Category Archives: Breakfast

November 6, 2012 · 8:57 pm

Market Street Cafe

Lately, it seems like I have been in a wedding planning frenzy. We’re really in crunch time, and I’m excited and overwhelmed at the same time, but I know it will all work out. I’m really trying to focus on enjoying all the wedding-related moments that I know I’ll never have again. Namely, last week I had my final dress fitting. All that is left to do is to pick it up and keep it perfect until I put it on to walk down the aisle.

Casa di Bella

This was the first time wearing my dress with all my jewelry (that took me forever to pick out) and my first time trying it on altered perfectly to my measurements. My stepmom accompanied to the visit. I was so excited to share in the moment with her, and I can’t wait to show everyone my dress. I know this moment will be one of my favorites when I look back at the wedding planning memories.

My bridal salon is in Celebration, so we took advantage of being in the area and went out for breakfast after my fitting. My dad met up with us at Market Street Café, a cute diner located in downtown Celebration.

With my fitting behind me, I threw abandon out that diner window and followed my cravings. I ordered the smoked salmon bagel with a side of a half biscuit with gravy.

Market Street Cafe-Smoked Salmon Bagel

I piled all the salmon on one half of the bagel to keep the ratio of salmon to bagel pretty much equal, just how I like it. Smoked salmon can be a little pricey at Publix, so when I buy some, I always eat it sparingly. Therefore, when I order smoked salmon out, I pile it on.

Market Street Cafe-Half Biscuit and Gravy

I love that Market Street Café allows you to order a half biscuit with gravy. It’s the perfect amount to satisfy the craving.

My dad ordered the smoked salmon benedict, and my stepmom ordered the western omelet, which has peppers, ham, onions, and cheddar and jack cheeses.

Market Street Cafe-Smoked Salmon Benedict

Market Street Cafe-Western Omelette

I hear the hash browns were really good. Everything was really delicious. Even though it has a diner look and feel, the food wasn’t overly greasy, and everything tasted very fresh.

I know that some people love counting down to their weddings, but I have been awful at remembering where we are in the countdown. Therefore, I just looked it up, and we are only 24 days away!

Kevin and I are hunkered down watching the election results roll in. After hearing stories all day about the long lines at the polls, I’m relieved that I was able to vote early. Regardless of the outcome tonight, I hope we can unite as a nation and move forward together. USA! USA!

4 Comments

Filed under Breakfast, Wedding, West Orlando

October 15, 2012 · 9:31 pm

French mornings

As evident by my birthday dinner at Chez Vincent, I really enjoy French food; although it can be so rich that it becomes a rare treat. The other morning, Kevin and I grabbed brunch with his brother’s family at Paris Bistro. It’s tucked away in a covered outdoor corridor off Park Avenue.

Paris Bistro tree

Paris Bistro offers a two-course brunch on Saturdays and Sundays featuring an entrée and dessert. I ordered their spinach and goat cheese omelet, which was very light and creamy. It was served with potatoes au gratin, which were actually very bland.

Paris Bistro-Spinach and Goat Cheese Omelette

Also ordered at the table were the hamburger, quiche lorraine and waffle.

Paris Bistro-Hamburger

Paris Bistro-Quiche Lorraine

Paris Bistro-Waffle

They only have one waffle maker at the restaurant, which seems to get backed up easily, so it did take a long time for the waffle to arrive. We had all finished eating before the waffle was presented.

For dessert, I chose the crème brulee.

Paris Bistro-Creme Brulee

I don’t think I’ve ever had bad crème brulee.

Overall the food at Paris Bistro was a little touch and go, and the service was spotty. I think there are better French places in Orlando for better prices.

However, next door to Paris Bistro is Le Macaron, a traditional French pastry shop with traditional French macarons. After our mediocre breakfast, Le Macaron was such a saving grace. French macarons are different from American macaroons. The French versions are like little buttery, flakey cookie sandwiches with just a bit of cream in the center.

Le Macaron

I bought a box of assorted flavors, including pistachio, white chocolate basil, butter pecan and raspberry.

Le Macaron 2

They’re a little pricey for such small, delicate cookies, but they really do taste like bites of heaven. They’re now a favorite splurge of mine. It’s okay to eat two desserts after brunch, right?

What is your favorite French food?

4 Comments

Filed under Breakfast, Dessert, French, Park Ave, Winter Park

October 1, 2012 · 6:54 pm

Happy October

Today is exciting for a couple reasons: it’s the first day of October (Parko’s and my birthday month) and it’s exactly two months until our wedding! We haven’t made too much planning progress lately because a lot of our to-dos require a final guest count, which we won’t have for a few weeks. It’s like no matter how much you plan and do in advance of the wedding, you are forced to scramble at the last minute after you have a guest count. It’s just part of the process to try to be a pain in the butt.

Over the weekend I rang in the fall months with the easiest caramel apple French toast recipe.

Caramel Apple French Toast

It all starts with Pepperidge Farm’s fall line of breads.

Pepperidge Farm Caramel Apple Swirl Bread

The pumpkin spice flavor is still but my favorite, but the caramel apple flavor is perfect for French toast. The slices are a little on the thicker side, so it soaks up the egg nicely. I beat two large eggs, dipped in the bread and cooked up in a skillet. Upon removing from the heat, I spread with some margarine and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

Caramel Apple French Toast 2

Easy and perfect to welcome in October. I didn’t even need syrup. Now if only the Central Florida weather would join the welcoming committee.

What is your favorite month?

7 Comments

Filed under Breakfast, Eating In

September 8, 2012 · 9:38 am

Les Petits Pleasures

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I love all the savory dishes. I’m just terrible at waking up for breakfast. Yes, I’m 26 years old and still need for force myself to wake up at a respectable time. This is precisely why places that serve breakfast late or all day are my favorite kinds of places.

Les Petits Pleasures in College Park is a small bakery and French diner that serves breakfast all day and week (except they are closed Tuesdays) in addition to lunch and dinner offerings. Their prices are very reasonable, and as an added bonus, the French chefs can be heard singing in French from the kitchen.

Kevin and I stopped by for a late breakfast a couple weekends ago. It’s  a small quick-service restaurant with limited seating and decorated in quaint and cozy French decor. Kevin and I each ordered a croissant in addition to our breakfasts because we had heard such good things about them.

Les Petits Pleasures-Croissant

It did not disappoint. From the outside, it looks like any typical croissant, but this was extremely buttery with a perfectly flakey outside and chewy and doughy inside. I would love to grab a bunch one morning just to have at the house. They also offer many other pastries, including chocolate croissants and bear claws.

They are a small establishment that can get very busy and backed up, so it took a little longer than anticipated for our food to come out. We happily munched on our croissants while we waited.

Kevin ordered their French toast, which he really enjoyed.

Les Petits Pleasures-French Toast

I ordered the croque madame, a ham, cheese and béchamel sandwich that is grilled then topped with a fried egg. The yolk drips all over the sandwich making every bit extra creamy and savory. It came with a side salad.

Les Petits Pleasures-Croque Madame

My sandwich was very filling and very delicious. Les Petits pleasures offers many types of sandwiches (including breakfast sandwiches), omelets, crepes, quiches and great coffee.

This may give me more reason to be excited about waking up early for breakfast.

Are you a naturally early riser? I could probably sleep all day if nothing woke me up.

1 Comment

Filed under Bakery, Breakfast, College Park, French

August 28, 2012 · 8:40 pm

Pizza and Scones

My good friend Justin just completed a road trip from south Florida to Colorado for a new job and new adventure. I’m so excited for him but a little sad that he won’t be in Orlando anymore. Along his road trip he stopped in Orlando for an evening to say goodbye to his friends who live here. We met up at Broadway Ristorante & Pizzeria in Winter Park (but on University toward UCF).

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much for a small, random strip mall pizza place. It ended up being really delicious. I would return. We started out with some mozzarella bread. It’s such a simple appetizer but so delicious.

We ordered a variety of items at the table from strombolis to pizzas to wings to calamari tossed in buffalo sauce. They have tons of wing sauce flavors, which sounded really good.

I decided to order a meatball calzone.

The meatballs were very flavorful and the calzone had plenty of mozzarella and ricotta. After being baked, the entire calzone was brushed with melted butter. I’m so glad we were able to try this place and get together with Justin before he left the state.

Last week I also had a breakfast pot luck at work. I’m always looking for quick and easy recipes for get-togethers and pot lucks. For this one, I made Emeril’s bacon cheddar cheese scones.

They were a huge success and my coworkers voted the dish second place in the “savory” category. I did make a few modifications to the recipe after reading the reviews. I used seven slices of bacon, a whole pint of heavy cream, chives instead of onions and extra sharp cheddar cheese.

The first place winner in the “savory” category (who I voted for) went to sausage pinwheels that were made with crescent rolls. They were delicious. The first two winners in the “sweet” category were creme brulee french toast and raspberry cream cheese coffee cake. Everything was wonderful–you really can’t go wrong with breakfast foods.

Do you prefer sweet or savory dishes?

7 Comments

Filed under Breakfast, Eating In, Pizza, Winter Park