I secretly enjoy checking out wedding registries and seeing what makes couples tick. Are they more excited about the monogrammed towels and fine china or the obscure kitchen gadgets and fancy knife sets? I’m sure you can guess which category we fell into! I was recently browsing through my good friend Emily’s wedding registry to send her a shower gift. Emily is a great cook (her hummus is seriously the best I’ve ever had!), and while I know people want everything on their registries, I still had a great time carefully selecting the kitchen items I thought she would enjoy and use most often.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to her shower because it was being held in Chicago (but we are super excited to go to the wedding in November!), but browsing through her registry made me wonder what they were serving at the shower. That’s just how my mind is wired! I hope they were serving something like this quiche, which I think would be perfect for a fall brunch shower. It’s gourmet enough to serve to company because it’s stuffed with prosciutto, fresh sage, and roasted butternut squash – yum! I’ll definitely be making this again.

Roasted Butternut Squash, Prosciutto, and Sage Quiche
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 leek (white and light green parts only), chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 eggs
2 cups milk
4 slices chopped prosciutto (1/2 cup)
1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1 10-inch pie crust

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400˚F. Place squash on a greased cookie sheet and drizzle evenly with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bake squash for 25-30 minutes at 400˚F or until tender. Lower oven heat to 350˚F.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet and saute leeks for 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and saute one additional minute.

Beat eggs and milk in a large bowl until well mixed. Mix in butternut squash, leeks, prosciutto, cheese, sage, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Line a 10-inch pie pan with prepared pie crust; pour in quiche mixture. Bake at 350˚F for 45 to 60 minutes, or until set. Cool slightly and cut into 8 wedges. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: 330 calories, 20.4g fat, 2.0g fiber, 14.1g protein per serving
Cost: $0.91 per serving

While I was visiting my parents in Des Moines last weekend, my mom and I put on our aprons and chef hats, and collaborated on this breakfast treat. She’s the first source I go to when I need any advice in the kitchen because she’s an awesome high school culinary arts teacher! Her classroom consists of several commercial kitchens and a café her students run, which is open to the public for lunch a few times a week. She not only prepares her students for a restaurant career or culinary school, but also takes them to national culinary competitions, where they cook or bake in teams or individually. I wish I could have taken her classes in high school! I’m hoping to convince her to write a guest blog post about her program and famous chocolate cake when her kids are back in school next year.

I already developed a pancake recipe with my mom in mind since she loves sweets for breakfast, so it was only natural that we come up with another breakfast treat. We decided Boston Cream Pie French Toast would be delicious and my mom had the brilliant idea of using soft dinner rolls to make little mini French Toast stacks! We cut each roll into 3 slices and cooked them up as French toast and then filled the layers with vanilla pudding and topped the stack with chocolate ganache. They tasted very indulgent, but are not really all that bad for you. We had ours with strawberries, but I think any kind of fresh fruit would also be great. Oh, and check out my mom’s cool strawberry fan – she’s always teaching me something!

Boston Cream Pie Mini French Toast Stacks
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 soft dinner rolls (ours were about 2 1/2 inches on each side), cut into 3 slices each
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup vanilla pudding (we made instant with 1 3/4 cup milk so it would be on the thick side)
8 strawberries, sliced

Directions:
Whisk 1/2 cup milk, eggs, and vanilla in a pie pan until smooth. Spray large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium high heat. Working in batches, dip 12 roll slices into egg mixture on both sides and cook about 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and remaining 1 tablespoon milk on high for 45 seconds, stirring once after 25 seconds, until melted.

To assemble the stacks, layer the first third of each roll, 2 tablespoons vanilla pudding, another third of the roll, 2 tablespoons pudding, and the final one third of the roll. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of chocolate ganache on top of each stack. Garnish with sliced strawberries. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 257 calories, 10.0g fat, 2.5g fiber, 8.4g protein per serving
Cost: $0.89 per serving

Apolinaras and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary yesterday! I will restrain myself from being too mushy, but I will say I am thankful every day to be married to such incredible partner. He balances me out, reminds me what really matters, supports my ambitions, and will be the best father when we have kiddos.  I know I am one lucky girl!

To celebrate, we splurged on the six course tasting menu at Craigie on Main in Cambridge. We were both blown away by both the food and unpretentious service. We ended up being served six savory courses and three dessert courses, all of which featured seasonal ingredients from local farms. The highlight was when Chef Tony Maws personally delivered the last savory course (Pork Two Ways: organic grilled vermont suckling confit with a crispy skin and pork belly with barley couscous, fresh greens, and crispy shallots). Our other favorite courses were the Salad of Hiramasa Sashimi (with a gold beet-pine nut-mango salsa, avocado, whitefish roe, and shiso), Curry Oil-Poached and Roasted Dayboat Sea Scallops (with their roe and a ginger pineapple-marjoram sauce), and Crispy Tempura of Maryland Softshell Crabs (with fresh hearts of palm, cipollini onion, and a chorizo sauce). These descriptions do not do the food justice – everything was amazing! I also got to try geoduct and rabbit sausage for the first time and had my first poached egg served with a ragout. I’ve been scared of runny yolks my entire life, but I had already decided to be more adventurous than usual and eat everything they gave us, so I dug in and was surprised that it was rather tasty! The desserts were also excellent (tea-infused panna cotta, olive oil and chocolate mousse, peanut butter cookie sandwiches with grape coulis, and a chilled rhubab puree). Everything was phemonomial and I highly recommend it if you’re ever in the Boston area! They also have a bar and brunch menu, which we’re now eager to check out.

I also did a little celebratory cooking. Apolinaras requested my goat cheese risotto, which I stuffed with fresh asparagus and wild mushrooms for lunch yesterday and then I made a special treat for breakfast this morning –  Banana Bread French Toast Kabobs with Strawberries and Pineapple! The flavors were inspired by my mom’s favorite fruit salad of bananas, strawberries, and pineapple. I made my beloved Betty Crocker banana bread recipe (with 2 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose and walnuts), and then made it into French toast by dipping each slice in a mixture of buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla and toasting them up in a hot skillet. I threaded pieces of the French toast along with fresh strawberries and pineapple onto skewers and served it with syrup and a bit of yogurt with toasted coconut on top to dip the fruit into – yum! I thought it was a very cute presentation, but my practical hubby rolled his eyes a bit (“wouldn’t it be less work to serve everything separately?” – I have always loved his honest opinions!). So, perhaps these kabobs would appreciated a bit more at a girly event like a brunch bridal/baby shower!

Banana Bread French Toast Kabobs with Strawberries and Pineapple
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
4 slices of banana bread
1/2 cup low fat buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 strawberries, hulled
12 chunks of fresh pineapple

Directions:
Whisk buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla extract in a pie pan until smooth. Spray large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium high heat. Dip banana bread into egg mixture on both sides and cook about 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Slice each piece of French toast into 1 inch squares and make kabobs by alternating a strawberry, chunk of pineapple, and two squares of French toast onto each skewer until fillled. Makes 4 kabobs (2 large servings). Serve with syrup and yogurt topped with toasted coconut, if desired.

Nutrition: 649 calories, 12.4g fat, 6.9g fiber, 21.4g protein per serving
Cost: $3.52 per serving

My kitchen is currently overflowing with Pillsbury brownie mixes and refrigerated cookie dough. Don’t worry, I’m not just looking for a sugar high  - I’ve just started working on recipes for the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off! Recipes are due April 20 and I encourage all my fellow food bloggers to enter. You’re such a creative bunch and you only need one good idea to win a trip to Orlando and the chance to compete for $1 million!

When I got the exciting call I was a finalist for the last Bake-Off, I was sure that this coffee cake recipe was the one they picked…it wasn’t, but I promise it’s really delicious and super easy to make. It’s also very versatile – you can easily change the kinds of nuts and fruit you use. My mom is addicted and now asks for it every single time I’m home! Ok, I hope I’ve inspired at least one person to have fun creating some recipes – time to get back to the kitchen!

Apricot Pecan Spiral Coffee Cake
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Land O Lakes Unsalted Butter, softened
1/2 cup packed Domino Light Brown Sugar
1 cup Fisher Chef’s Naturals Pecan Pieces
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 (11-oz.) Pillsbury Refrigerated Crusty French Loaf
1/2 cup Smucker’s Apricot Preserves, melted

Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚F. Grease 8-inch round cake pan. In small bowl, combine butter, sugar, pecan pieces, dried apricots, and cinnamon; mix well.

Unroll bread dough onto floured surface, forming a 13×12-inch rectangle. Spread melted preserves evenly over dough. Sprinkle evenly with nut mixture and press lightly into dough.

Cut dough into 8 even 12-inch long strips. Roll up 1 strip into a spiral. Place spiral on next strip, matching ends of strip as you work, and continue rolling. Add 2 more strips to the spiral in the same way. Place spiral into center of greased pan. Cut remaining 4 strips in half to form 8 6-inch strips. To finish the spiral, loosely wrap remaining strips around the centered spiral in the pan, one at a time, matching ends of strips as you work. Spread completed spiral to fit pan, if needed, by pushing the center of the spiral down and out, so spiral fills and touches edges of the pan.

Bake at 350˚F for 28 to 33 minutes, or until coffee cake is golden brown. Immediately invert on serving platter, cool for 5-10 minutes, and cut into wedges. Serve warm. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: 372 calories, 17.6g fat, 2.2g fiber, 5.3g protein per serving
Cost: $5.70 total