the anatomy of a perfect breakfast in bed + a giveaway

can i tell you something that might make you throw up in your mouth a little bit? i made breakfast in bed for eggboy a lot during harvest. multiple times a week. really elaborate and adorable ones complete with miniature things and cute flatware.

his schedule was all wonky since he had to work into the wee hours of the morning and sleep until 11 or noon. i thought about switching my schedule too, but with the shorter days and less sunlight, i usually needed to wake up at my regular 7:55ish in order to get my ducks in a row and ready to be photographed. so at some point between the hours of when i would wake up and when he would wake up, i'd often decide that it would be fun to do a thing i love most: arrange cute little meals on a cute little tray, just like i used to every year for mum's birthday...

speaking of mum's birthday: it's tomorrow!!!!! yayayayay! i sent her a copy of steph's book that eggboy and i annotated with fun notes pointing out our favorite recipes and pictures. and it's no coincidence that i'm posting this the day before her birthday in case anyone in chicago (hint hint, stoop) is reading this and wants to make her breakfast in bed.

so without further ado...

the anatomy of a perfect breakfast in bed

something sweet: a cookie, a bite of nougat, a shot of cake batter. the best days start with a little something sweet.

carefully packaged liquids: coffee mugs that aren't too full, juice in a jar with a lid, a traveler mug, hell, a juice box. sleepy people are clumsy people. sleepy people in beds are really clumsy people.

extra napkins or a towel: just in case.

condiments and seasonings: to be perfectly honest, my little tabasco bottles and maldon tin and baby bon maman jars are a disproportionately large reason why i love making breakfasts in bed. they give me a cute attack every time i look at them. and they're obviously useful because if you actually think that any mother of mine would eat an unsalted, un-hot-sauced egg, even if it were delivered to her in bed, you are cray.

things that don't take too long to make: do you know how awful it is to be mid-breakfast-in-bed-prep and have the person you're making it for wake up and walk into the kitchen? mega awful.

things that aren't too noisy to make: this is an obvious one. be mindful of kitchen timers, blenders, coffee grinders, and those god-awful microwave beeps.

in this breakfast in bed, we have: grape ricotta focaccia (recipe coming soon!), an egg, dala horse cookies, tabasco, maldon salt, yogurt with nuts and honey, green juice, a nell & mary napkin, a little gold spoon, and obviously coffee.

that tray, plate, bowl, and jar are all part of a special breakfast in bed set from pacific merchants, and guess what-- i'm giving one away!!!! yayayayayayayyyyy! to enter this giveaway, leave a comment with your ultimate breakfast in bed! (open to u.s. residents only.) update: this giveaway is now closed.

-yeh!

mini chicken pot pies

i would first eat the crust, inspecting all surfaces to make sure there weren't any mushrooms or peas. i would then filter through the innards, making sure not to ingest any mushrooms or peas. eventually i would give up and go searching for a handi-snack.

to say that i'm impressed with those second graders who made it through daniel is an understatement.

at heart i'm still the pickiest of all the eaters. so even now when i eat something as comforting as chicken pot pie, i consider it a triumph because you never know what could be hiding in that thick creamy goop. it could be a mushroom.

of course my version doesn't have mushrooms. when will i enjoy mushrooms???? and this version is v heavy on the crust, a perk of its miniature size. i've grown into tolerating peas, so those are there, along with the remaining usual suspects of a chicken pot pie, and nothing else. 

this is a no frills pot pie. a simple pie, a humble pie.

these little pies are cute, fun to make, and functional, especially for a small household like mine that can't eat an entire pie for supper. i just wrap the leftovers up individually and freeze them and wam bam, easy as... (wait for it) pie.

i made these in my new favorite pan, the lodge mini cake pan, feel free to use a muffin tin though!

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mini chicken pot pies

makes 10-12

ingredients

2 tb unsalted butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/4 c all-purpose flour

2 c whole milk

enough chicken soup concentrate for 2 c liquid*

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thigh, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1/2 c frozen peas

1/4 t dried thyme

black pepper

2 lb pie dough

*i like orrington farms brand, which requires 2 tsp mix per cup, but other brands, like better than bouillon i believe only require 1 tsp. best to check the instructions.  

clues

in a large skillet over medium high heat, melt the butter and add the onion, stirring until soft, 5-7 minutes. stir in the flour so that it gets evenly distributed. whisk together the milk and chicken soup concentrate and pour it into the skillet. whisk the mixture constantly until it begins to thicken.

add the carrots, chicken, peas, thyme, and pepper, and simmer, stirring often, for 10-15 minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked. taste the mixture and adjust seasonings, if desired.

at this point, i find it easiest to let the mixture cool and then form my pies, however you can definitely form your pies immediately if you'd like.

preheat oven to 400. lightly grease your molds. line them with pie dough so that there is some overhang on the edges (for my pan, i used a 5 1/2-inch circle). spoon in a heaping 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture, place a smaller (3-4-inch) circle on top, and then crimp the edges from the bottom circle over. poke a few holes in the top. bake until golden brown, 30-40 minutes.

let cool slightly and enjoy!

-yeh!

this post is part of becky's eat seasonal roundup! check out a bunch of other seasonal goodies here!

mini pumpkin loaf cakes + friday links

ok so we're slowly transitioning back into life without beet harvest. after last night's end-of-beet-harvest party, eggboy just about passed out at our kitchen counter, muttering you should make chicken pot babka over and over and i couldn't stop giggling until finally i demanded that he brush his teeth and get to bed. there's still bean harvesting to be done, but that's not nearly as intense, so i'm hoping that this weekend, he'll be able to catch up on his sleep. and i'll just be in the kitchen, playing with pumpkins and stuff, making faces and terrariums. i can't wait! here's the latest pumpkin-y thing i've made: mini pumpkin loaf cakes with cream cheese glaze and candied bacon. have a great weekend, y'all!

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friday links!

more mini loaf cakes, of the lemon variety!

"Actually, I do meatless a lot – even meatless topped with bacon."

jeni's splendid ice cream + lucius = pornographic for eyes and ears

swedish cinnamon roll gif swedish cinnamon roll gif

why have i not been putting dukkah on my avocado toast????

ima stop biting my nails so that i can show undernail.

this grilled cheese garnish is out of control!

these maple cream cookies look sooo delightful.

this is the prettiest shakshuka i have ever seen. and it's on hummus!

need more condensed milk frosting in my life, need more spam in my life.

do you guys know about katherine sabbath?? she is like a cake superhero. 

i just discovered salted tv, and the how-to cooking videos are great! you guys can get in on three months of this if you sign up with the code "yeh3" within a week. (there's even a "how to butcher a lamb" video. i literally could not. but maybe you can?)

-yeh!

frosted red velvet cakies

you want to hear something super crazy town?? sugar beet harvest is almost dunzo, making it one of the best harvests in recent history!! typically, weather will really draw things out, making the beeties too cold or too hot or too wet or too dry, causing the boys to work through the end of october. but aside from a little pause last week when it snowed (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), they've been out there for 24 hours a day to pull them puppies out of the ground, and they are almost all out!

do you know what this means??1?1?!!!!! we finally get to watch the season premiere of homeland! and i can once again split the dishes duties with someone. and we can get caught up on wedding planning. and i can have a real reason to make real dinner since when it's just me, dinner is too often cheese on toast, salami on toast, toast on toast, a corn dog, or cookies. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i am so excited.

i've started to plan the end-of-harvest party, which somehow has to top last year's, which took place at the one n only. it's gotta be meaty because it's for a bunch of dudes that drive trucks and harvesters and tractors. dessert is the easy part though, because it's got to involve these here red velvet cakies, from izy's magnificent book. (cookie + cake = cakie). when i made them last week, i had one bite and knew that if i didn't give them away immediately, they would become breakfast, lunch, and dinner. they are the most addicting thing i've made in a very long time. so i brought some out to visit eggboy and gave them to all of the truck drivers and they went gaga over them. so soft, so perfectly red-velvety.

i wouldn't expect anything less than izy though. she is a gem and i've been a fan of her blog, top with cinnamon, for a while now, not just for the recipes, but also for a glimpse into the life of a high schooler in london. (whatever "a-levels" are, they sound mega intense.) we met at the saveur awards in may, and she is just as delightful as you'd expect from reading her blog. she even followed all the funny american drinking age rules and didn't drink a sip of booze despite the fact that a whiskey maker sponsored the thing and despite the fact that i offered to sneak her some when no one was looking. classy lady, that izy. who also knows when to use jazz hands. 

so her book, i love it. the dishes are flavorful in new-to-me ways, sophisticated without being stuffy, and earthy with a nice dose of comfort. at first glance, i thought i'd have to google some things (like "is aubergine an eggplant? or is that zucchini?") but then i saw that it's all specified in the fine print and it made me really happy and want to have a british accent. this book is heavy on the sweets and baked goods--which, naturally, i love--and there are also some savory beauties, like the sweet and sticky pork, which i have made multiple times now and each time i've licked that sauce right out of the pan. 

if izy were american, i'm convinced that these cakies would have turned out as whoopie pies. they have a very similar texture, and truth be told, i might have sandwiched a few together to eat, mostly so that i could get more in my mouth at once. i do like the open-facedness of them though because that calls for sprinkles, and as izy points out, a better cake-to-frosting ratio. they're dangerously good, so when you make them, be sure that you have a few friends on call to come over and eat some so you don't eat them all yourself and get a bellyache. 

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frosted red velvet cakies

from top with cinnamon

[makes 24]

ingredients

1/2 c (110g // 3 3/4 oz) unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 c (220g // 7 3/4 oz) sugar

2 eggs

1/4 c sour cream or plain yogurt

2 tb cocoa powder

1 tb red food coloring

2 c (250g // 9 oz) all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

cream cheese frosting:

6 tb (75g // 2 1/2 oz) unsalted butter, softened

5 oz (150g) cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 c (150g // 5oz) powdered sugar

clues

preheat oven to 350f (180c // gas 4). line a baking tray with parchment. cream together the butter, vanilla extract, and sugar in a medium bowl until fluffy. stir in the eggs, sour cream, cocoa powder, and red food coloring until evenly combined. stir in the flour and baking powder.

drop heaped tablespoons of the mixture onto the lined baking tray, spacing them about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart. Bake for 8 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

meanwhile, mix together all the frosting ingredients until smooth. use a butter knife or palette knife to swirl the frosting on top of the cakies. they can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

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-yeh!