Bunchland

The Bunch Guide to Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day! It’s a day to celebrate the women who raised you, and if you’re currently in the process of raising kids, it’s a day to accept some homemade cards and extra kisses. If you don’t have brunch reservation, you’d  better hope that breakfast in bed is pretty tasty and not at all full of bits of eggshell.

1. Cards

Did your kids make you and/or your partner a card at school? How about one for Grandma? If your kid has multiple mother figures to make cards for, here’s hoping that your card is the nicest card and you don’t have to go cry in the bathroom like Precious Chong did. Need a DIY card idea? The bottom of a bunch of celery makes a great rose shape that you turn into a stamp. Want something a little edgier? Here’s a tattoo card.  Read more...

Your Sunday morning plan

A spring morning calls for a fruity and fresh breakfast, followed with an outdoor craft. Pureed berries and homemade biscuits get molded into a teacup (or a mug/chalice/goblet/up to you) for a personalized treat. After you’re good and sated, celebrate the spring weather by giving your front porch some flair. These hanging jellyfish are enchanting!

EAT

Serves 4 – 6

• 2 pints of mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 Tbsp Butter
• 3 Tbsp vegetable shortening
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 cup milk

In a food processor, combine berries (reserve ¼ cup for garnish) with sugar and pulse to a puree. Set aside.  Read more...

Spring produce is screaming for homemade tarts

Tarts are most versatile dish out there. They can be adapted into desserts, dinner, breakfast or lunch. We’ve rounded up five recipes that eliminate the delicate and time consuming affair of the cutting of butter into flour, waiting while the dough chills in the fridge, and gingerly pressing it into tart pans. Not kid-friendly. These ones let you cut to the chase — filling that shell. We reckon tarts can taste just as good when you buy frozen because after all, what really matters is the seasonal fillings. Spring food is happy food!

ASPARAGUS TART WITH CAULIFLOWER CRUST

Get even more veggies in by making a pastry crust out of cauliflower! No magic assembly required, just a food processor or a cheese grater and a hankering for some killer vitamins. This creative recipe comes from ABC’s and garden peas.  Read more...

Your Sunday Morning plan… which works rather well for Saturday too

St. Patrick’s Day is when we celebrate even a little bit of Irish heritage, put on the John McDermott album and find our greenest t-shirt. And while it ends up being an all-day pub party for some, there’s plenty of non-beer and whisky fun to be had. We think the St. Patrick’s Day weekend is a perfect excuse to make a good old-fashioned fry-up for breakfast and then go out chasing leprechauns and look for their gold and try to find a few four-leaf clovers for good luck.

EAT:

A traditional Irish breakfast. OK, maybe make it less than traditional and don’t include all the meat. Have a little orange juice, brew a pot of Irish Breakfast tea (or herbal tea for the kids), and then get to frying up:  Read more...

• eggs, either sunny-side up or over-easy

Gavin McInnes thinks you should try some fancy pancakes

It’s fairly noble to have a mommy-lie-in day where you get up with the kids and make pancakes but it is downright knightly to make those pancakes into the shape of their choice. The king of said knights is a nobleman named Jim who not only makes hearts and candy canes, he can perfectly replicate a Millennium Pancake Falcon!

This level of artistry is obviously way out of our league but by trying to come close, I’ve learned a few tricks. Here they are…

My batter was way too thick here so My Little Pony looks more like My Huge Pony.

1. THIN OUT THE BATTER  Read more...

Celebrate the best part of brunch today!

On this most gluttonous of occasions, it’s traditional to eat pancakes because they’re made from the rich ingredients like eggs, milk, and sugar, the good stuff restricted during the fasting of Lent, which begins the day after.

In England, Shrove Tuesday was once upon a time known as a half holiday, starting at 11 AM with the signal of a church bell. Mob football games, pancake races, and of course, much pancake eating would ensue. The event originated when a housewife from Olney was so busy slinging pancakes at home that she forgot about church until she heard the bell ringing for service. She raced out of the house to church while still holding her frying pan and pancake. In Olney even today, participants with frying pans race through the streets tossing pancakes into the air, catching them in the pan while running.  Read more...

Tear open the shutters, throw up the sash and make this month your FRIEND!

January: the month that induces cringing with its mere mention. Your kids hate snowsuits, winter driving sucks, and all you want to do is jump ship and go to Mexico. We can’t help you with that, but we can help you transform your home into a nest of awesome. How to make this cold, bleak, uneventful month not suck? Do some mood boosting, laughter inducing, feel-good stuff.

EGGS: PUTTING THE SUN IN SUNNY SIDE UP

Cod liver oil is the enduring arch nemesis of kids the world over. In the 20^th century, spoonfuls of this stuff drove children up stairs and down stairs, into closets and behind couches. It was used as a cure for ricketts, a bone disease. In the early 1900s, it was discovered that what made it so effective was its vitamin D content.  Read more...