2 brunches

My Sunday brunch: french toast with Steve and Lauren.

Dear First Watch: your portions are MASSIVE.

Which was fine, since Steve was there and I just gave him like a slice and a third of that.

Dear First Watch: I appreciate the yummy and colorful fruit. And the blueberry syrup!

 

Went home to hang with the fam. Offered to make them french toast and my sister, the girl who I thought didn’t cook but has been rockin’ some stuff lately, informed me, “No, we’re having egg salad sandwiches and soup.”

And sure enough, she whipped up some hardboiled eggs (after a little delicate suggestion from me to start them in cold water…) and made a gorgey egg salad.

As well as the thoroughly creative additions of pickled green tomatoes (!) purchased at the farmer’s market (they are sooooooooo good!). Plus farmer’s market bread.

The finished sandwiches were thoroughly stunning.

Accompanying brunch, as has been accompanying every meal for us skinny chicks in this cold, cold time of year, was a plethora of hot tea. We are slightly (but pleasantly) out of control.

Observe:

 

Particularly exciting are these new Trader Joe’s holiday selections (Rich and Rach, every time I see a lemur I think of you).

 

The Vanilla& Cinnamon Black Tea is as scrumpsh as it sounds, and the Candy Cane earns its name. The pear, alas, is lost in the Ginger-Pear blend.

Speaking of Trader Joe’s, my sister bought this and I cannot stop eating it:

      

Dangerously sweet and delicious.

Speaking of dangerously sweet and delicious, we held our monthly program for children at the apartment complex my agency partners with. The theme this month was Winter Wonderland, and we had the little ‘uns decorate gingerbread houses (well okay they were graham crackers, not gingerbread, but you’d best believe the joy was there).

Erin went above and beyond the call of duty and spent her own funds on goodies for the kids. My boss took these iPhone pictures of all the festivities.

The fixins:

Why are those weird sugar gumdrops so COMPLETELY IRRESISTABLE this time of year?!

Most of the kids did a great job on their own (well actually we had several houses collapse due to candy overload but it’s like “Bummer… now you have to eat it!”) but we had a few who were really little (kindergarten age), so each of us adults partnered with one.

I was with one little girl (note my purple striped sleeve in the background) and she made the most awesomely bizarre looking gingerbread house.

I started calling it the Tim Burton House, because it was completely ramshackle and falling down; held together with black (!) icing; and completely randomly decked out in candy. With Twizzlers draped over the roof.

It. Was. Awesome.