Yesterday we hosted brunch for some friends and I decided to go a little wild. I was once again inspired by a recipe from Food TV. Robin Miller made an After-Thanksgiving Empanada using pre-made pie crust. My wheels began turning and I decided I could use Chorizo instead of turkey, keep the black beans, add an onion, add a diced potato, skip the pre-made salsa (enough flavor in the Chorizo), keep the cheese (after all it is a binding agent), keep the fresh cilantro, ditch the cumin (again, Chorizo is full of flavor) and viola, breakfast Empanadas! Using the pie crust was genius because I don't think I would have been so brave if I new had to make the crust myself. I had a bit of trouble getting the seams to seal on some of them, but to my surprise they did not open up in the oven...not one single Empanada came out badly! Yeah for me (and my hubby too)!

I also whipped up an old favorite - Chile Rellenos Casserole. In August of last year we were honored to attend the wedding of some wonderful new friends. The day after we also attended the after-wedding brunch hosted by the Groom's parents. One of the dishes the Groom's Mom whipped up was the wonderful Chile Rellenos Casserole, which brought back wonderful memories of backyard bbq's when I was a girl. My Mom's friend would often bring this tasty dish to our bbq's and I just loved it! I came home from the wedding and the first thing I did was scour through my Mom's old recipies and sure enough, Noel's Chili Relleno's Casserole.

I think brunch is my favorite meal (as long as it comes with good friends and sweet babies and baby to-be)!

Labels: Eating