15-19: Layered Fruit Salad

15-19: Layered Fruit Salad

It’s a few weeks after Mother’s Day at this point, but better late than never. This year for Mother’s Day, I took a few Simply Delicious recipes and decided to make a brunch menu out of them for my mom. We usually do lox and bagels at home for our holiday brunch celebrations, but this year I wanted the full Mother’s Day buffet experience–but still at home. It’s not brunch without fruit salad, so the first entry for this grand event (MD2017) is 15-19: Layered Fruit Salad.

But wait a minute, you say! This is from the Cold Desserts category? How can it be for brunch?

It’s fancy fruit salad–I think it’ll be okay either as a dessert or a brunch side dish. Plus, I need to burn off some of these dessert recipes–so many of them require fresh fruit and summer is the best time for that.


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17-41: Molasses Oatmeal Bread

17-41: Molasses Oatmeal Bread

Merry Christmas! ? As I mentioned at the end of 17-47: Italian Fruit Bread, the first of my holiday baking entries for this year (XMAS 16), I had a vegan gift recipient this year, so I made a specially adapted version of 17-41: Molasses Oatmeal Bread to replace all the other treats and goodies that weren’t quite vegan-friendly. I gave the other loaf (this recipe made two, and I didn’t multiply it like the others I made this year) to my aunt who loves these kinds of things. ?

This recipe isn’t vegan-friendly without a bit of tweaking (swapping coconut-almond milk for regular milk and coconut oil for shortening), but it’s pretty easy to do and still results in a beautiful and tasty loaf of bread. ?


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17-47: Italian Fruit Bread

17-47: Italian Fruit Bread

Get ready for another big batch of baked goods–it’s time for this year’s adventure (XMAS 16) into holiday baking (aka everyone’s presents for Christmas this year). Last year I made 6 Simply Delicious recipes as gifts, and this year came out to a total of 7. ? I’m going to attempt to cover them in the order they were made, and the first recipe of the batch was 17-47: Italian Fruit Bread. ??

This recipe seems similar to a panettone, although not as sweet or flaky and shaped differently. Despite the variations, I still thought it made a nice Christmas gift, especially only just including a few slices in each gift bag. ?


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4-18: French Vegetable Casserole

4-18: French Vegetable Casserole

Everything I needed to learn about making 4-18: French Vegetable Casserole was told to me by Remy the animated rat, star of Ratatouille. I know…the editors of Simply Delicious call this dish “French Vegetable Casserole” to make the name more palatable for Middle America. ??

The card mentions that the dish is referred to as “ratatouille” in its area of origin.

Editor’s note: I did the underlining you see above when I realized this recipe was “ratatouille”I’ve made this recipe before, a year or two prior to embarking on this project. I even watched Ratatouille on my laptop while I made it. ?


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13-16: Arabian Moussaka

13-16: Arabian Moussaka

The first of a few eggplant dishes, 13-16: Arabian Moussaka is the lightest preparation of eggplant that Simply Delicious presents. ?

As the card suggests, this recipe is perfect for lunch or supper.


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12-14: Brown Rice Casserole

12-14: Brown Rice Casserole

12-14: Brown Rice Casserole doesn’t sound very appetizing, but it is very cheap to make and very filling. I made this dish before I took a trip as a meal prep and it really helped me keep my eating in check. ✅

As advertised on the card, this dish is hearty enough to be a meal in itself. I did eat it with a side of pepperoni slices, but the majority of the meal was this casserole. ?


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2-14: Quick and Easy Tomato Salad

2-14: Quick and Easy Tomato Salad

2-14: Quick and Easy Tomato Salad is a Simply Delicious recipe that is aptly named for once! This tomato salad was quick and easy, just as advertised. ?

This salad made a quick dinner on a hot summer night where I didn’t want to heat up the oven. ?


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1-19: Flambéed Mushrooms

1-19: Flambéed Mushrooms

? Flambé! 1-19: Flambéed Mushrooms isn’t something I would normally serve because most people I know are not huge fans of mushrooms. I really enjoy using the lighter to flambé these mushrooms! ?

Mushrooms and garlic are one of my favorite flavor combinations. I really enjoy stuffed mushrooms and these taste similar, just without the breadcrumbs and butter. If you’re looking for something more similar to stuffed mushrooms, check out 1-16: Mushrooms Escargot. ?


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12-18: Mushroom Risotto

12-18: Mushroom Risotto

12-18: Mushroom Risotto is another recipe with a loose definition of risotto. This one didn’t even ask you to cook the rice in wine, just broth. I already had some mushroom broth infused white rice on hand, but the recipe called for brown rice.

This ended up being a dish that tastes very similar to the 12-41: Spaghetti with Green Sauce recipe that I cooked recently. Mushrooms and basil give this dish an earthy flavor. ?


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17-26: Breakfast Crescents

17-26: Breakfast Crescents

Baking is still new to me, so I took this recipe, 17-26: Breakfast Crescents as another chance to experiment with yeast again. These crescents taste very much like a loaf of bread, just in crescent roll form.

This is just a simple bread recipe where you roll the dough into crescents.


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