Mango Morning Quesadillas

Mango Morning Quesadillas {page 513} were a concept too novel to pass up. A sweet mango filling sandwiched between two tortillas, baked till crispy, and topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon? Sign me up!

And it was good...mostly. Honestly, the filling was a little weird. It baked up funny in the oven, almost to the consistency of scrambled eggs {ew, gross, I know, sorry!}, and wasn't as sweet as I'd hoped. The Ninjahusband thought it was pretty good, but I'm a little on the picky side, and I didn't really love it.

I may be persuaded to try it again, but I think I'd make some modifications first.

Overall, major points for ingenuity and concept...just a touch lacking in execution.

-- Your Friendly Neighborhood Batgirl

Hash Brown Potatoes

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and also can be the most delicious -- especially if it includes Hash Brown Potatoes {page 525}.

Let's be honest: hash browns are mostly just an excuse to have french fries for breakfast, but what a beautiful excuse they are! The Ninjahusband and I often make hash browns for lazy weekend breakfasts, but this recipe really stood out. For one thing, the recipe specifies to grate some onion in with the potatoes. For some reason, we'd never thought to do this before. This really amped up the flavor factor and made the 'browns just that much more delicious and decadent.

Although hash browns are something you don't really need a recipe for, I will definitely be using the onion idea from this recipe for years to come. Two enthusiastically greasy thumbs way ups!