Tuesday, June 9, 2009

NEW RECIPE, BREAKFAST, ELOISE, AND A PASSION FOR ROOM SERVICE






I am absolutely NOT a breakfast person, nor have I ever been.

Now by that, I mean that I do not like to eat directly upon rising.

My stomach must wake up first. This takes at least a couple of hours.
There are three times when I DO love to eat breakfast, though.

1. For Dinner
2. For Brunch (late)
3. Room Service in a fabulous hotel

Ah, Room Service...gives me the chills just to mention it..

I adore Room Service, especially for Dinner.

It's terribly decadent to chilax in a beautifully decorated hotel room, order a
must-see movie on the tube, put on a plush hotel provided bathrobe, and order Room service....

Room Service Dinner with a very Dry Martini...Nirvana


Then there is Breakfast Room Service.

I do less of this, but have been known to do it, as it gives me time to get ready for whatever I am doing for the day.
Breakfast brought on a gorgeous cart...
Perfect start to the day!

I ALWAYS order the same, but very much adored Breakfast....

I LOVE a fruit, granola, and yogurt parfait...Almost every Hotel that I have stayed
in, has a version of this.

It's pretty, light, and satisfying, and you almost feel as though you are having dessert for Breakfast...

With the addition of two beautiful silver pots containing hot freshly made coffee and another with cold water,
a fresh flower in a small vase,
sometimes the addition of a homemade muffin,
real silver flatware and cloth napkins...
Hmmm...and all I have to do is sign?

I love that they want to pour your first cup...

I am, and always will be,
A "LUX HOTEL DIVA"

There is no denying it,
or any end to it.

When making plans for a trip, the Food and the Hotel are MAJOR COMPONENTS...

(A big apology to my family, who don't claim to know where I came from, as I
was not raised to be who I am today.)

One must realise that "Eloise" was my favorite childhood book.
When I first visited "The Plaza Hotel" in New York, I felt like I was home!
"Eloise" was everywhere!

My first little friend!

www.eloisewebsite.com

I dreamed of living at "The Plaza" just like Eloise.
Eloise first introduced me to Room Service and Lux Hotels.

It's all Eloise's fault...

Why they even have "Eloise Weekend Packages" at the Plaza...

Completely outrageous, of course...


Question...

Have you ever had dessert for Breakfast?

Oh C'mon now, let's get real...

I can't be the only one...

I remember that on a talk show one time, Sylvester Stallone, who is big on keeping
his body healthy and very much in shape, mentioned that if you ARE going to eat dessert, that you should always consider eating it in the morning, so that you can burn it off the rest of the day.

I have never been a huge believer in the "don't ever eat after a certain time" etc, because I have a friend that is a Dietitian who promises that your body does not know what time it is, and that the calories one takes in and burns has nothing to do with the actual time of the day...(This is somewhat nice to think about working night shift!)

I HAVE certainly, in my time, had dessert for breakfast..

That last piece of Limeade Pie? (Yes, I CAN plug my recipes on my own website! See previous post "Renaissance Women Post a Poem and a Pie", (great picture, poem not
too shabby either...)

You Shameless Wench!

Back to dessert for Breakfast....

How bout a quickly heated up piece of last night's Apple Pie?

I also have had a couple of homemade cookies with coffee, and sometimes if available, a piece of cake...

I like savory breakfasts, but more so for dinner or brunch (late)

Ever had a really great cinnamon roll for breakfast? YUM!

Now, none of these are very healthy, grant you, (save the parfait.)

I am now going to post a recipe for an addition to your other "go to" Breakfast recipes/traditions.

I think that it solves the dilemma of trying to have something healthy (yogurt, granola, fresh fruit, nuts), and having your Breakfast sweet as well.

This one comes from Caprial and John's kitchen, those wonderful chefs in Oregon..

BREAKFAST FRUIT CRISP

SERVES 12

TOPPING:

1 cup flour
1 cup granola
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts or pecans
1/4 cup coconut (could delete if you don't like...SHAME ON YOU!..See "Coconut Cravings")
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter

FILLING:
2 pints raspberries or blackberries
2 pints strawberries, hulled and quartered
1 cup sugar
Pinch ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Garnish:
2 cups vanilla yogurt
Fresh mint

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the topping place flour, granola, nuts, coconut, vanilla and brown sugar in a medium-sized bowl and mix well. Add the butter and mix with your finger tips until
the mixture resembles a coarse dough. Set aside.

For the filling, place berries, sugar, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and vanilla in a large bowl and toss to mix. Place in a 9x11 inch baking dish. Crumble topping over berry mixture.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until topping is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.

To serve, place the warm crisp on plates and top with yogurt and mint...

YUM!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The fruit crisp sounds yummy! My daughter really loves Eloise at the Plaza!

Lobster Gram Recipe Blog said...

I love dessert for breakfast! But I usually don't have the skill that early in the morning to create such a beautiful parfait. I usually stick with the left over cheesecake that's inevitably in the fridge :)
I'm going to regret that choice one day.