blackberry baked french toast for happy mornings

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of breakfast foods. Huge fan. If I could have belgian waffles every single day for the rest of my life I probably would. (Side note: I do not yet own a belgian waffle maker, and for some strange reason they do not sell frozen belgian waffles in NoVa. I don't get it, but they are severely lacking in my life right now.) The problem with breakfast is it tends to require effort. In the morning. Which is hard. So I like breakfasts that are super easy, but I also want them to taste amazing. 

Let me introduce you to a little something I threw together recently.

Looks amazing, right? So here's a little secret: I threw it together in just a few minutes with things I had around the kitchen and needed to get rid of. And. It was AMAZING!

ingredients:

1/3 loaf old french bread (or whatever stale bread you may have lying around)

1/2 cup leftover buttermilk you don't know what to do with (or half & half, or regular milk)

4 eggs

1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

handful of blackberries (or any fruit you have)

for topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 tbsp butter or margarine

sprinkle of almonds (optional)

You with me so far? This sounds pretty easy, right? Almost all of the ingredients are substitutable. Make this with some challah bread, or old croissants, can you imagine? Yum! Throw some strawberries or peaches in there instead of blackberries, also yum. Leave out the topping if you want, it won't hurt my feelings. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I'm completely making up all those measurements. When I made this I just poured stuff together without measuring it. That's how easy it is. 

So here's what you do.

1. tear your bread into roughly 1" chunks and place in a small baking dish (I used a small loaf pan)

2. mix together eggs, milk, and vanilla

3. pour egg mixture over bread chunks until well covered

4. place in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes or until bread soaks up egg mixture. Do not skip this step, it makes such a huge difference!

5. now it's time to add your berries. You could be like me and carefully place your berries between and underneath and on the bread to be sure that each bite has a berry, or you could just sprinkle them all on top because what does it matter anyway. 

6. put flour and brown sugar in bowl, cut in butter until the mixture starts to form crumbles.

7. sprinkle brown sugar mixture over bread mixture

8. add almonds if you choose (it really did add a nice texture)

9. bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes or so, until the top is nice and golden brown.

This made two very generous sized portions for the hubs and I. Just scoop it out, put it on a plate, and enjoy it. No syrup needed for sure.

If you made it through this whole post and decided to make this dish (or a version of it) for yourself, please leave a comment and let me know how it went!

heaven on two slices of bread

You guys. Seriously. Brie. Dark Chocolate. Roasted Strawberries. The best grilled cheese ever in my life. It's a good thing I'm so modest. 

Get the recipe here even though it is fairly self explanatory. At least go drool over the pictures for a minute to get yourself psyched for this totally tasty treat. You're welcome.

Also, this one is on my list. Yes indeed.

photodump!

Halloween decorations. Mini-pumpkins, big ones yet to come. Movie night with the hubs. Home-made cream cheese stuffed french toast. Food is always better (at least visually speaking) on checkered paper. My first cuckoo clock (yes, I said first with intent to buy more). My beautiful Rifle Paper Co recipe box! (Thanks so much siblings for the wonderful wedding gift!) Kitty having a lazy day off with me. The inexplicable Beatlerama.

good eats

The mister and I want to start eating better food. Healthier, tastier, more interesting food. Less frozen food. That sort of thing. So I have been collecting some recipes on Pinterest just in case one of these days we move beyond wanting to eat better and start making grocery lists, cooking, and actually eating better. Well, we'll see how it goes.

Asian BBQ Chicken

Source: framed-mylifeonepictureatatime.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Source: smittenkitchen.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Source: foodizm.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Source: chimeraobscura.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Source: ezrapoundcake.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Are you sensing a theme here? Pasta pasta chicken pasta chicken. Really thinking outside of the box when it comes to food, that's me. Just ask the mister. On any given night if you were to ask me where I want to go out to eat, 98% of the time you will get the same few answers. Chevy's, pizza, Noodles & Co. Sometimes if I'm feeling fancy I'll crave pad thai or bulgogi, kabob or bang bang shrimp. But I will pretty much always want Chevy's. And, just so you know, it's hard to go wrong with chicken and pasta.

A Birthday Weekend in photos

We started the day with a little home made breakfast. Ricotta pancakes w/ fruit, recipe from Baking Bites via CakeSpy. I was a little nervous about this recipe as there are some things I've managed to go years without learning how to do. Like separate eggs. To me that was in the same category as cracking an egg open with one hand in Things I Will Never Do. But I did it. And beat egg whites into soft peaks. I did it all. I did it so the mister could have a wonderful birthday breakfast.

There were balloons, there was pizza, there was cake. Apparently I forgot to buy the birthday hats, but there's always next time.

The cake was a raspberry lemonade poke cake that I modified slightly from Betty Crocker. The basics are the same; start with a white box cake, add lemonade concentrate, poke the cake and pour raspberry jello mixture on top, and I feel the need to mention that this recipe also required separating eggs. Figures. I just left out the part where they put the jello mix in the actual cake batter before baking, because 1) I wanted to separate the flavors a little bit more, and 2) I didn't think Chris wanted a solid pink cake. I don't know if this had any real impact on the outcome of the cake or maybe I didn't mix the batter enough, but the cake came out very dense. Tasty, but not the consistency I look for in a cake. Maybe I'll give it another try some other time. Oh, I also added some little yellow sprinkles on top with the raspberries as a nod to the raspberry-lemonade theme.

Here's how the kids spent their weekend.

Lazy, as always.

Anyway, I do hope the mister enjoyed his first birthday as a married man. I'm not sure what difference that makes, but it seemed like it should, so I tried to make it a good one. :)

brainfreeze on the brain

Is it hot where you are? Could I interest you in some tasty icy summertime treats? Yes, I thought so. I would welcome some of these into my life any day. Yummm

Source: mybakingaddiction.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Samoa Popsicles

Source: blogs.babble.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Peaches and Creme Popsicles

Source: blogs.babble.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Blood Orange Creamsicles

Source: livingwithpunks.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Banana Cream Piesicles

What summer treats are you craving? Any go-to recipes (or heck, even store bought treats) you'd like to share?

I'm a sucker

Oh to curl up with a good air conditioner and a tasty lollipop. Hey, it's pretty hot over here.

Celebration Time: root beer float, bubble gum, birthday cake

Breakfast Tray: blueberry muffin, sweetened grapefruit, maple sugar, hazelnut coffee

Adventure Pack: pistachio marshmallow, teaberry, nutmeg cream

Spotted on Not Martha

drool

This peach cake is the yummiest looking thing I have seen in quite some time. And being that I have a serious love affair with cake, and I stress eat, and I'm pretty close to losing my mind until I remind myself (several times) that I have just one more week to go until vacation (getting married vacation!) this thing is pretty much perfection and needs to show up on a platter at home when I get off work tomorrow. Yes.

Source: kissthegroom.com via suann on Pinterest

cheap date

 

The mister and I went out for a fancy dinner of chili dogs and fries last night, and I indulged in a typical act of bloggery. Photograph, eat, photograph. It's a perfectly normal thing to do. 

It was my first time at the Vienna Inn, and I was surprised and delighted that such a place exists in NoVa. I should have taken some pictures of the place itself, but I somehow didn't think about it and anyway it would have made us look like tourists in what clearly is mainly a place for regulars. It felt like it would be nestled in the mountains of West Virginia or something. And their chili dogs are fantastic. I hear they serve other things too, but why bother?

Hmmm

I would not turn up my nose if these showed up on my plate tomorrow morning.

Little fried hearts of deliciousness would really get the day started right. With some strawberries. And mimosas. And a day off...

But alas.

sweeten the deal

Today is one of those days where I don't easily feel inspired by anything, I just want to curl up in a ball and pretend the world doesn't exist. But that's kind of the point of this blog. No matter what else is going on, there has to be something out there to appreciate for some reason or another. Something to spark a little warmth and hope in my heart.

And let me tell you, cupcakes are one of those things.

Specifically, these freaking gorgeous cupcakes over at Desserts for Breakfast. You can find the recipe over there, and bake me some because I need some serious chocolate in my life right now.

too stinkin cute!

A gingerbread man baked into a cupcake and turned into a gingerbread house! I love everything about this (except maybe all that icing in the roof, I'm not much for icing.)

via Bake it in a Cake

Holiday eats

I'm taking a quick break from holiday decorating posts that seem to have taken over the entire blog here. Instead I will be sharing with you some delicious looking holiday treats!

You can get the recipe for this amazing pomegranate poke cake with cream cheese frosting over at Sprinkle Bakes. And I'm contemplating a little cake baking get together instead of the traditional cookie baking. All I know is this cake deserves to be made. And eaten. By me.

apple-raspberry mini galettes

I started with a little recipe from Emma over at From Scratch for Individual Apple Galettes that seemed almost frightfully easy. Flour, butter, an apple, brown sugar and cinnamon. That's pretty much all it asks for. I decided (at the suggestion of the mister) to add in some raspberries. I have to say this truly is one of the easiest recipes I have ever made. Seriously, folks, easier than a box cake mix. But I will warn you, you might need some extra sugar. I'm thinking about adding sugar into the crust for next time, but not being a scientific baker I don't really know how that will affect the turnout. But they sure are a darling little dessert. In fact, I may go have myself some seconds right now. So what if it's not even noon yet, during the holidays it's always time for dessert.

sweet

photo via My Paper Crane

I may be a little bit biased, but I'm pretty sure dessert is the best part of thanksgiving. This year I'm trying out some mini raspberry-apple galettes, so I'll let you know how that goes. Those little pilgrim sugar cookies up there from My Paper Crane? Totally adorable. What are you baking this year? Or would you dare say there is something more important than dessert?