"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends" - Martin Luther King Jr.

Lazy Sundays are for sleeping in, lounging in your bathrobe with a cup of piping hot french pressed coffee and the new york times and later casually dressing to catch up with friends over a lengthy, unhurried brunch. It has become a favorite meal for many because of its special stamp marking the weekend and is accompanied by personal memories. Growing up, brunch was often the only meal of the week when my entire family got together including my nana and Lou. I woke up to the smell of grilled onions waiting to be wrapped in an omellete, fresh orange juice sparkled as the sun hit the glass pitcher and an array of bagels, cream cheese spreads, garnishes and lox lay center of a nicely set table. In college, brunch became the meal that satisfied to help alleviate my hangover and also recap with friends about the weekend events and encounters with fraternity boys. Now, Sunday brunch is a leisurely time when I can share the day with my boyfriend, or, as I did this past weekend, with wonderful friends that are often hard to connect with due to long distance or everyone's busy life schedules. As Deng Ming-Dao said, "Those truly linked don't need correspondence. When they meet again after many years apart, their friendship is as true as ever." These words eloquently express the bond that special relationships and true friendships have that will always remain in the heart.
I value the friendships I've been lucky enough to have made and kept in life. I've learned good, true friends are hard to come by. While studying abroad in 2005, I met two girls during orientation with the brightest energy that I never could have imagined would later become such wonderful and supportive friends. After almost two years of not seeing each other, since I moved back to the States, we reunited over Halloween for a weekend of festivities, reminiscing and catching up. It brought back incredible times we shared in Costa Rica from spontaneous overnight weekday trips between classes just so we could go to our favorite Monday night spot amongst surfers in Playa Hermosa (4 hours from the city) to the disgustingly memorable hostels and condos we visited and lived in together across the coasts. With these girls, I shared some of my best times and have had their shoulder to lean on and ear to listen. They were part of a time that forever changed who I was, shaping me to become a better person who developed an understanding of what is important to me in this life.

While in Costa Rica, we had some of our greatest times at Tsunami Sushi in Playa Jaco induldging in the freshest sushi and craziest environment, but this past weekend, it was brunch at Ann Sathers in Chicago that will stay with me forever. After accepting we are in the States where there is almost always long lines at brunch hot spots, we put are name down with who we envisioned as Ann Sathers (although I'm not sure it really was). Only fifteen minutes later, we were sat by the window where the sun shone through just as I remembered it always had during brunch. It was comforting to know from the time I arrived that these girls haven't changed much. They devoured the dozen of chocolate chip cookies that I made the night before leaving for Chicago all in that first day and Ashley, God bless her, was most excited to take us to brunch at Ann Sather for their infamous cinammon rolls. Looking back at the weekend, despite the great parties we attended and intoxicating elderflower margaritas and pomogranate mojitos we gulped down, the cinammon rolls and brunch was the highlight of the trip. It consisted of great service, incredibley satisfying and tasty food and the best company one could ask for. In Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels, she takes a neighborhood-by-neighborhood trip of Chicago, stopping at Ann Sather's for the Swedish delights and now has her name on their menu as recommending the French Toast Fantasy - Marscarpone-filled cinnamon rolls, battered, grilled and topped with granola and fresh seasonal berries. Cinnamon rolls made in to stuffed french toast sounds amazing, but I'm more of a savory brunch person and thus opted for the V4 omellete - Fresh artichokes, asparagus, Portabello mushrooms and tomatoes inside a three-egg omelet topped with asiago cheese. All egg dishes come with your choice of two sides. I jumped at the opportunity to try the cinammon rolls. Two on a plate (as one side) came on hot plates with the gooey frosting dripping down the sides and even some on to the floor. They looked and smelled almost as good as they tasted. Cinnabon's used to be my favorite until I met these. Ann Sather's fresh cinnamon rolls had the perfect balance of sweetness and savoriness in the bread, and the cinnamon laced throughout the roll and layer of icing was not too overpowering. Mmmm . . .so delicious! I would definitley just make a trip to the cafe to pick up some of these cinnamon rolls and coffee to take back home in to bed. That way I wouldn't have to control myself in devouring it so as to save room for the main course that was so worth it. The omellete looked more like a frittata but was great because it wasn't too eggy so that I could taste all the filings and the cheesy golden brown asiago topping layer. We didn't want to leave the restaurant, contently digesting our food and wanting to savour the company of friends, but eventually had to say good-bye to both. It's funny how sometimes we wish time would pass more quickly to heal pain or to get to a good goal but time also seems to go by way too fast. They say time only flies by faster with age (that I've already found to be shockingly true), but Sunday brunch with friends is a time to slow down and appreciate life's blessings .. . and tastes even better with Cinnamon rolls.

Banana-Nut Monkey Bread
Recipe adapted from The Redhead
Makes 1 bread

Dough:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups milk
¼ cup sugar
¼ ounce active dry yeast
5½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon fine sea salt
2 large egg yolks, beaten

Filling:
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan
2 cups sugar
1 cup pure maple syrup
3 bananas, sliced
1 cup toasted chopped pecans
Zest and juice of one orange

1.Make the dough: In a small saucepan, melt the 4 tablespoons of butter. Add the milk and
sugar and place over low heat, stirring, until lukewarm (about 110°). Sprinkle the yeast over
the top and set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Grease a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray. In another large bowl, whisk together the
flour and salt. Whisk the yolks into the milk mixture.
3. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture to make a wet, so) dough. Turn the dough out onto
a lightly floured surface and lightly knead until so) and elastic. Shape the dough into a ball
and place it into the greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let sit at
room temperature until doubled in size.
4. Make the filling: Preheat the oven to 400°. Butter a Bundt pan. In a large bowl, combine the
sugar, maple syrup, bananas, pecans and orange juice and zest with one-half of the melted
butter. Pour one-third of the filling into the bottom of the pan. Reserve the remainder.
5. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 36 balls, rolling each ball gently
on the counter until smooth and seamless.
6.Arrange enough dough ba$s to form two circles around the bottom of the pan. Top with some
of the filling. Continue until you use up all the dough and filling, tucking the dough into the
holes left from the previous layer. Cover with a kitchen towel and let stand until risen to the
top of the pan, about 1 hour.
7. Pour the remaining melted butter over the top and bake for 15 minutes. Cover the pan loosely
with foil and bake for 20 minutes longer, until the interior of the bread registers 190°;
remove from the oven.
8. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Break into rolls or cut
into slices and serve.