Crackers & Company Cafe is a scratch kitchen that has been serving the Valley since 1984. They serve both breakfast and lunch and pride themselves on fresh ingredients. I came here with a friend and got the California Eggs Benedict (an english muffin topped with fresh spinach, bacon, avocado, tomato, 2 poached eggs, and adobo hollandaise sauce). Crackers is also known for their homemade desserts. I hear the Augustinas Brandied Cinnamon Bread Pudding (photo below from website) is pretty amazing and hope to try it sometime soon.
I’ve been invited to lots of Christmas parties this year and that means I need to prepare some dishes to bring this year. For one party, I’m trying a new dessert – an eggnog bread pudding with a cranberry rum glaze. I got an early start to make this from scratch.
I made some potato pancakes while preparing my dessert. The mix is now ready go in the oven (I hope the brandy and the rum cook off..). As I was waiting, I made a ham and cheese egg croissant breakfast sandwich to go with the potato pancakes. Of course some piping hot fresh coffee is always a necessity in my place to get the day started.
The dessert is ready for tonight’s Christmas party. We had crab legs for dinner and my dessert was a hit with everyone in attendance. I look forward to making it again next year!
One of my all-time favorite restaurants here in Arizona is Cornish Pasty Co. People always confuse how to the same the name. But their pasties are like a glorified hot pocket. Pasties were made for miners in England back in the 1200’s because they were easy to hold and eat. They have all sorts of different types of pasties, but my favorite is still the original – The Oggie (steak, potatoes, onion, and rutabaga with a side of red wine gravy). I’ve been eating here for some time. I loved bringing Christin here for the first time and we went to town on the amazing desserts. I took her to the Tempe location on a fun date night. I love that restaurant because it is such a dive and you can sit at the bar and watch the guys cook in front of you. I got to take my mom to the newer Mesa location for her birthday along with the kids and Christin’s mother. We had a great time together and got pretty stuffed.
A pasty and some garlic jalapeno fries
Inside of a pasty
Banoffee Pie
Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding
Tempe location
What is a Pasty?
From wikipedia: A pasty sometimes known as a British pasty in the United States, is a filled pastry case, associated in particular with Cornwall in Great Britain. It is made by placing the uncooked filling on a flat pastry circle, and folding it to wrap the filling, crimping the edge at the side or top to form a seal. The result is a raised semicircular package.
The traditional Cornish pasty, is filled with beef, sliced or diced potato, swede (also known as a yellow turnip or rutabaga) and onion, seasoned with salt and pepper, and is baked. Today, the pasty is the food most associated with Cornwall regarded as its national dish, and accounts for 6% of the Cornish food economy. Pasties with many different fillings are made; some shops specialise in selling all sorts of pasties.
