This post doesn’t really need me to write an introduction. Does it?

• Do you like to sleep late on the weekends?
• Do you like a nice brunch with very little effort?
• Have you ever had to bring something to a brunch?
• Would you like to entertain with brunch food more easily?

I think you see where I’m going with this… The weekend is almost here, leaving you just enough time to grab a few inexpensive items to make these recipes. Let’s get started.

The Perfect Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

Whatever fruits you think are perfect in a fruit salad

Directions:

1. Chop the fruit into bite-sized pieces
2. Toss all fruit together in a bowl
3. Keep refrigerated until serving

Simple enough, right? We often forget that some of the best recipes can be the simplest. This is also one of those recipes you can make the night before (possibly allowing you to sleep a little later). Just be sure that you add any apples or bananas to the salad right before serving. Nobody likes brown apples or bananas that taste oddly like lemon juice. Here’s a favorite salad of ours:

Red grapes and chopped Fuji apples, drizzled with a very tiny bit of honey. The honey mixes with the fruit juices to make a light syrup. Just enough sweetness to go with the rest of the menu.

Perfect Savory Brunch Bread

Ingredients:

1 8.5 oz. box corn muffin mix (we like the Jiffy brand)

(European readers can click on this picture for a link to order online.)

1/3 cup/80 mL milk

1 egg

1 cup/235 mL (approximately) of diced/minced ham

We use this or a turkey ham variety.

1/2 Tablespoon/7.5 mL (approximately) of flour

1 Tablespoon/15 mL (approximately) chopped chives

Make sure your dried chives are still fresh!

1 cup/235 mL (approximately) shredded cheddar cheese

Butter, some for greasing baking pan and some for serving

Directions:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400° F/200° C/ Gas mark 6
2. Chop and dice, almost mince, your ham:
   

   We chop up the whole ham and store it in smaller containers in the freezer to toss into separate recipes.

   

   Make sure the ham for this recipe is diced rather fine to mix well with the batter.

3. Then toss the chopped ham with the flour. This is an old baking chemistry technique to keep anything heavy in a batter, such as berries or chocolate chips, from sinking to the bottom of the pan while baking:
   

   Use just enough flour to coat your quantity of ham.

   

   Use your hands and make sure all the ham is coated.

4. Set the ham aside and in a separate bowl, make the corn bread mix batter, using the milk and egg, according to the package directions.
5. Add your chives to the batter and mix well.
6. Add your cheese to the batter, as much or a little as you like. Just eyeball it. (Did you notice how many approximate measurements there were in the ingredients section? I put “Lazy” in the name of this post for a reason.)
   

   Yep. Shredded cheese from a bag. Embracing "Lazy".

7. Add the ham into the batter and mix well.
8. When it is all mixed together, it should look like this:
9. Then pour your batter into the butter-greased baking pan of your choice:
   

   The fancy large muffin pan...

   

   ...or the more rustic 8x8 inch brownie pan.

10. Bake according to package directions!
11. Allow to cool slightly before trying to cut or remove from the pan. For best results, use a silicone spatula to remove the bread from the pan.

Special notes:

• You can make this bread the day before and then warm it in small bursts of heat (10 second increments) in the microwave.
• Use this recipe, without the ham, as a great side for any BBQ meal.

Perfect Brunch Eggs

Any style eggs go well with the fruit salad and the savory bread/muffins. However, I’ve discovered many people feel nervous about poaching eggs, so I’ve included an easy how-to in this post. Poached eggs are great for entertaining because they cook so quickly and you can make several servings at a time.

Ingredients:

Eggs, normally two per person

White vinegar – a MUST for poached eggs (white vinegar only)

Water

Directions:

1. Bring a big pot (pasta pots are great here) of water to boil on the stove.
2. Crack all eggs into individual bowls, to keep them separate for cooking:
   

   (The BEST kitchen timer in the world. Click this picture for the Amazon link to buy it.)

3. Add approximately 1/4 cup/60 mL white vinegar to boiling water:
   

   Vinegar keeps the eggs whites attached to the yolk in the boiling water.

4. Ever so gently, slide the eggs into the pot, one at a time, spacing them apart from each other:
   

   Careful not to break the yolk!

5. Cook eggs for exactly 2 minutes (Seriously. 2 minutes only.)
   

   Watch as the feathery egg whites change from clear to white.

6. Remove eggs from pot using slotted spoon, allowing the water to drain from egg white edges.
   

   Drain gently. The egg yolk should still be "soft".

7. Serve!

Put It All Together

Your work is done! Time to eat!

Fancy: Poached eggs with savory muffins

Home-style: Eggs over-easy with savory bread

A special shout-out of thanks to Mr. CARO, who patiently sipped his coffee while I took fussy pictures of our breakfasts. I am grateful every day that I married a morning person, especially since I’m not one!

Are you a morning person, too? How do you prefer your eggs? What does “lazy” mean for your weekend mornings?