nervous. The day before I make all the baked goods and prep everything that needs cooked the next day.

Then this happened. When the recipe says to use the special baking spray, you need to use it. If not, you have to go to Target at 7pm and get it, because the mini pecan pie muffins weren't going to happen without them. 

I also needed some Sterno for the chaffing dish which is MUCH harder to find than you'd think. I walked all over Target only to discover they don't sell it. Then, in desperation I went to Wal-Mart, because that's where you go to buy things you set in fire, right? Nope. I asked 3 people and no one knew what Sterno was. I gave up and then I had to pee which made me panic. The thought of having to go into a Wal-Mart bathroom makes me want to shower with hot water and bleach. Thankfully I work out and my squat game is strong. 

I made it home, and finished prepping. We got a new fridge and moved the old one into the garage. It's the best. thing. ever. All my prepping went straight in there and freed up so much space in my fridge. 

Alight, onto what I made. It's sadly similar to what I did last year, and the year before, and the year before.... Kev loves certain things and wants me to make them year after year. So I do. 

Fruit bowl - Watermelon, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries.

Homemade Gourmet Mini Pecan Pie Muffins - Have you heard of Homemade Gourmet? It was a direct sales company that made AMAZING mixes and all you had to do was add the wet ingredients. Similar to Tastefully Simple and actually Tastefully Simple bought them several years ago and HG is no more. I was a rep for the company and LOVED so many of their things. 

Well, the lady who started HG published some e-cookbooks with all of her HG recipes in them. There's actually an affiliate link on the right side of the blog if you want to get one. 

In the Breads cookbook is the recipe for the mini pecan pie muffins which was a HUGE seller. So good and crazy simple to make. Just be sure to use the right baking spray...

Berry Jam Bars - Kev LOVES these and wants them every time I need to make a dessert. 

Auntie Nell's Blueberry Muffin Bread - You can read the story and get the recipe here. It's the best blueberry muffin recipe you'll ever eat. No, really, it is. Try it once and you'll be hooked.

Trader Joe's Assorted Macrons - You can get these in the freezer dessert section at Trader Joe's and they're ah-mazing. I think it's $3.99 for a 12 pack and they taste just like the ones that are $2 apiece at the fancy bakeries.

Mimosas - Enough said. Classy blue solo cups...

Upside Down Apple French Toast - This is Kev's very most favorite breakfast item and it will never leave the menu.

Veggie Egg Bake - I used 20 eggs, shreddy cheese, sauteed onions, broccoli, green and red peppers.

Aunt Neet's Cheesy Hashbown Casserole - A family favorite. It's such a 1960's recipe, full of butter, sour cream, cheese and a can of cream of chicken soup, covered with cornflakes. Eat it and don't think about it. It was annihilated.

Sausage Balls with Dijon Mayo Dip - It's a Paula Dean recipe, sausage, cheese and Bisquick. I don't know how these 3 ingredients make so much delicious.

Cheesy Eggs - Instead of another egg bake, I made 24 scrambled eggs and put them in the crock pot to stay warm. As I write this, I realize that I used a crap-ton of cheese. 5 bags to be exact. I also went though 6 dozen eggs and 3 packages of butter, No shame in my dairy game. 

The party was a huge success and they ate almost everything. I have some cheesy eggs left and a few muffins, but that was it. Not too shabby folks, not to shabby...

I did have to go to the grocery store and get food for the week, we were out of eggs....

Have a great Monday everyone!

Linking up with BLoved Boston!