Caramel-soaked French Toast

I made this on Sunday morning while my friend Shannon was visiting. And it was oh-so-yummy. Crisp on top, caramel-y on the bottom...perfect french toast, in my opinion! And I reheated leftovers the next day in the microwave, and they still tasted great! I hope you enjoy...seriously thinking we need to have them again soon! Oh--note that you have to refrigerate for at least 8 hours before cooking!

Caramel-soaked French Toast

1.5 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
10 slices French bread
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2.5 cups milk or half and half
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar *
1.5 teaspoons cinnamon*
1/4 cup butter, melted*

1. Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly for 5 minutes or until mixture is bubbly. Pour caramel mixture evenly into a lightly greased 13x9-inch baking dish. Arrange bread slices over sauce, squeezing to fit in all slices.
2. Combine eggs and next 3 ingredients; stir well. Gradually pour mixture over bread slices. Cover and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight.
3. Combine sugar and cinnamon, stir well. Sprinkle evenly over soaked bread. Drizzle melted butter over the bread.
4. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until golden and bubble. Serve immediately.

*These ingredients will be needed after the french toast has been chilled.

Emily & Ryan

On June 2, I was privileged to be a part of Emily and Ryan's wedding day.

Emily and I were pretty much inseparable in our first few years of high school. We used to talk about what our wedding days would be like and dream of who we were to marry.

So I knew that Ryan was "the guy" the first time I met him...over Christmas of 2003, I think. There was just something about the way he treated her, looked at her, spoke with her. I remember smiling at Emily later that night and wondering to myself (and maybe out loud to her) when the wedding day would be.

And it was a beautiful day (the rain held off until we left the reception, indeed an answer to prayers)...the ceremony was outside on the golf course...and I can't remember a more beautiful setting for a wedding than this...God's creation was the perfect backdrop for such an occasion. Emily and Ryan were radiant, so happy to finally be man and wife.

Thank you, Emily and Ryan, for such a special day, for being such special friends.

(And thanks to Jill and Jane for sending me the pictures from the wedding! Below is one of my favorites of the bride and groom, taken during the rehearsal dinner.)

Happy Birthday Mom!

We love you Mimi!!!!

Today is my Mom's birthday...and my grandmother always used to claim she was 21-plus when asked about her age!

So happy 21-plus to you Mom...you still look far too young to have four children over 21 and two (almost three) grandchildren! I hope that you have a very special day...and a wonderful weekend at the beach. Wish we could join you there...

I pray that God would bless you this next year...for I am blessed to have the dearest mother and friend in you. I love you!

If you give a mouse a cookie

So yesterday during her "naptime", I hear Hadleigh squealing in her room "Don't tickle me, don't tickle me" with a real sense of delighted panic (like when she's playing with Nathanael or her Daddy). She was really noisy, so I went inside to tell her to be a little more quiet. She told me "He's tickling me." When I asked her who, she said "The mouse." And pointed to the cover of her well-loved copy of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. I keep smiling when I think of that conversation yesterday...the imagination of a child is such an incredible thing!

So in honor of Hadleigh's imaginary animal-friend, I thought a cookie recipe would be fitting for today!

And since we ran out of our stash of Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies last week, I plan on trying this recipe soon. I found it in the 2002 Cooking Light Annual Recipes and the woman who submitted it claims these taste just like Thin Mints...I'm hopeful!

Chocolate-Mint Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 Tablespoons butter, softened
3 Tablespoons applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

1. Combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk.
2. Combine brown sugar and next five ingredients in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed for two minutes. Beat in egg white. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until well-blended.
3. Coat hands lightly with cooking spray. Shape dough into a 6-inch log. Wrap log in plasstic wrap and feeze one hour or until firm.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Cut log into 24 (1/4-inch) slices, and place 1 inch apart on baking sheets lightly coated with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool on wire racks.

Yields: 2 dozen

Just wanted to share...

we're having a GIRL !!!

And we're so excited!

Our Favorite Feast

For special occasions and spontaneous treats, Brent and I love to have a cheese/meat/fruit board for dinner. It makes a wonderful light dinner (unless you eat way too much bread and cheese, which I am usually guilty of.) and is easy and fun to prepare.

We began this "tradition" after returning from a first anniversary trip to France...we consumed so much wonderful food there...but our favorites were the bread and cheese and wine. (And I was a big fan of the french onion soup, too!) So I hope you can enjoy a "taste of France" soon!

Cheese & Meat board

1. 2-4 cheeses, some of our favorites include Brie, Port Salut, Gouda, but we always like to include a new one to try.
2. baguette, sliced thinly and/or crackers
3. sliced meats, we love herbes de provence-crusted salami (and I am not usually a salami fan)
4. a selection of mustards
5. fruit, we like strawberries, apples, pears, and grapes
6. a great wine, sparkling cider/juice, or sparkling water (what I've been drinking lately, especially Perrier!)

Six years

We celebrated our sixth anniversary on Saturday...a quiet and relaxing weekend. It's not often I am without my own words :) but here is a sonnet of Christina Rossetti's (one of my favorite poets) that expresses much of my heart:

Sonnet 5 from "Monna Innominata: A Sonnet of Sonnets"

O my heart's heart, and you who are to me
More than myself myself, God be with you,
Keep you in strong obedience leal and true
To Him whose noble service setteth free,
Give you all good we see or can foresee,
Make your joys many and your sorrows few,
Bless you in what you bear and what you do,
Yea, perfect you as He would have you be.
So much for you; but what for me, dear friend?
To love you without stint and all I can
Today, tomorrow, world without an end;
To love you much and yet to love you more,
As Jordan at his flood sweeps either shore;
Since woman is the helpmeet made for man.

Rainy days

Rainy days are my favorite. Especially afternoon thunderstorms in the summer. But I'll take a rainy day any day of the year! (I know, I know, by now you all know this about me!)

We've had lots of rain lately...and lots of rainbows in front of our house! About two weeks ago, we were outside one evening letting the kiddos play when it started to rain all of a sudden. We ran into the garage and just watched the rain come down. As it started to end (and was just raining lightly) Nathanael wanted me to put him down. He was intrigued by the raindrops he saw and ventured out onto the driveway, followed closely by his big sister. Brent got some great shots of them playing in the rain...I especially love the ones of their reflections!

A Week of Wednesdays: Day 7

There are fresh cherries at my grocery store. There is something about them that just makes me happy! They are a happy fruit, I think! Now, I don't like maraschino cherries...and cherry pie filling is not my favorite (unless accompanied by cheesecake)...but I love to eat fresh cherries.

So I brought some home...and I ate lots. And then I scoured the internet for a cherry cobbler recipe (Brent's pick...he is not a big cherry fan) and I found one (at Williams Sonoma) that I made last night.

It's yummy. I baked it in a casserole-style dish...but I think next time (and there WILL be a next time!) I will use a pie dish so the crust spreads over the whole cobbler. Here's the recipe!

For the filling:
5 cups pitted fresh Bing cherries or other sweet cherries (about 3 lb. unpitted)
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice, strained
3 Tbs. sugar

For the topping:
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 Tbs. sugar mixed with 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Preheat an oven to 375°F. For individual servings, place six 1-cup ramekins or custard cups on a rimmed sheet. For a large cobbler, have ready a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie dish or baking dish with sides at least 2 3/4 inches high.
2. To make the filling, in a large bowl, stir together the cherries, lemon juice and sugar until well mixed. Divide the fruit among the ramekins or pour into the pie dish or baking dish. Bake the fruit for 10 minutes while you prepare the topping.
3. To make the topping with an electric mixer, in a small bowl, stir together the buttermilk and vanilla; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add the butter pieces. Beat on low speed until the mixture forms large, coarse crumbs the size of small peas, about 30 seconds. Slowly pour in the buttermilk mixture and continue to beat just until combined and a soft, sticky, evenly moistened dough forms.
4. Drop the dough by heaping spoonfuls onto the hot fruit, spacing it evenly over the surface. The topping will not cover the fruit but will spread during baking to cover it. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the dough. Bake the cobbler until the fruit filling is bubbling, the topping is browned, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the topping comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Serve warm. Serves 6.

A Week of Wednesdays: Days 5 & 6

I hope all you moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday...I sure did, despite having somewhat sick children! (That is why I didn't get to post yesterday!)

But since I missed yesterday, I will share two biscotti recipes, one of my own and one from my favorite Recipe Blogger, Elise of Simply Recipes (the picture above pictures the recipe from Elise.)

I love to make biscotti as gifts for my favorite coffee drinkers...Brent loves them...I mailed some to him while he was deployed years ago...they are great baked items to mail because they are sturdy and you don't worry about them not being fresh and soft, like you would with cookies or brownies. One Christmas, I made a coffee basket for my Dad and filled up a large mug with my mini-biscotti!

And biscotti is a great excuse to drink coffee! So I hope you enjoy!

Banana Chocolate Chip Biscotti (my recipe)

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup banana, mashed
2 eggs
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter, soft
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheet.
2. Beat sugar and butter with mixer on medium speed. Beat in banana, vanillan, and eggs until smooth. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt. Add chocolate chips.
3. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a 10 x 3 inch rectangle on the cookie sheet with greased hands.
4. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet 15 minutes.
5. Cut each rectangle crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Turn slices cut side down on cookie sheet and bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and dry on top. Turn cookies andbake 10 minutes longer. Cool on wire rack.

Yields: about 40 3-inch (mini) biscotti

Ginger Almond Biscotti

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup molasses
3 large eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon all spice
1/4 cup minced fresh ginger
1 cup blanched almonds (okay to use just raw almonds)

1. Bake almonds 10 minutes at 350°F, let cool, then roughly chop.
2. Cream sugar, molasses and butter. Add eggs, mixing in one at a time. Add minced ginger.
3. Mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and all spice. Add flour mix into butter and eggs mix, one third at a time. Add almonds. (At this point sometimes it is helpful to refrigerate dough for several hours to make it more easy to form into logs.)
4. Turn out onto a well-floured board, and divide into two portions. With floured hands, shape into logs about 9-11 inches long, 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch high, and transfer to a greased and floured baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch in the center, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and let stand until cool enough to handle.
5. On cutting board, cut logs on diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Return pieces cut side down to baking sheet. Re-bake 15-18 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Store in airtight container.