Brunch 2012

After I moved to a house big enough to handle it, I hosted my first New Year's Brunch.  That was 2006.  This year was the sixth annual, and I hosted with my baby brother.  We spent the week, and especially the last two days, cooking up a smorgasbord of delish.  The menu:

Citrus Sunrise Coffee Cake, Mint Chocolate Cheesecake, Snickers Salad, Cereal and Almond Brittle,  Gingerbread Bread Pudding, Oatmeal Cranberry Buttons, English Toffee, Butternut Squash Muffins, Grapefruit Bars,  Blueberry and Lemon Scones, Chex Mix, Smoked Pork Shoulder, Gyoza, four kinds of Breakfast Strata, Curry Mustard Meatballs,Veggie Taco Wraps, two Pasta Salads, Spanish Tortilla, Cheese balls and Crackers, Home Fries, Candied Pecans, and more.

If I were a more thoughtful food blogger I would have taken pictures as I prepared and presented these dishes, but I didn't.  So, it would be kind of lame to post a bunch of recipes here with no pictures.  I'll just post the one below.  Also, it's a recipe I found online from Jamie Oliver.  I post it and link to the original.

When I tasted this after I made it, I literally jumped up and down in my kitchen, it was so good.  I made this to go on top of my squash muffins, but it worked equally good as a fruit dip.  Or as an excuse to lick your finger and jump up and down like an idiot.

1 clementine, zested
1 lemon, zested and half of it juiced
1/2 cup sour cream
2 heaping tablespoons powdered sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped out

Place the clementine zest, the lemon zest and the lemon juice in a bowl. Add the sour cream, sugar and vanilla seeds and mix well. Taste and have a think about it - adjust the amount of lemon juice or icing sugar to balance the sweet and sour.

Be sure no one is around when you taste it after you get it right, they'll think you're crazy.