Casserole Queens Cookbook Tour Schedule – Yay! (UPDATED)

Check out our updated book tour schedule!

Some exciting stuff coming up next week: our Aug 23 appearance on The Today Show and our Aug 25 book release party at BookPeople.

We’ll be keeping this schedule up-to-date as more stops are confirmed. Stay tuned. If we’re stopping in your town, please come see us!

So Wrong? So Right?

From serving as a trusty side-kick to your toaster, to elegant serve ware for your table, who wouldn’t want this amazing vintage toast rack? Chances are you probably already have one, unknowingly re-purposing it for a way to organize mail or bills. Silly rabbit, toast holders are for toast–not post!

But what do you think? Is this toast holder so wrong or so right?

Oh and PS. Ignore that adorable condiment jar the jelly is in…that, my friends, is an entirely different post!

Barnyard Breakfast

My absolute favorite meal of the day is breakfast. Maybe it has something to do with all my farm animal crockery? Let’s face it. Cows and chickens just make breakfast more fun.

I like to make moo sounds when pouring milk over my cereal. Moooooooo. Don’t youuuuuu?

Not only are these dishes adorable but they also inspire me to step outside of my comfort zone and create. In fact, my little cow butter dish just begged me to make a yummy buttery creation.

So now I sit enjoying a flaky hot croissant with strawberry butter!  Thanks Mr. Cow. (Yes, I am talking to an inanimate object).  Butter compounds are simple to make and can add a little something extra to your morning. If you’re all about savory just add a couple of tablespoons of oil to your butter, and chopped fresh herbs of your choice. Delicious!

Strawberry Butter

• 1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup strawberry preserves
• 1 teaspoon fresh orange juice
• 1 teaspoon orange zest

Makes 1 cup.

In a medium size bowl combine the strawberry preserves, orange juice, and orange zest. Place the softened butter in the bowl of a food processor. Using the whisk attachment, whip the butter at medium speed until it softens and lightens in color, about 2 minutes.  Add strawberry mixture and blend for another minute.

Remove butter from bowl and spoon onto parchment paper or plastic wrap. Roll into a log, using the edge of a baking sheet to form a tight log. Chill for 2 hours before serving. Place in the super cute cow butter dish and get ready to make someone’s morning!

Ham and Egg “Muffins” with Red Pepper Coulis

This post is going to surprise Crystal. You see, my girl is a BIG egg fan, whereas I generally don’t go anywhere near them. I don’t hate eggs, but they are definitely not something I tend to wake up craving. But something in me has changed. For some reason, I, Sandy Pollock, have developed a liking for eggs. All of a sudden, a whole freaking world is open to me! I feel alive for the very first time! OK, maybe not, but I am enjoying this addition to my diet.

So I decided to try out the whole ham-product-lined-muffin-tin-filled-with-an-egg-in-the-middle thing. I liked the idea of a hand-held egg “muffin.” It sounded like a fun thing to eat. I customized it to my taste, which leans more toward a spicy palate, and I am really happy with the results. Let me ‘splain to you what I did.

First I nurtured my chicken until it gave me eggs. Then I — OK, that’s not true. I bought them at the grocery store. But then I did spectacular things with them! Here’s how it’s done:

Start by getting your ingredients together — in the world of french cooking, this is known as mise en place. ( I love when I remember something from my culinary school days!)

Dice one red bell pepper, two garlic cloves, and one jalapeno (remove seeds for less heat).

Melt a tablespoon (or so) of butter in a non-stick pan.

Then saute (over medium heat) those beautifully chopped veggies until softened (eh, let’s call it 5 minutes or so).

While the veggies are getting all soft and bothered, separate 6 eggs. Once the veggies are raring to go, add 1/2 of them to your egg whites and whisk ’em together well.

Spray your muffin tin with cooking spray and lay in a slice of smoked ham (sorry, I don’t have a photo for that step).

Then divide the egg white/veggie mixture between the 6 muffin slots and top each with an egg yolk.

Put these bad boys in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and cook until the eggs are set (about 15-20 minutes).

Now for the other half of the sautéed veggies. It’s time to make the coulis! Bust out your blender and add the other 1/2 of your veggies along with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1/2 a shallot, and salt and pepper (to taste). Blend. Blend like you’ve never blended before!

Can’t really see the coulis, but I liked the picture and dang it — it’s my blog!

So one quick note. When you peek in on your eggs and see that those bad boys are almost set-up, pull them out and sprinkle each with some parmesan cheese. At this point, I also added several dashes of hot sauce to each muffin. I am currently in love with Goya hot sauce/salsa picante (you can see the bottle in the background of the first pic in this recipe). Loves it! Now place those guys back in the oven until the cheese melts (5 minutes or so).

I served my grub with some toasted Italian bread and a dollop of red pepper coulis. I also had the coulis in a bowl on the side, cuz folks are gonna want to dip their bread in there.

This is super yummy and easy and you can really change it up to suit your own taste. For instance, you could use prosciutto instead of smoked ham. You could add any filler you like — zucchini and tomatoes, or olives and feta. Go crazy!

Smooch!