Hangover with a Splash of Flavor

Is this a fancy breakfast?  No.  Is it easy?  Yes.  Will it cure your hangover?  Probably. 

There's two things I made to "woo" my husband that got him hooked..one was hangover breakfast, and the other was the anniversary chicken recipe I shared with you guys a while back.  Hangover breakfast isn't rocket science people.  You make some French Toast (you can go fancy with this, but if you're feeling up for fancy breakfast after a night of boozing, then you're a better woman than me). 

How do you make French Toast, might you ask?  Beat two eggs with 2 Tbs milk.  You can add more milk if you want to, I do it by eye.  Add a capful of vanilla extract (or almond extract if you're out of vanilla), a few good shakes of cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice if you don't have any cinnamon), and a dash of sugar to the eggs and milk mixture.  Whisk the mixture really well (but not so well that it'll give you the spins!)  Heat your skillet to medium, spray it with cooking spray or grease it with some butter.  Dip bread slices one by one into the mixture, shake off any excess, and toss that sucker on the heated skillet.  Depending on how crispy you like your french toast, do one and a half minutes per side for soft French Toast, and two or two and a a half minutes per side for crispy French Toast.

Now let's talk eggs.  Here are some simple scrabled eggs that made Kyle able to function.

To make scrambled eggs for 2.5 people (and considering Kyle eats twice as many as me), I beat five eggs with about 5 Tbs of milk.  We only drink skim in our house (with the exception of the baby), but use whatever you have at hand.  Beat the eggs and milk together, add a sprinkle of salt and pepper and pour into a greased medium-hot pan.  The trick to these eggs is to keep moving them around as they cook.  That way they get really fluffy, instead of that weird fried egg texture that a lot of scrambled egg recipes have.  And be sure to remember, trying to cook them on higher heat will do nothing but make some awful rubber eggs!  Now, once your eggs are good and fluffy, and seem like they're about done, get a few slices of really good cheese- cheddar and American are my favorites, remove the pan from heat, and cover the eggs in cheese.  Once you've covered your eggs in cheese, put a lid on them for 2 minutes and leave them alone.  Don't open the lid to check on them, just keep a lid on it.  When you uncover the pan, you'll have deliciously gooey, yummy eggs that will line your belly in warm happy goodness.

Mmmm...potatoes.  You really can't go wrong with potatoes. Get your cast iron skillet piping hot, then turn it down to medium high heat.  Pour a 1/2 inch of olive oil, bacon grease, or whatever kind of oil blows your hair back into the pan.  Cut your potato into little cubes (or if you're too tired, just roughly chop it).  Throw in some Tony Chachera's Cajun seasoning, or some Mixed Up Salt, stir, and just leave the potatoes alone for 2 minutes with the lid on.  After 2 minutes are up, keep the potatoes moving in the pan.  If you feel they're getting to dry for you, add a splash of water, put the lid back on for 2 minutes.  Stir the potatoes.  Now this is where personal preference comes in.  Kyle likes his potatoes almost burnt, so I leave them on for a bit so that they get that yummy crunchy, almost overcooked texture.  If you like your potatoes soft, just keep an eye on them, and when you think they're done, give them a taste!  When your potatoes are done, sprinkle a little cheese on them, and whalah!  You've got cheesy hangover potatoes.

Okay, so for the most important part of any greasy hangover breakfast...BACON!!!  Sigh, I swear, I could be Homer and dip it in butter.  MMMMM..okay, maybe I don't want to dip it in butter, but I do love me some bacon, hungover or not.  Unfortunately, no one in my house likes bacon the same way (Kyle likes his barely cooked, Laela likes it kind of crispy, and I like mine almost burnt), so I had to come up with a solution that could save me some time, keep me from having to do a million dishes, and have the bacon come out in a way that we'd all be happy.  Where did I turn to do this you might ask?  My fabulous friend, the oven.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (parchment and wax paper are not a good fill in for this one guys, so please don't waste your time trying.)  When the oven is hot, place as much bacon that will fit on the sheet without touching (if bacon touches, it melds to itself, and that can make a greasy hot mess if you want to flip your bacon.)  Pop it in the oven, and just keep an eye on it to see how chewy looking you might want it, or how crispy you may desire it to be. If you like your bacon really crispy like I do, you may want to flip your bacon so that it gets evenly crispy on both sides.  Just keep an eye on it, and always remember, if you can smell whatever's in the oven, it's darn close to finished.

If you've finished reading this and you're finding yourself wondering how to get this all done at once, you should attempt it in this order:
Bacon, potatoes, eggs, French toast.

Yes, I know this blog is about Mommies and babies, but let's be real people, some days you go out on date night, or for a night out with your friends, and you wake up the next day wishing your Mommy was there to make you breakfast.  Unfortunately (and fortunately!) for you, you're a grown up with responsibilities, so get your butts in gear, fill up the sippy cups, give the kids some pots and pans and wooden spoons to play with while you cook and make your family some breakfast!  I promise, you'll feel at least 90% better.