Sunday, April 5, 2009

Sunday Brunch and Petits Pains Au Chocolat (and the J Crew Cotton Ruffled Scoopneck Tee)

What a lovely day it was for Sunday Brunch. Hubby and I decided it would be fun to kick off Spring Break with brunch for a few families. We have a regular happy hour crew, so the ones who weren't on their way to Florida were invited. Such a fun time! Hubby made crepes - ham & cheese, and cheese & asparagus. Yummy! I love that he loves to cook - and he's so good at it, too!

Lesson #1 - when kids are invited, make many, many packs of bacon. It was cleared out in no time flat. Like how they say piranhas can take a cow down to its skeleton in 3 seconds. That's what the bacon plate looked like. I tried to keep my extremities out of the way.

Our friends brought baked cheese grits, potato-cheese casserole, half a carrot cake, and, for balance, a fruit salad. Mimosas and peach-flavored wine & OJ spritzers created when the champagne was gone. I had dessert, so I made a favorite - Petits Pains Au Chocolat (recipe at end of post). Very good and very easy. And I had hubby pick up some of those fantastic sugar cookies to bake with the shape inside (you know what I mean, right?) - so we had bunny cookies & chick/egg cookies. Plus the requisite jellybeans. I can keep these around because they don't tempt me like chocolate.


I was chilly in the morning, so I headed off to church with the Tartine cardi but by mid-day, had swapped it out for the Slub Cotton Ruffled Scoopneck Tee (#13657, $39.50). Gigi did a review of the tee here. It's a little shorter in length than many of their tees. It's fitted but not lump-revealing (always a plus). The ruffles are very pretty and they have some subtle tonal bead detailing. I got it in navy at our DC JCA outing (10% and 25% off, so just under $27 and totally worth it, IMO).

Polyvore set:
Brunch-04/05/09
Brunch-04/05/09 by HeidiGblog featuring Old Navy tank tops

Here's the recipe for the Petits Pains Au Chocolat that I made. These are so easy, it's insane! 3 ingredients, not counting water. Try them sometime - they look like something you purchased at a cute little town bakery. BTW, I always forget to put the sugar on top and they are still way yummy.

Petits Pains Au Chocolat (Bon Appetit, April 2004)

2 sheets frozen puff pastry (1 17.3-oz pkg), thawed, each sheet cut into 12 squares
1 large egg beaten to blend with 1 Tbsp water (for glaze)
4 (3.5 oz) bars imported bittersweet or milk chocolate, each cut into six 2 x ¾ inch pieces

Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush top of each puff pastry square with egg glaze. Place 1 chocolate piece on edge of 1 pastry square. Roll up dough tightly, enclosing chocolate. Repeat with remaining pastry and chocolate. Place pastry rolls on baking sheet seam side down. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover pastries with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Cover and refrigerate remaining egg glaze.)

Preheat oven to 400. Brush tops of pastry rolls with remaining egg glaze. Sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake until pastries are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!!

14 comments:

GingerSnap said...

Brunch sounds like sooo much fun. I try to do a nice breakfast for the Hubby on the weekends. I usually make him chocolate chip pancakes, but I think I'm going to try french toast next week :)

Unknown said...

That's a great casual outfit. The brunch sounds scrumptious. How fun!

Patina said...

ohhhhh I am so hungry right now after reading about and seeing the food from your brunch. it was a beautiful day to kick off spring break. the tee looks fantastic on you and you got it at a fabulous price. so were there any leftovers?

Melissa@AllThingsSimplified said...

Good Morning Heidi! Your brunch sounds delicous and you look FABULOUS! :) Btw...your jewelry boards turned out beautifully! Have a blessed day. :)

HeidiG said...

GingerSnap - I love choc chip pancakes, as do the kiddies (hubby likes plain, so we make both)

Gigi -thank you!

PC - thank you - yes, was very happy with my 25% + 10% off. Leftover crepes, grits, potato/cheese casserole. No bacon, biscuits, or kitschy Easter cookies. Grits & Pot/Chs for my breakfast today - will have protein for lunch, I swear.

FFM - thank you and welcome back! I am really enjoying the jewelry board and waiting for E to ask for one for her room, too!

Cari said...

cute outfit! sounds so yummy. Now I'm more hungry.... http://isnotfashion.blogspot.com

KatyO. said...

Don't you love that tee?! I'm going to get another one in white. :)

And brunch sounds fabulous. I'm sitting here in my office with only an orange in front of me and my stomach started growling.

3-Penny Princess said...

Yummers! Thanks so much for this recipe! I will now try to impress someone with it.:) I made some pretty good cinnamon-nutmeg French Toast yesterday for hubby... does that count?

Hope you enjoyed the day!

HeidiG said...

Cari - thanks, and yes, it was all yum!

KatyO - sorry, didn't realize you only had an orange. Yes, totally loving that tee! Got several compliments on it at brunch and there were only 3 other families there. (so high density complimenting)

3-PP - the recipe is so easy, you'll love it! Your French Toast sounds way yummy, too!

Emily said...

I just read your post and it is making me super hungry!

What a fun idea to host a brunch for spring! The tee looks fabulous on you!

dinagideon said...

Can I tell you how much reading about baked cheese grits makes me salivate/ YUMMY!!!

You look so nice in that tee...you definitely make it work... :)

HeidiG said...

Emily - thank you! We love brunch. Anytime is a good for brunch!!

Dina - thank you! And those cheese grits were super yummy, let me tell you...

Slastena said...

You look great!Thank you so much for the brunch ideas,mimosas and chocolate pastries sound delishious. Brunch is my favorite foodtime of all.:) I can do brunch every day!

HeidiG said...

Slastena - thank you! Isn't brunch fun?? Love it!