The last, but not least, recipe in my Make Ahead Brunch series: a Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bundt Cake. This buttery and bright cake, spiked with fresh berries, is perfect for brunch, especially with warmer weather upon us. It can be baked in a regular baking pan, but using a bundt playfully hides a cinnamony crunch at the bottom and allows for a lemon glaze over the top. Because who doesn’t need an extra punch of lemon flavor on a sleepy weekend morning?
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When planning my make-ahead brunch, I was looking for a hearty salad to pair with the Spinach and Cheese Strata. At first I considered something with, well, bacon (I told you I was conflicted about serving a brunch without breakfast meat!), but then I came across this salad. Hold the bacon, add the squash! It may not seem like the most exciting move but, trust me, you can’t get better than deeply caramelized chunks of butternut squash tossed with escarole, apple and high-quality aged cheddar. And then you get the satisfaction of having made a totally satisfying, meat-free brunch.
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We recently had friends over for brunch. They don’t have kids (yet!), so we made a plan for 12:30 pm (a “morning” plan for after noon, imagine that!). That would have normally taken the pressure off of cooking the day-of, except for the fact that we had other friends over the night before, friends for whom I cooked dinner, friends who also have no children and stay up later than we usually do. I needed a plan. A plan that would make back-to-back entertaining possible. Even with two little kids.
And it did. My plan—it worked!
If you ask me, every brunch needs a) coffee, b) savory eggs, c) something sweet and d) something light and healthy to balance out the eggs and sweet. My brunch menu was complete with all of these essential elements and all I had to do the day-of was put eggs in the oven and toss together a salad. THAT’S ALL.
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10-Minute Lemon Thyme Scallops

This week is all about the Best Of ChowMama 2009! To help ensure that you begin 2010 with a recipe box loaded with quick and healthy recipes that your whole family will love, I’ve hand selected my favorites (recipes that I return to over and over again) and the most popular recipes as measured by traffic and comments (ones that worked out well for me and you).
Today is all about main dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Tomorrow I’ll hit ya with veggie sides. Wednesday has snacks and apps covered. I’ll serve up healthy sweets and desserts on Thursday. And, on Friday, I’ll list the best parenting posts of 2009—because how we feed our families is most definitely a parenting issue.
Enjoy. Try a new recipe. Chime in with your favorite 2009 ChowMama posts or what you’d like to see more of in 2010.
And, of course, THANKS for a great year. Cheers!
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Photo: Freakgirl

I usually make these delicious, wholesome muffins with pumpkin puree, but gave sweet potato a try when I couldn’t get my hands on pumpkin (may seem irrelevant now, but you’ll be glad for this variation come the end of the holiday season!). This version is also healthy and equally addictive. So much so that, topped with your favorite icing, they can easily fill in for cupcakes.
These are a sweet, healthy treat for all. This recipe is for mini-muffins which make a great finger food for the littlest ChowBabies, a just-right toddler sized dessert, a yummy lunchbox snack, and a perfect on-the-go breakfast for ChowMama and ChowPapa.  Make a bunch and pop em in the freezer—you’ll be happy to have a stash on hand at all times. (Plus, reheating them makes the cream cheese filling gooey and delicious all over again, as though they’ve come straight out of the oven.)
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Okay. So it’s not the best looking cake around, but it’s super moist, tasty, and best of all, the perfect thing to make with the kiddos. The ChowPapa’s mama shared this recipe while here helping with Oliver. Because the whole thing can be made in one bowl, she and Isaac were able to whip it up in a snap. This doesn’t have to be a big rainy day baking project—it’s easy enough to make (and clean up!) on a whim. And you’ll still have time to hit the playground.
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