Thanksgiving Brunch Recipes: Layered Turkey Dinner Brunch Casserole, Spiced Orange Pound Cake French Toast with Maple Orange Sauce

If you're tired, and full from all the Thanksgiving festivities, dreading cooking again, still left with a ton of food, and need to feed a big bunch a nice brunch, you've come to the right place. Don't sit around wondering what to do with all those yummy leftovers from that fabulous Thanksgiving dinner, try something different for brunch. These recipes will have everyone gobbling up those leftover goodies and at the same time make it easy on you.

Spiced Orange Pound Cake French Toast with Maple Orange Sauce Recipe:
Got pound cake leftovers too? We can fix that into a beautiful brunch dish in a snap!
This one is started the night before, as it needs to sit overnight, or at least 8 hours. So before you head to bed on Thanksgiving night, whip this simple dish up, and in the morning, just throw it in the oven for a bit. E-asy.

Ingredients:
1 small pound cake (may be substituted with any cake or bread slices)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
zest of one orange
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 cup of half & half or milk

-Maple Orange Syrup
1/2 cup maple syrup
juice of one large orange (or about 1/4 cup)
1 TBL butter
1 TBL Grand Marnier

Directions:
Start the night before so you only have to bake these yummy treats for a bit to make a nice brunch. Don't cry, it's easier than you think! Slice pound cake into 1/2 inch thick slabs (so they look like slices of french toast). Place slices in a buttered 13 x 9 baking dish and also butter tops of the slices of pound cake. Next, beat eggs, milk, vanilla, zest, and spices until frothy. Pour over slices of pound cake evenly, cover with plastic wrap and walla! That wasn't so bad right? Now just put it in the refrigerator and you'll wake up to half of the job done already!
Next morning, or afternoon preheat oven to 350. Remove slices from fridge and see that all of the egg mixture has soaked into the pound cake slices. Carefully scoop each piece on to a large cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees, until nice and browned. Cook up some sausage links or patties to go with these while they are baking. Simple, yeah?
Serve with whatever you like, some suggestions might be, whipped cream, maple syrup, chopped pecans or whatever sounds good. I like to top mine with Maple Orange Sauce which you can make easily, just mix the juice of an orange with maple syrup, butter and a little Grand Marnier in a tiny saucepan and cook until thickened, about 10 min. over med-high heat while the french toast is in the oven. Super yum!

Layered Turkey Dinner Brunch Casserole Recipe:

Ingredients:
Thanksgiving dinner leftovers
12 eggs
1 cup half & half
seasoning (sea salt and fresh ground pepper)
cheese (optional)

Directions:
This one's a breeze, and kind of fun too. All you need are leftovers, a big baking dish and eggs with a little light cream. Oh, and a bottle of champagne with a little orange juice for the head chef. Every chef has to have a little inspiration, right?...especially for holidays like a Thanksgiving Brunch, a little go-go juice makes things go a little smoother. What? You've never had a mimosa while cooking? Oh, you must try it!
First, set oven to 350. Then, grab all the leftover turkey dinner ingredients out of the fridge, and the official Thanksgiving Brunch head chef's bottle of champagne, some oj, and a nice glass, and pour yourself a lovely mimosa...(just a splash of bubbly in the oj, at least for the first one). Ahh, now that's nice huh? Doesn't it get you in the mood to really get some cooking done?
Ok, wash up those hands and let's get to work.
Next, butter the big baking dish, and take the leftover dressing in those buttered hands, wad it up, and smash it into the buttered baking dish to form a 'crust'. Whew! Better take a break and have another light mimosa, that was hard work...(the bubbly is starting to make you feel better already, isn't it?). Ok...er, a, now just layer the rest of the ingredients over yer dressing 'curst' with some terkey, mushed petaters, sweet tatoes, veges, and whetever else you want to get rid of. (Careful there chef, don't throw in everything, leave the kids alone, they wouldn't taste very good anyway, and who wants kid flavor in their Thanksgiving Brunch?... plus, someone might miss them). And don't ferget to pur yerself another glass of that bubbly stiff, ferget the oj.
If you can still hold a whisk, whip up a dozen eggs (don't hurt yourself) with about 1/2 cup of that white stuff..(half & half) and sprinkle a bit of salt & pepper in fer sum seasons. Ha! Great job there head chef-a-roo! Now, hold on to the cabinet and get a grip on yerself! You gotta' finish this!
Pour egg mixture over layered ingredients (use both hands to hold the bowl, or if you're feeling a bit dizzy, hold on to the countertop with one hand and use the other to pour the egg stuff). Sprinkle to top with pre-shredded cheese (if you want, it's not totally necessary, but personal taste). Now, take a deep breath, steady yerself, and carefully place the filled baking dish in the oven without spilling! YES! We have a winner! Now just set the timer to bake for about 30-40 minutes. It's done when it's got a light golden color, and inserted knife comes out clean. You did it! Serve with cranberry relish on top, and hot gravy on the side. This is so good you won't believe it!.. (that is if you can still eat, you might need a nap after all that champagne you drank).

After all that, I doubt you'll have any food (or patience) left in the house, so after brunch, take a breather, make it a nice easy day, and have the kids and the guys clean up the mess. It's only fitting since YOU did all that terribly difficult cooking and slaving in the kitchen! Now that's a Thanksgiving Brunch I'm into! Enjoy!

More of my Thanksgiving Recipes:

Thanksgiving Day Drink Recipes for Both Kids & Adults; Super Cider, Pumpkin Smash Bombs, and Pumpkin Butterbeer (for the Kiddies)

Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes; 2 Savory Side Dishes Bartlet Pear, Granny Smith Apple & Hazelnut Dressing, and Squash & Spinach O'Gratin

Country Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes ; Granny-Smith-Caramel-Apple & Pecan Bread Pudding & Cranberry and Walnut Cake with Maple-Bourbon Sauce