The Bitten Word

Incan Super-Power Bars

Food & Wine (September 2011)

Don't you feel like this recipe name is just begging to be followed by an exclamation point? "Incan Super-Power Bars! Power-blasted with ancient Incan energy secrets to give you the boost you need!!! INCAN SUPER-POWER BARS!!!"

No? Just us?

Well, here's a sentence that definitely needs to end in an exclamation point: Zach is running a marathon! (Actually, maybe that calls for an interrobang: Zach is running a marathon‽)

Anyway, yes, Zach's running the Marine Corps Marathon on October 30 here in D.C. It's his first marathon, and he's been training since May. Prior to this, the most either one of us had ever run was the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler, which we've run the past two years.

Sidenote: The team that Zach is training with is called Team to End AIDS. It's a very, very good cause, and all the fundraising proceeds go to AIDS United and the Washington AIDS Partnership. If you'd like to donate to Zach's fundraising page -- even a buck, or five bucks or 10 bucks -- you'd be helping out an excellent organization. And we would love you forever.

As a result of all the running he's been doing over the past several months, Zach has blissfully been eating everything in sight. (Seriously, we should have purchased stock in a peanut butter company this summer....) He's constantly been on the hunt for foods that are nutritious, delicious and full of energy.

Which is why we were thrilled to find these Incan Super-Power Bars (Incan Super-Power Bars!!!).

Skillet Eggs With Squash

 Food Network Magazine (July/August 2011)

We went to Cape Cod this weekend. Friends presented the opportunity for a free house in Provincetown for several days, and we jumped at the chance to go. And it was lovely! We read, we napped, we read some more. We took walks to the beach and made dinner at the house most nights.

Before we left for the trip, we diligently cleaned out our fridge, working through all the produce that we had on hand. And that, friends, is a challenge these days, because our CSA share is getting hefty each week.

One of the main culprits? Zucchini. We have it in spades right now. A few weeks ago, our weekly share had 12 (twelve!) pounds of zucchini. This week, we got another four pounds.

So needless to say, when it's summer, we're on the lookout for new zucchini ideas. 

And one of those ideas -- Skillet Eggs with Squash -- is already a new favorite. 

Morning Glory Muffins

Cook's Country (May/June 2011) 

 

We've been to our fair share of coffee shops. So we were already familiar with the glories of the Morning Glory Muffin before seeing them featured in the most recent Cook's Country.

If you're not familiar with them (several friends we've discussed them with over the last week haven't been), they're those beautiful, carrot-studded concoctions of fruit and nuts, typically filled with raisins, cinnamon, walnuts and pieces of carrot. They're like the breakfast equivalent of a Compost Cookie -- a little bit of everything thrown in.  

Now, we're not usually muffin people. Breakfast around our house typically consists of protein shakes or oatmeal. On weekends we'll usually make some kind of eggs or the occasional pancake or waffle. 

But the arrival of guests is a great time to break out of your breakfast tradition. So when Zach's mom visited recently, we seized on the opportunity to make muffins. 

Best Easter Brunch Ideas

With Easter coming up this Sunday, food magazines are full of lunch and brunch ideas to fit the occasion. We're actually having some friends over for brunch on Sunday, and we're excited because Zach's mom is sending us an Easter ham from the Loveless Cafe in Nashville!

[Updated: Check out this Spicy Zucchini Frittata, these excellent Morning Glory Muffins, and lots more great brunch ideas!]

Here are some of our favorite recipes for an Easter brunch. Whether you're planning more of a breakfast-y brunch or a lunch-y brunch (or some combination of both), we think you'll love these dishes!

Have any of your own faves?  Let us know in the comments!

If you want a breakfast-y brunch...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Best Blueberry Muffins
• Bacon with Citrus Glaze
• Crusty Buttermilk Biscuits
• Granny Ragland's Chocolate Gravy
• Eggs with Ramps and Asparagus
• Strawberry Scones
• Breakfast Buttercups
• Classic Eggs Benedict
• Kentucky Mimosas

If you want a lunch-y brunch...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shaved Raw Asparagus with Parmesan Dressing

Bourbon Mint Tea

Sugar Snap Pea and Radish Salad

Pineapple-Mustard Glazed Ham

Spring Shells and Cheese

Butterflied, Rolled and Roasted Leg of Lamb with Fresh Mint Sauce

Popovers

Perfect Carrot Cake

Tres Cocoas Leches Cake 

Plus, 6 Great Tips for Planning a Brunch

Sweet Potato Doughnuts

Food & Wine (March 2011)

Many times over the past few years, we’ve considered making doughnuts.  But the timing was never right. Either we didn’t have enough time or the right occasion to go to the trouble. 

This past weekend, though, it was finally time to make the doughnuts.

We were having a lazy weekend at home, with few plans.  And these Sweet Potato Doughnuts from Food & Wine were calling out to us.  

First things first, though: If you want to make these doughnuts, you need to set your expectations. 

Breakfast Buttercups

Cook's Country (March 2011)

"Breakfast Buttercups." Have you ever heard a more adorable name? Honestly, it's 99 percent of the reason we chose to make these. Seriously, how could we not? 

Plus, with toast, ham, eggs, and cheese, all in a tiny package, how could they possibly bad?

Well, it’s true. These Breakfast Buttercups don’t disappoint.

Swedish Pancakes

Cook's Country (October 2010)

You know how, whenever you go to IKEA, there's always one thing that you get home with and think, "Hunh. Wait, why did we buy this, again?" And then it sits at your house for two years until you either throw it away or find some use for it.

Maybe it's a 100-pack of votive candles. Or an amorphous orange ceramic serving dish. Or, hey, maybe even a bookcase.

In our case, it was lingonberry jam.

We bought it earlier this year with the good intentions of throwing an Austrian-themed dinner inspired by a January 2010 Bon Appétit feature. Honestly, we just never got around to doing it. (In some alternate universe, we held that dinner party and become huge fans of Liptauer. And we're probably wearing lederhosen.)

Anyway, there was the lingonberry jam, staring us in the face every time we opened the pantry, taunting us.

Finally, we decided to do something about it. So we made these Swedish Pancakes.

Blueberry-Banana Pancakes

Food & Wine (October 2010)

At our house, weekend breakfasts are typically an eggs-and-bacon affair.

Sometimes the eggs are scrambled or fried, with bacon on the side. Sometimes they're omelettes, with bacon on the inside. Or if we're feeling really crazy, we'll do a big scramble of ingredients and drop them in a tortilla. (Don't worry: You can have the bacon as an appetizer if doesn't work in your wrap. But God forbid we go a breakfast without bacon!)

It's the rare weekend morning when we have pancakes. Why rare? Well, eggs are quicker (and a whole lot less messy). Plus, a big stack of pancakes can seem like a lot of unnecessary carbs. Pancakes -- though a favorite of ours -- only get made when we have some great fruit we need to use or when we have a recipe we're dying to try.

So when we spied these Blueberry-Banana Pancakes in Food & Wine -- with their big slices of banana cooked into the batter -- we knew that pancakes were on the menu for Saturday morning.

Breakfast Burrito from Top Chef's Spike Mendelsohn

Food & Wine (July 2010)

Our nation's capital is, quite understandably, a little "Top Chef"-obsessed right now.

The new season is well under way and takes place here in D.C. And since the episode has already aired, we can now share with you our "Top Chef" sob story.

You see, we got invited to the party for the first challenge of the season. And, sad but true, we couldn't go. So we missed out on our chance for all of you to see the corner of one of our elbows over Padma's shoulder as she was eating an olive oil bon bon. Tragedy!

But we didn't feel that bad about not going, because we were sure that we'd get invited to a second taping. But then a second invite never came and now we're "Top Chef" cameo-less. We can feel your sympathy from here.

Anyway, the current season isn't the only reason the District is "Top Chef" crazy right now.

Former cheftestant Carla Hall, who we met last summer, is out and about town. Bryan Voltaggio's Volt, out in Maryland, is getting raves. And Mike Isabella just announced he's leaving Zatinya to open his own restaurant.

But Spike Mendelsohn may be the most visible "Top Chef" alum running around the city.

Spike's Good Stuff Eatery, a Bitten Word favorite, has been serving delicious burgers for well over two years now. He has a brand new cookbook available. And in just over a week, he'll open a new pizza place in D.C. called We, The Pizza (a few previews are available here, here, and here).

Spike also turns up in this month's Food & Wine, where he showcases his healthy takes on pizzas, burgers and burritos. We wish we could say that we made these breakfast burritos because we're huge Spike fans, but that's not the case. We don't have anything against Spike, but the truth is we made these burritos because we're huge breakfast fans. 

Fast Strawberry Scones

Everyday Food (May 2010)

Being able to whip up a batch of perfect, last-minute scones on a whim seems, to us, as indispensable as having a go-to roast chicken recipe, knowing how to fix a proper martini or having a stellar vinaigrette recipe at your fingertips. It's the kind of thing we'd like to have in our proverbial back pockets, for when guests are visiting for the weekend or we find ourselves throwing a last minute brunch.

Well, we are sad to report that we are cooks without a favorite scone recipe. In fact, we think we've only made scones once before, years ago, and can't recall the flavor or the recipe source. We do, however, consume our fare share of scones. Nearly every week we buy one to split from Atwater's bakery while we tour the farmers market. Call it a pre-breakfast amuse bouche. 

So now begins our search for our favorite, go-to scone recipe, starting with this one from Everyday Food.