A Moment of Zen on Your Breakfast Plate: Buddha Belly Doughnuts

There is a new breakfast contender on Main Street: Buddha Belly Doughnuts. Located across the street from the Hollywood 20 cinema, Buddha Belly serves breakfast and lunch. The coffee is good and the Bavarian cream doughnut, even better.

Supporting Local and Independent Businesses is good karma.

Culinary Creations: Blueberry Preserves with a Hint of Lavender

Calling this a recipe would be a slight exaggeration. This is more of an alteration. A few years back I had the blissful Cottage Delight Wild Blueberry Preserve with a hint of Lavender, in its charming square kilner jar*. Not able to easily get it in the US, I was determined to make my own... sort of. My quick version is to take a jar of blueberry preserves, my favorite being Bonne Maman and add lavender. When I have used about a tablespoon of preserves, to give room to stir in the jar, I add about 1/2 to 3/4 tablespoon of dried organic lavender flowers. When mixed well, I left sit in the refrigerator for a week to let the flavors meld. It makes the most amazing treat to have on scones with clotted cream, toast, or in my case - with peanut butter on waffles. If you've never tried lavender in food before and are a little nervous, start with a small amount to see how you like it. You can always add more if you like the taste and want it a bit stronger.

*For the past 4 years, the kilner jar has served as the perfect container for my Maldon salt. It is my absolute, most favorite container in the kitchen.

Food Memory: Salcombe Coffee Company

One of my favorite places in England is Salcombe. Salcombe is a lovely Victorian town on the East coast of Devon. This photo was taken on a cold and drizzly morning. It is of the harbor looking towards Kingsbridge.

The last time we were there, we opted out of the breakfast included with our stay at our B&B and ate at the Salcombe Coffee Company. This was a very good decision. Not only did they have great coffee, I was partial to the cafe mocha - which was made of nice strong coffee and rich dark chocolate, their breakfast menu was superb. Their bacon sandwiches were the best I've ever had, and I will go as far to say that they are the best in the world. They use good quality smoky bacon rashers, thick cut multi-grain bread toasted to perfection, and enough brown sauce to keep a smile on my face. Sadly I didn't get an photos of this blissful sandwich, but it's reason enough to go back.

Salcombe Coffee Company
Fore Street, Salcombe
Telephone: 01548 842319

For more information on Salcombe, please click the following link: http://www.salcombeinformation.co.uk/

Culinary Creations: Beans on Toast

With the left over bacon from Saturday's Full Breakfast, I decided to do an updated version of a British classic: Beans on Toast. I used the traditional can of Heinz Baked Beans, but added a pinch of Coleman's Dry Mustard, a pinch of dried thyme, and the left over rasher of bacon, then let them simmer gently for 15 minutes to meld the flavors. The result was divine!

Culinary Creations: Full English Breakfast

Once a year we have a Full English Breakfast. This year, however, we had a slight variation. On Friday, we had met some friends at a new local pancake house and each left with a potato pancake. We decided to include them with our breakfast, and omit the eggs, which I don't eat anyways. J picked up some English Style Sausages from the local Pasty Company and I got Irish Bacon from a local import shop. After realizing I had forgotten the Baked Beans (shock, horror) I made a quick run to the local supermarket's "ethnic" section. We topped it off with Fried Mushrooms and Grilled Tomatoes. Yum! Until next year...

Check out Wikipedia for more info on the Full Breakfast: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_breakfast