Lovin’ it: Let’s Brunch, a brunch blog from Sydney, recently featured an article on brunch-inspired holiday gifts. What a great idea! Honestly, who doesn’t like brunch? To get all of you last-minute shoppers motivated, here are a few more stocking stuffers to toss on your gift list.

— Carly Fisher

Ladies and gents,

Chicago Brunch Blog needs your help! About ten minutes ago, I suddenly remembered that there are Blogger Awards — just in time for the end of the year. Please take two seconds and vote for Chicago Brunch Blog (i.e. shamelessly validate) at the Blogger’s Choice Awards. And, you know, if you happen to have five friends you want to suggest this to as well, it would be much appreciated.

Love,

Your favorite brunchpert

Only three more days until the weekend…

La Baza Bowl at Flying Saucer (Photo: Carly Fisher)

(Photo: Steve Becker)

Fallen into a lapse of food coma and can’t get up? Brunch leftovers provide a quick solution for the unmotivated and taste just as good the second time around. In the ongoing quest to solve the Great Soggy Brunch Leftovers Debacle, Chicago Brunch Blog asked Hearty boys Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh for some ideas on how to salvage scraps:

“I always seem to have too much pancake batter left. Rather than dumping it out I’ve started thinning it with milk and making dessert crepes with it – they’re perfect for after dinner. They take minutes to make and they don’t have to be for a fancy occasion. I’ll make a few, spread some Nutella and bananas on them and Steve and I will eat them in front of the TV.”  — Dan Smith

“Leftover French Toast makes great bread pudding. Cut into chunks and added to custard, sweetened with brown sugar, maple syrup and bananas makes a great dessert. Leftover bacon can be cooked again until crisp and then crumbled.  Close up in a Ziploc bag and you’ve got bacon bits on hand for up to a week. But what kind of freak would allow bacon to remain uneaten?” — Steve McDonagh

Before we delve into this weekend’s nutrition facts, I want to apologize for the recent content hold up. Since everyone is hibernating now that we have entered the time of frigid darkness, no one wants to leave the house — let alone bed — to grab food. Of course, there are still plenty of weekend brunch spots with revamped seasonal menus, so minimal CBB updates are technically not a result of shitty weather.

It’s going to be a long winter (Photo: Carly Fisher)

Confession time: two weekends ago, I made the conscious decision to watch all five seasons of Lost before the premiere in February. Obviously, this has sent me into a bit of a k-hole, with at least three deliberate cancellations for social events because of a gripping cliff hanger (there are just so many of them!).  Don’t believe me? I watched 13 consecutive hours last Sunday alone. Stop judging me.

Fear not, there are lots of great things in store. Funk/web master, Mark Hauge, is leisurely working on a new layout for the site. A post-NYE 2010 brunch guide is on the way. More chefs with great tips on how to rework leftovers. And what would this site be without more banal anecdotes? 

And so, without further ado, your weekend brunch guide.

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