We are Dave and Sarah and this is one of our favorite things of all time:
Another one of our favorite things is breakfast food. If you’ve followed our blog for any length of time, you’ve probably already caught on to the fact that we love breakfast. A few weeks ago, we even devoted an entire week of posts to breakfast food. So when it came time to submit a post for the Foodbuzz 24×24 event, it was a no brainer for us: Breakfast for Dinner. We know, we know…we have already posted Breakfast for Dinner once before. But that’s what’s so great about this meal. There are hundreds of different combinations to choose from!
For this meal, we decided to get together with our good friends, Rob and Ami (along with their four kids). We made Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce, Baked Denver Omelet, Amana Bacon, and Cold Brewed Iced Coffee. We also decided to honor our kids’ request and whip up some chocolate chip pancakes at the last minute. Yum!
The great thing about making this meal for company is that most of it can be done in advance. The blueberry sauce, iced coffee, and egg mixture can all be made the day before. So when you host your get together, you just need to throw the bacon and eggs into the oven and focus on the pancakes. That’s it!
Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes
Prep time : 30 minutes
Serves: 4 (4 pancakes each)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups water
2 cups Buttermilk pancake mix (we use Krusteaz)
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
zest and juice of two lemons
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Butter for the pan
Directions
Preheat the oven to 200°F. Heat a griddle to medium heat. Mix the water, pancake mix, ricotta, vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice, and poppyseeds in a bowl with a wire whisk.
Butter the hot griddle. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to drop the batter onto the hot griddle. This way all the pancakes come out to the same size. Once you start to see bubbles around the edges, flip the pancake over with a metal spatula.
The first side should be golden brown. Cook for a couple minutes on the second side, until it’s golden brown. Repeat with the remaining batter.
Place the pancakes on a baking sheet in the warm oven as you go to keep warm until all the pancakes are done.
Blueberry Sauce
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Serves:4
Ingredients
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 strips of lemon zest
Directions
Bring all ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until berries burst and sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Remove the strips of lemon zest and serve over lemon poppyseed pancakes.
Baked Denver Omelet
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
8 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 green pepper, chopped
1 cup shredded hash browns
1 shallot, chopped
1 cup diced ham
1 handful fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
3/4 cup sharp white cheddar cheese
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Butter an 8×8 baking dish.
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl with the milk, green pepper, hash browns, shallot, ham, parsley, salt and pepper, and 1/2 cup of the cheese.
Pour into the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
Bacon
1 pound bacon (preferably from the butcher or meat counter – not pre-packaged).
Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Line a large baking sheet with foil. Place a metal cooling rack in the baking sheet and lay strips of bacon on the rack (one sheet will hold about 10 pieces of bacon). Cook for 25-30 minutes, flipping bacon once during cooking. Place bacon on a paper towel lined plate to cool and absorb grease.
Now the best part, serving and eating the delicious food!
We were planning on all eating outside, but it was just a little too cold for all the kids, so we decided to have them eat indoors. They still loved the meal just as much as we did!
Another successful Breakfast for Dinner for 1 cup Awesome! And this time it was even better because we got to enjoy the meal with great friends. Huge thanks to the Randazzos for letting us use their home and to the incredible Dave Poyzer for taking the stunning pictures.
What’s your all-time favorite breakfast for dinner item? French toast? Pancakes? Eggs? Let us know!
oh, geez… too funny! and your kids are so darling.
We do some late night (vegan, gluten-free) pancakes once in a while per my request. Dave is all crepes all the time. Basically if it involves a side of bacon or Beeler’s breakfast sausage, I’m in though
As Mia looked at the pictures she said, “Yum, I want more.”
That’s it. I’m coming over. Enough of this ridiculous temptation. That blueberry sauce is calling my name. And lemon poppyseed pancakes? Wow. AND is that your famous iced coffee??
Like I said, it’s official. We need to eat food together sometime. I’d leave right now except my child is in bed and I’d rather not have DHS chase me to Des Moines…
Seriously, next time you are around Des Moines or we are around Iowa City – we’ll make it happen!
Wow what a great event! My goal is to do a 24X24 one of these months – your photos provide great inspiration!
Thanks Stacy!
I have been INSPIRED! so much of this post is filing my thoughts. We do breakfast for dinner all the time, so not so much that part but the table settings the baked denver omelet, the pancakes…those sound divine and mostly Entertaining with kids in mind. I haven’t entertained guests for a while because it’s hard enough to get my own 4 kids to sit still through a meal let alone add someone else’s brood to the mix….but your pictures, make me want to try….and that makes me happy.
Wow! Thanks so much for your kind words! We hardly ever get a babysitter when we entertain, so we’ve worked hard at finding ways to make meals work with kids in mind. One thing we often do is serve them first, and let all of them enjoy a meal together, then clean up and send them off to play while the adults enjoy some time together.
Your photos are BEAUTIFUL! I need some tips!!!!
And I cannot wait to make those Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes – what a wonderful idea!
Thanks Kristin! We can’t take any credit for the photos. They were done by a friend of ours, Dave Poyzer. Check out some of his work at http://www.theweddingformat.com. He is REALLY good at what he does!
“Brinner” is always one of my favorites! And I love cooking bacon in the oven. So much easier and way less mess.
Also, I love that table cloth (or runner?) Care to share where you got it?
Thanks! It was purchased at target about 5 years ago.