Happy New Year!

On New Year's Eve, we hosted a brunch with some friends.  It was a lot of fun and maybe the start of a tradition.  With little kids, it's hard to make New Year's Eve evening (up 'til midnight) plans and I loved starting New Year's Eve with a little party.  We had mimosas, coffee, pastries, an egg casserole, fruit salad, and waffles.  The most amazing part of the brunch (in my opinion) was the egg nog syrup I made for the waffles.  I was showing my husband a recipe for egg nog pancakes and he told me that even better than egg nog in the batter would be an egg nog syrup or topping.  Ask and you shall receive!  The recipe was so easy and delicious - we've been eating the leftovers on vanilla ice cream.  I'm not a huge egg nog fan (I especially don't like to drink it straight) but trust me - this was good stuff!

Have you made any food-related New Year's Resolutions?  I reviewed my resolutions from last year and didn't do too bad.  One was to feed my kids less take out or fast food and I think we definitely decreased our drive thru trips over the year.  I'm hesitant to make any big sweeping resolutions this year because adding a 3rd kid to the mix is going to be a big enough change for our family!  Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2013.

Brunch Casserole (serves 6)

8 oz tube of Pillsbury Crescent rolls

1 cup of cooked bacon or cooked, crumbled sausage

1/2 cup diced onions

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

2 T - 1/4 cup chopped green chiles

1.5 cups shredded cheese (I used a Mexican blend)

4 eggs

3/4 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Saute the onion and bell pepper in a little olive oil until soft.  Set aside.  Line the bottom of a greased 8x11 pan with the pillsbury crescent dough.  Firmly press the perforations to seal.  Sprinkle with bacon or sausage, onion & bell pepper mixture, chiles, and cheese.  

Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper.  Pour into the pan.  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the eggs are set.  Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into squares.  Serve hot.  

Egg Nog Syrup (makes about 1.5 cups)

Original recipe here

1 stick butter

3/4 cup egg nog (full fat, commercially prepared works best)

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

In a large pan (make sure it's large - the syrup will grow when you add the vanilla and soda), place the butter, egg nog, and sugar.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and soda (it will foam up).  Serve over hot pancakes or waffles.  Leftovers will keep, refrigerated, for a few weeks.