I Love A Big Breakfast On The Weekend

My hubby's life revolves around food, he thinks about his next meal before he is done the one he is eating!  He lives to eat, not the way it should be, eating to live.  Three days before the weekend he is thinking about what he is going to have for breakfast!  I don't know why, I live in the moment of OK I'm hungry what shall I eat, that's when I figure out what I am eating.  His mind is on food 24/7, and I have never known anyone like that but him.

So, while he was conjuring up what he wanted to eat for our weekend breakfast, he thought, get this, that I should make a loaf of homemade blueberry bread and make French toast out of it, yeah right that's what I want to do, slave in the kitchen on the weekend and make homemade bread to cut up and use for French toast.  When I make bread, I spend all day in the kitchen to make a beautiful loaf of bread, that will last for a few days so we can feast off of it, enjoy it, not cut it all up and bake it again! He loves blueberries and eats them every day for breakfast in his cereal, so I came up with a better, easier version, of what he wanted for breakfast, Baked Blueberry French Toast.  It's a very easy, make ahead before bed, bake the next morning casserole of French toast.
  Recipe below.

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 Simple ingredients, fresh blueberries, half and half, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, Texas toast.  I use Pam so nothing sticks to the pan.

 In a mixing bowl - Eggs and half and half.....

 cinnamon......

 and vanilla.

 I use my trusty old fashioned beater to mix it, I love this thing!  Don't have to drag out the mixer.

 It's all combined and ready to pour.

 I use Texas toast because it can stand up to the liquid mixture, it's a thicker cut of bread and I always use it making French toast.  Line up a few slices and cut on the diagonal.

 Wash and drain the berries.

 Sprinkle them in and behind the slices of bread, you want to them touch all the bread, and then toss some of them on top.

 It's now loaded with blueberries. Next, pour on the egg mixture, get behind and on top of the bread slices.

 There will be some in the bottom of the baking dish, that will soak up overnight and during baking.  WOW, that looks good already!

 Cover tightly with plastic wrap, put in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, take plastic wrap off ......

 cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees.

 While that was baking I started some maple sausages to go along with it.

Breakfast was served and we dug in to a wonderful French toast casserole with blueberries.  I dusted it with a little confectioner's sugar......

 served it with both blueberry and pure maple syrup and the sausages on the side.

 The French toast is crispy on the top with a smooth, light, custard texture in the center, perfect!

Baked Blueberry French Toast

Ingredients

Cooking Spray

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

4 eggs

1 cup half and half or milk

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

8 slices Texas toast (thick cut bread)

Directions

Spray an 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray, set aside.  Wash the blueberries in a small colander, set those aside to drain.  In a medium mixing bowl, add the eggs, half and half, cinnamon and vanilla, whisk until all is combined.  Cut the bread slices on the diagonal.  Layer the slices crust side up in the baking dish. Layer the blueberries in between all the slices, front and back, then on the top last.  Slowly pour the egg mixture over the bread, be sure to get in between the slices and on top of the slices.  Some of the mixture will puddle in the bottom of the pan.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Take the plastic wrap off the baking dish and replace with foil.  Bake for 1 hour, as always all ovens are different and baking time will vary.  Uncover the dish for last 15 minutes of baking, so the top browns and crisps up. Serve with maple syrup. Makes 4 -6 servings.

NOTE:  This recipe can also be doubled, use a 9 X 13 baking dish.

Delicious Cheesy Creamy Potatoes

One of the side dishes that I made for my daughter's Bon Voyage party, was creamy delicious potatoes. With the help of my sister, my partner in crime, we made a huge panful to feed 16 people.  They were easy to make.  She broke out my Mandolin Slicer and sliced the potatoes in no time flat, while I was cooking the sauce on the stove.  Combine them together in a baking dish and you have yourself some awesome, can't stop eating, potatoes!  Recipe below.

The mandolin and the Idaho's.

 There she is slicing the potatoes and putting them in a bowl full of cold water. The slicer makes them all uniform in size so they cook evenly.

 Three more ingredients and that makes the sauce.

Creamy, golden brown, delicious potatoes.

Cheesy Creamy Potatoes For A Crowd

Ingredients

1 - 16 oz. container of whipping cream
1 - 16 oz. container of half and half
2 - 6.5 oz. containers of Garlic and Herbs Boursin cheese
5 lbs of Idaho potatoes
Salt and pepper

Directions
Wash potatoes and leave the skins on.  With a mandolin or a sharp knife, slice the potatoes so they are very thin.  As you are slicing them, put them in a bowl of cold water to keep them fresh looking.

Combine the heavy cream, half and half and the containers of cheese in a medium saucepan.  Over medium heat, cook and stir with a whisk to break up any lumps in the cheese.  Continue to cook until completely combined and all the cheese has melted.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a baking pan (I used a medium size foil pan) with cooking spray. Drain the potatoes, and evenly layer some of them in the bottom of the baking pan.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, ladle some of the cheese sauce over the layer.  Repeat until all the potatoes are in the pan and end with cheese mixture on top.  Tightly cover the top of the baking pan with foil.  Place the pan on a baking sheet, so it does not spill over in the oven and bake for 1 1/2 hours.  Remove the foil and put under the broiler for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

NOTE:  Recipe can be cut in half for smaller portion.

I Love Summer Berries!

No matter what time of year it is, I always have berries in the house.  If my favorite grocery store does not have what I am looking for, I am on the hunt for them.  I use berries in a lot of ways, for breakfast in cereal, desserts, salads, salsas or just eating them plain with homemade whipped cream.  They not only taste good, but they are so good for you, double plus in my book.

It's very hot here on the east coast, 96-98 degrees and very, very humid, almost unbearable.  So, instead of grabbing a popsicle, ice cream or some other cold treat, I used my berries that I had on hand and made a delicious dessert.  

Early in the morning, I washed, dried and laid the berries out on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer.  When I was ready to serve my frozen treat, I took them out while I was making my chocolate sauce.

 In a double boiler, so the chocolate cooks properly, I used 1 16 oz. package of white chocolate chips (the good kind!) and 1 cup of half and half (you can also use heavy cream) and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.  On medium-low heat, simmer on the stove top while stirring, so the chocolate melts.  You can also make this sauce with dark or milk chocolate if you don't like white chocolate.  No double boiler, no problem, use a smaller pan on the bottom, fill with about 1 cup of water, but make sure it will not touch the bottom of the larger pan on top if it boils up.

 Arrange frozen berries on a decorative plate with an edge, don't want any of the sauce to escape!

 Pour the hot sauce over the berries..... 

 and serve to happy guests, they will love it!

Christmas Morning Baked French Toast

Christmas morning has always been a joy for me.  When our kids were little, we were slowly woken up by them on Christmas morning, to see what Santa brought.   It was so much fun to see how happy they were, and the expressions on their faces.  They would come into our room and whisper " mom, dad, can we go downstairs and see what Santa brought?" They would never just go downstairs, they would always wait for us to get our sleepy heads out of bed.  First up on the agenda that morning, was everybody got a glass of orange juice to wake us all up.  Then after the gift opening, it was my turn in the kitchen.  It was the BIG Christmas breakfast on Christmas morning.

  I am sad to say that those days of little voices whispering in our ears are over, the kids are all grown, and now I am the one whispering in the morning, so I don't wake them up.  Even though they are adults now, it's still all about "the kids" at Christmas, and when they finally do get out of bed they are looking for the BIG Christmas breakfast that awaits them.  This year I made Baked French Toast with Pure Maple Syrup (the recipe is below), Home Fries, and Brown Sugar Sausage. This recipe is so easy because you prepare it the night before and then bake it in the morning. The recipe is below.

Doesn't this look yummy? It was!

Baked French Toast

Ingredients

cooking spray

1 loaf of Challah Bread, sliced in 1 inch thick slices

8 large eggs

2 cups half and half

1 cup of skim milk

3 tablespoons of sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

Slice the bread into about 20 slices.  Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with the cooking spray. Arrange slices in rows, overlapping them.  In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half and half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk it together until all of it is blended but not too foamy.  Pour the mixture evenly over the bread and spoon some in between all the slices, making sure all the bread is covered.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees, and bake for 40-50 minutes.  The last 15 minutes of baking take the foil off and let it brown on top.  Serve with Maple Syrup.  Makes 6 - 8 servings.